Two Jewish lawyers, prominent in their communities, have been nominated to high posts in the Carter Administration. Jerome Kurtz, a tax expert and partner in a Philadelphia law firm, is slated to become Commissioner of Internal Revenue pending his confirmation by the Senate.
Herbert J. Hansell, head of the corporate and securities department of a major Cleveland law firm, has been picked as legal advisor to Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance, the State Department’s top legal post. His appointment is expected to be announced shortly.
Kurtz, a member of the firm of Wolf, Block, Schorr and Solis-Cohen, has played an active-role in the Federation of Jewish Agencies of Greater Philadelphia, according to Mitchell R. Miller who interviewed him in the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent. He is vice-chairman of the Federation’s Endowment Fund Tax Committee, counsel to the Federation Foundation and a member of the Federation Board.
Kurtz served as tax legislative counsel for the Treasury Department from 1966-68 and did some work on the Carter tax policy task force during the election campaign. His name was on the list of candidates for the Internal Revenue post submitted to the President by Secretary of the Treasury W. Michael Blumenthal, Miller reported.
Kurtz is a graduate of Temple University and Harvard Law School. He has taught tax law at Villanova, the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard and has been a member of advisory groups to the present Commissioner of Internal Revenue and to the American Law Institute.
Hansell, who is associated with Jones, Day, Reavis and Pogue in Cleveland, previously saw government service as assistant general counsel for the National Science Foundations, according to the Cleveland Jewish News. He was also interim general counsel for the board of incorporators that established Amtrak, the national passenger railroad service.
Hansell, like Vance, a graduate of Yale Law School, is also a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has served on the board of the Jewish Family Service Association in Cleveland and is a member of the Delegate Assembly of the Jewish Community Federation, the Jewish News reported. He also participated in the Jewish Welfare Fund campaigns and is affiliated with the Suburban Temple.
CORRECTION A story from Bonn in the Feb. 9 Bulletin dealing with a film on Auschwitz incorrectly referred to Rudolf Hess as the last commander of Auschwitz. The correct name should have been Rudolf Hoess. Hess is still alive in Spandau prison.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
