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James J. Freeland

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James J. Freeland

James J. Freeland served the University of Florida College of Law as a professor for nearly 40 years. During that time, he cofounded the Graduate Tax Program at UF Law, now one of the top-ranked tax programs in the country, and instilled his passion for tax law into many of his students.

Freeland was born and raised in Miami, where his grandfather, Dr. James M. Jackson, practiced medicine and for whom Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital was named. Freeland’s father, Byron B. Freeland, owned Byron’s Department stores, the precursor to JByrons. Freeland earned his bachelor’s from Duke University in 1950 prior to attending the University of Florida College of Law, where he received his LL.B. and graduated second in his class in 1954. He then became a graduate fellow of Yale Law School. Upon graduation, Freeland was hired by Hugh F. Culverhouse’s Miami-based law firm. Freeland specialized in federal tax matters and went on to manage the firm after only one year of practice. This achievement is an early indication of Freeland’s work ethic and leadership qualities.

In 1957, Freeland returned to UF Law where he became a member of the faculty. With the exception of the period between 1962 to 1965, when he taught at New York University’s Graduate Tax Program, Freeland’s academic career was centered at the University of Florida, where he served as a UF Law professor until his retirement in 1995. As a protege of Professor Richard B. Stephens, he worked closely with Stephens to establish the UF Graduate Tax Program. Upon Stephens’ retirement in 1977, Freeland became director of the Graduate Tax Program and held the position until 1982.

While at UF, Freeland coauthored many books and articles, including the leading treatise Fundamentals of Federal Income Taxation, the most widely-adopted tax law case book in the U.S., and Federal Income Taxation of Estates and Beneficiaries. Freeland said that, for him, writing was a painful but rewarding endeavor.

A beloved professor, Freeland maintained relationships with many of his students following their graduations. He enjoyed the “big curtain of affection of graduates who have remained very friendly with [him] over the years,” and stated, “[i]t’s a mutual thing. Personally, I enjoy their success. Some are judges; most are outstanding lawyers.”

While teaching, Freeland preferred an unstructured style — eschewing standing behind a lectern and using formal notes. This allowed him the didactic flexibility to cover a multitude of topics and different aspects of issues. In defense of his teaching style, Freeland stated, “I’m told I’m unstructured. I just don’t like super order — you lose the spontaneity and this is what I seek. I’m not disorganized; there’s a difference. I’m unstructured.” Obviously, this unstructured style was not only popular, but also intellectually engaging and challenging for Freeland’s students. Freeland was known as a professor who could make even the most complex material understandable for his students, and many chose to pursue careers in tax law after taking his class. It was this connection with students that led to his being recognized as Outstanding Law Professor at UF five times between 1968 and 1975. He also taught practicing tax attorneys as a member of the tax faculty of the Practicing Law Institute from 1969 to 1976, and always received outstanding evaluations.

Freeland received numerous honors, including the Florida Blue Key Distinguished Faculty Award, the John Marshall Bar Association Outstanding Professor Award and the Florida Law Review Outstanding Professor Award. Freeland also was the first recipient of the Outstanding Tax Attorney in the State of Florida Award in 1982, which is presented annually by the Tax Section of The Florida Bar. He was inducted as an honorary member of Florida Blue Key, and in 1982, he was named a UF Distinguished Service Professor, the highest professional rank at UF reserved for those who have excelled in teaching.

Following his retirement in 1994, alumni, faculty and friends established the James J. Freeland Eminent Scholar Chair in Taxation, and an anonymous donor endowed a scholarship in Freeland’s honor to benefit UF’s Graduate Tax Program.

Freeland served as counsel to the tax law firm of August, Comiter, Kalunas & Schepps in West Palm Beach, Fla. after retirement and until his death in 2000.

Published: June 27th, 2014

Category: Alumni

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The Florida Constitutional Law Endowment in memory of Justice Ben F. Overton was created by Judge Karen Miller in 2013. This fund supports lectures and presentations by Justices of the Florida Supreme Court at the Fredric G. Levin College of Law.

HISTORY

Justice Overton, who earned his B.S. in 1951 and his Juris Doctor in 1952 from the University of Florida, was the first merit appointment to the Florida Supreme Court. Throughout his career he was active in legal education and served as an Adjunct Professor at the Levin College of Law through December 2012, the month of his death. Although he resided at Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, a continuing care retirement community developed in cooperation with UF, he also considered the Florida Supreme Court “home.” Among the high points of his later years was hosting Justices of the Florida Supreme Court in Gainesville and taking his class to Tallahassee to hear oral arguments at the Florida Supreme Court.
Judge Miller, who earned her B.S. cum laude from New York University in 1974 and her Juris Doctor from New York Law School in 1977, served as Chief Administrative Law Judge of the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, New York City’s business regulatory agency, before she retired to Oak Hammock at the University of Florida. Having accompanied Justice Overton on his excursions to Tallahassee and joined him in welcoming guests to Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, she created the endowment in memory of Justice Overton to ensure that the Levin College of Law continues to have the funding necessary to continue and enhance the interaction between its students and the Florida Supreme Court.

 

Judge Miller remembered the event that motivated the endowment.

 

Prior to a dinner at the home of Dean Robert Jerry and Lisa Jerry shortly after Justice Overton’s death, Justice Barbara Pariente and I were discussing a suitable memorial. Justice Pariente, who had been Justice Overton’s colleague on the Florida Supreme Court and who understood the importance to him of the interaction between his students and the Court, suggested the outline of what has become the Overton lectures. Dean Jerry, who has since retired, as has Dean Emeritus Jon Mills, who assumed responsibility for implementing the Overton lectures, were very supportive from the beginning. Since Dean Mills’ retirement, Professor Timothy McClendon, who assisted both Justice Overton and Dean Mills teaching Florida Constitutional Law and who co-authored the recent Florida Constitutional Law casebook, has continued the Overton lectures with the support of Interim Dean Merritt McAlister and CGR director, Professor Danaya Wright.

Justice Overton was a devoted jurist, educator, and ethical leader of the Florida legal profession. The Overton Lecture Series brings Florida Supreme Court Justices to the University of Florida, Levin College of Law, and serves to introduce students to the inner workings of the Court. CGR and the students of the College of Law extend our deepest gratitude to Judge Karen Miller for making the Overton Lectures possible in perpetuity.

You can watch an interview for the Florida Historical Society by Mary Adkins, professor emeritus of the UF Levin College of Law, with Justice Overton here.

Justice Overton was also interviewed for the Samuel Proctor Oral History Project and a transcript of his interview is available at the Smathers Library, and here.
Justice Overton sat on the Constitution Revision Commission of 1977-78 that proposed a right to privacy in the Florida Constitution. Although it failed as part of the Constitution Revision Commission recommendations, it passed in 1980 when proposed by the legislature. The bill was co-sponsored by our very own Jon Mills. The privacy provision prevailed by greater than 60%. Justice Overton then wrote a concurrence in a critical reproductive rights case in 1989 affirming that the privacy provision of the Florida Constitution included the right to obtain an abortion. That decision was overruled in Planned Parenthood of SW and Central Florida v. Florida. You can read about the role of Justice Overton, Jon Mills – director emeritus of CGR, and the history of the 1989 case here.