Former ALI Council member Robert MacCrate died on Wednesday, April 6. He was 94 years old.
Mr. MacCrate had a long and illustrious legal career that included work in both the public and private sectors. He served as Counsel to New York Governor Nelson D. Rockefeller and as Special Counsel to the Department of the Army for its investigation of the My Lai Massacre. He was also partner and vice chairman of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP.
Mr. MacCrate was president of both the New York State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. ABA President Paulette Brown called Mr. MacCrate ”a visionary who not only was keenly interested in legal education but made a substantial contribution to the learning of skills and values as well as knowledge offered through legal education programs nationwide.” He chaired the ABA Task Force on Law Schools and the Profession. The Task Force’s Report, widely known as the “MacCrate Report,” encouraged practical legal skills training before, during, and after law school.
In addition to serving as an ALI Council member, Mr. MacCrate was also a former member of the Executive Committee. He also served on the Members Consultative Group for the Model Penal Code: Sentencing project.
Before graduating from Harvard Law School in 1948, he served with the U.S. Navy in the Pacific during World War II. In 1951 he clerked for Justice David W. Peck of the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court. He received honorary doctorates from Union College, Haverford College, The Dickinson School of Law, William Mitchell College of Law, Quinnipiac University School of Law, CUNY School of Law, and University of South Carolina.
Mr. MacCrate was preceded in death earlier this year by his wife of nearly 70 years, Constance Trapp MacCrate. He is survived by three children, their spouses, 10 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Read Mr. MacCrate's obituary featured in The New York Times [subscription required].