Professors Kenneth F. Joyce and Louis A. DelCotto ’51

Professor Kenneth F. Joyce was one of the most renowned and loved professors at the School of Law, known for his mastery of his subject matter, his enthusiasm and his ability to communicate complicated legal concepts, especially in tax, trusts and estates, and law reform through legislation.

Professor Ken Joyce had a lasting impact on the more than 12,000 students he taught during his 40 years at the law school, as well as his significant impact on his law school colleagues, the legal profession and the community. In recognition of his achievements, the law school presents the Professor Ken Joyce Award for Excellence in Teaching to an adjunct faculty member annually at Commencement, and a Professor Kenneth F. Joyce Scholarship Fund has been established in his name.

Joyce was the first and only member of his family to go to college. He attended Jesuit schools and majored in Greek as an undergraduate. For law school, he applied to both Boston College and Harvard and received full scholarships for both. He chose Boston College, where he met his wife.

“I chose BC for religious reasons. There was a church right across the street.” He later went to Harvard for a teaching degree because he knew from his second year in law school that he wanted to be a law teacher rather than a practitioner—and for that, he needed a degree from an Ivy League school. 

After Harvard, Joyce clerked for a Supreme Court judge, then, in his second year, for Judge Paul Kirk, a trial judge who later joined the Appellate Court of Massachusetts. His next clerkship was for John Danner, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia. Joyce’s mentor was Ernest Brown.

Joyce came to Buffalo because he wanted to teach administrative law. UB Law Dean Louis Jaffe, a scholar of administrative law, taught Joyce a seminar on the FCC at Harvard. Jaffe asked Joyce if he had considered interviewing in Buffalo. Joyce replied, “Where’s Buffalo?” Dean Jacob Hyman and Associate Dean Robert Fleming interviewed and hired him. 

As a law student, he disliked tax because it was not taught theoretically, but rather on a rules basis. “It wasn’t even a good course for an accountant, much less a lawyer,” he said. Only when Professor Louis Del Cotto asked him to look at a law review article he was writing did Joyce start to see the theoretical side to taxes. At the time, UB law school needed another tax teacher, and Joyce agreed to try teaching tax.

He is most proud of co-developing the course Tax 2 with Del Cotto. As a public service, he was also involved in committees that dealt with law reform legislation. He enjoyed helping to improve legislation, such as revisions in the Article 81 mental hygiene law, and dealing with the stigma attached to incompetence. He was instrumental in getting rid of the right of election trust in New York, among other important reforms.

Born June 15, 1937—Died Feb. 7, 2023

Professor Louis Del Cotto ’51 was a beloved professor who was instrumental in extensively shaping and defining the tax curriculum at the law school for more than 40 years.

“UB Law opened my eyes. I never realized the amount of intellect that was present, and necessary, to do something significant with your life. It completely turned my life around.”

Born in Italy, Del Cotto was brought to Buffalo as a child by his father, a tailor, and mother, a seamstress. He met his wife, Josephine (Bea), in high school, then attended UB for undergraduate and law school. Del Cotto and Josephine married in 1946 after his World War II military tour. They had a son, Louis.

His law school entering class, in 1947, was notable as the first to take the LSAT. After his first year, the old building at 77 W. Eagle St. was torn down and rebuilt. Professor Louis Jaffe was dean. Del Cotto recalled he did not like tax and corporations; he preferred “people” courses. The 52 law graduates in 1951 included two women, and numerous vets with a similar background. He paid for law school through the GI Bill.

During law school, Del Cotto clerked at the Fleischmann firm, where Albert R. Mugel, a tax teacher at the law school, was a tax partner. Needing tax help at the firm, Mugel chose Del Cotto, who credits Mugel with starting him in the tax field.

The Fleischmann firm joined with the Jaeckle firm in 1955, and Del Cotto became a partner in Jaeckle Fleischmann Kelly Swart and Augspurger. He practiced law for 10 years and taught part time as an adjunct. But he wanted to be a full-time law teacher, and for that, you needed an advanced degree. He went to Columbia University, where he earned an LL.M. In 1960, he started teaching at UB Law. His seasonal work playing the guitar at weddings and saloons helped pay the bills.

After Professor Kenneth Joyce arrived at UB Law, Del Cotto developed a close relationship with him. He convinced Joyce that tax can be interesting and theoretical, and not just dry and rules-based. After Joyce embraced the study of tax, their collaboration over the years resulted in significant growth to the tax program: in the number and breadth of courses, as well as student development and growth. Novices grew into expert tax lawyers and worked in major firms and cities.

Particularly gratifying to Del Cotto were changes that his scholarship brought about in the tax laws; the development of the Tax 2 course; and tax courses that were not available anywhere but UB.

Alumni contributions to the Professor Louis Del Cotto Endowment Fund provide an annual Commencement award in recognition of his enormous achievements in tax.

Born Dec. 29, 1923—Died April 9, 2005