Memorial Trees
R
Rochelle Tedesco Charnin
August 17, 2025
Memorial trees planted for:
Victor Elliot Schwartz
<p>Victor E. Schwartz, a towering figure in American tort law and one of the nation’s most influential advocates for civil justice reform, passed away peacefully on July 28 at the age of 85. He leaves behind a legacy of scholarship, advocacy, and mentorship that reshaped the legal landscape and influenced generations of lawyers, policymakers, and students.</p><p><br></p><p>During his 60-year legal career, Victor worked in academia, government, and private practice, and reached the pinnacle of each. He was perhaps best known as co-author of Prosser, Wade and Schwartz’s Torts, the most widely used torts casebook in the United States. The casebook, which published its fifteenth edition in 2024, has educated countless law students on the fundamentals of American liability law.</p><p><br></p><p>Born and raised in New York City, Victor went on to graduate summa cum laude from Boston University and magna cum laude from Columbia Law School. He began his career in academia, serving as a law professor and later Dean of the University of Cincinnati College of Law. Victor’s penetrating insight, tenacity, and ability to distill complex legal doctrines made him a beloved teacher and a natural thought leader. If you gave him a hundred reasons something could not be done, he would find a way it could be.</p><p><br></p><p>In 1976, Victor joined the U.S. Department of Commerce to chair the Federal Inter-Agency Task Force on Product Liability and the Federal Inter-Agency Council on Insurance. He was the principal author of the Uniform Product Liability Act, which advanced modern theories for addressing harm caused by a product. He received the Secretary of Commerce’s Award for Professional Excellence.</p><p><br></p><p>After his government appointment ended, Victor entered private practice. He joined the law firm Crowell & Moring LLP in Washington, DC, where he built a practice focused on addressing abuse of the civil justice system. In 2001, Victor joined the partnership of the law firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P. to chair the firm’s Washington D.C.-based Public Policy Group. While in private practice, Victor emerged as a creative force and leading figure nationally in the civil justice reform movement. He testified before Congress and state legislatures, appeared on programs such as Oprah and 60 Minutes, and authored more than 200 legal publications to support improvements to the civil justice system. Victor’s innovative approaches to complex public policy issues led the Legal Times of Washington to name him one of Washington’s Top 30 “Visionary” lawyers, and The National Law Journal to name him one of the 100 most influential lawyers in the United States.</p><p><br></p><p>Victor’s professional accomplishments are matched only by his humor, humility, and generosity. His spot-on impersonations of political leaders prompted appearances on radio talk shows and even legislator requests during Congressional hearings. His self-deprecating sense of humor grounded him and disarmed others such that Victor could connect with anyone. And his substantial contributions to hospitals, charities, and other organizations, including the American Law Institute and the University of Cincinnati College of Law where he endowed a chair in tort law, often came with little or no fanfare. Instead, Victor made several endowments in the name of others.</p><p><br></p><p>Victor spent his personal time caring for his beloved dogs, Brooke and Halle, and enjoying many a weekend in Hollywood, FL with a tightly knit group of friends. He vacationed in Vermont each summer for forty years, looking forward to the opportunity to connect with friends old and new.</p><p><br></p><p>Victor is survived by his best friend of more than four decades, Deborah Underhill, his goddaughter Martha Ann Pavoni and godson Markus Fuchs, his dear friends and doctors David Shocket and Barrett Goldstein, and countless colleagues and friends who will carry his legacy forward.</p><p><br></p><p>The funeral service will be held on Saturday, August 23 at 3:30pm at Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, MD. A private internment will follow on Monday, August 25.</p><p><br></p>July 3, 1940 - July 28, 202507/03/194007/28/2025
Share Obituary: