Burton Young, LL.B. '50, a pioneering family law attorney with an international reputation as an expert in ethics, died March 30. He mentored hundreds of young lawyers and judges and taught ethics as an adjunct at numerous law schools, including Miami Law.
Born in Philadelphia as the country struggled through the Great Depression, Young's family moved more than a dozen times after his father's business collapsed. By 1940, they had moved to Miami Beach. Young would take three buses to attend the University of Miami and, as a sophomore, would begin law school. (The LL.B. degree was replaced by the J.D. in 1967.)
At the School of Law, Young built a lifetime friendship with Richard Gerstein, who became State Attorney and brought Young aboard as a prosecutor. After returning to private practice, Young became the first Jewish president of the Florida Bar in 1969. He made what he saw as a lifetime contribution by pushing for and creating a judicial nominating plan for the merit selection of Florida judges.
As president of The Florida Bar, he pushed lawyers to do more pro bono work. He also served as president of the Florida Bar Foundation. He was a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and was president of its Florida chapter from 1981 to 1983. In 2013, in an effort to support legal advocacy for Florida's foster children, The Florida Bar Foundation awarded a grant of $100,000 administered through the Batchelor Foundation toward Miami Law's Children and Youth Law Clinic, and the grant honored Young. Professor Bernard Perlmutter, director of the clinic, said, "We are incredibly grateful to Mr. Young, the Batchelor family, and The Florida Bar Foundation for their support of our legal advocacy on behalf of the most vulnerable persons in our state – child victims of parental abuse and neglect placed in foster care, and young adults who have aged out of foster care."
In 2012, Young received the G. Kirk Haas Humanitarian Award from The Florida Bar for his service to the legal profession. The award was established in 1998; the president selects a recipient each year. The award triggers a scholarship for a second-year student at a law school of the winner's choice who demonstrates a high degree of integrity, ethics, professionalism, and concern for others.
He was also a fellow of the American Bar Foundation, where he was awarded Young the Medal of Honor and the President's Award of Merit in 1998. Young received the First Professionalism Award from the First Family Law American Inn of Court in 1999 and the Anti-Defamation League's Torch of Liberty Award in 2001.
Young continued practicing family law into his 90s and established the Burton Young Endowed Fellowship at the School of Law in 2010.
Young is survived by his children, Judge David Young, J.D. '84, and daughter, Franci Leon, and grandchildren, nieces, and nephews. His wife of 52 years, Sheila Young, predeceased him.
Funeral services will be conducted at Temple Beth Am Tuesday, April 2, 2024. The service will promptly begin at 11:30 a.m. Instead of flowers, donations may be directed to the Burton Young Endowed Fellowship at the University of Miami School of Law.
