In Memoriam - James Colliton

James Colliton, 1944-2009

Jim Colliton was a tax law expert and esteemed DePaul law professor for more than 30 years. He served as director of estate planning in the university’s development office, associate dean of the law school and director of the law school’s graduate tax program.

Colliton was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer two years ago. Although he lost his vision due to the illness, he learned to read Braille, get around with a cane and began scanning in his law journals and listening to them on his computer.

“Jim was a very kind and upbeat guy,” says Professor Len Cavise. “Even as he was losing his vision and his mobility due to the cancer, his first sentence was always ‘What’s up with you?’ He was a well-loved teacher, an accomplished administrator, a well respected author and an excellent colleague.”

Colliton was born in Grand Junction, Colorado, graduated from Stanford University in 1966 and served as a lieutenant in the Army Quartermaster Corps during the Vietnam War.

Professor Jerry Friedland, DePaul tax law colleague and friend of 35 years, recalls many conversations with Colliton while, early in their careers, both worked at the IRS in Washington, D.C., and attended Georgetown’s Tax LL.M. program. “Jim loved to talk about his home town of Grand Junction, his experiences as a park ranger, Vietnam, and the characters we worked with at the IRS,” says Friedland. “His conversation always was intelligent, lighthearted and imbued with kind understanding and tolerance for just about everyone.”

According to Jan, his wife of 35 years, Colliton originally intended to practice law in his home town, but discovered his love of teaching.

“Jim was part of a breed that is vanishing from American legal education,” says Professor Bruce Ottley. “He brought to DePaul not just what he learned in the classroom, in practice and from books, but also his experiences in the war in Vietnam and in the grand open spaces of the American West. This made Jim a renaissance man, and, although a tax professor, he taught a wide range of other courses. He repeatedly told his colleagues that they also were capable of teaching any subject — even tax. He conveyed that belief to his students as well: They could be anything as lawyers if they applied themselves. His counsel will be sorely missed.”

Dialogue, Winter 2009, page 12. • DePaul University College of Law