In Memoriam: Marvin Starr

• Publication year: 2020
• Author: By Paul Marienthal, of Miller Starr Regalia

In Memoriam: Marvin Starr

By Paul Marienthal, of Miller Starr Regalia

Our firm, as well as the entire community of California real property lawyers, has lost a great friend and colleague. Marvin Starr was arguably the most well-known real estate tax lawyer of his day.

Through his many industry presentations and formal lecturing at U.C. Berkeley and other places, he taught an entire generation of real estate lawyers and real estate executives how to use the tax law to enhance their transactions for the betterment of their clients.

Marvin not only lectured and spoke constantly during his career, he was also a prolific author. Along with his partner Harry Miller, he authored "The Current Law of California Real Estate," which grew from a few volumes to twelve in its current iteration. This treatise has no real competition and is found in practically every law library in the state and beyond.

For many years, Marvin also wrote a monthly real estate tax publication known as "The Real Estate Tax Digest," which was a summary of every important real estate tax case from the previous month. Each summary included a commentary from Marvin that put the case in perspective, so it could be understood and used by lawyers and accountants everywhere to enhance their practice.

By the time the Starker case was published, Marvin was already a legend in the California real estate industry. But with the unusual facts of Starker available to him, Marvin seemingly single-handedly convinced the entire world that delayed or deferred real estate exchanges could be facilitated by any taxpayer as part of their transaction without much expense or complication. This was a radical departure from conventional thinking. Marvin was one of the very few California lawyers to understand...