Royal H. Brin, Jr. died at home on Friday, November 6, 2020, with his daughter and caregivers by his side. Born in Dallas on October 9, 1919, attended Forest Avenue High School, graduating as salutatorian. He earned a law degree from University of Texas in 1941, graduating Phi Beta Kappa, with a 94.4 average, the highest in the school’s history. He was Editor-in-Chief of the “Law Review”, member of the Grand Chancellors, a prestigious honor society, and Order of the Coif.
In 1941, he had a graduate fellowship to Harvard Law School, which was interrupted by the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He served four years in the Navy, mostly in Guadacanal.
Upon his return to Dallas, he joined the law firm of Strasburger and Price, where he practiced law for 48 years, and provided guidance to the firm after retirement, devoting nearly 75 years to it. He specialized in appellate law, wrote many articles, and was a legal scholar. Supposedly, judges declared that if Royal Brin says it’s so, it’s so.
On January 5, 1947, he wed his beloved Carol. They were married for 72 years and 8 months, until her death.
He was admitted to appear before many district courts and the U.S. Supreme Court. He was a director, then president of the Texas Association of Defense Council and a member of the Products Liability Committee of the Insurance, Torts, and Compensation Section of the American Bar Association, and many other law organizations. His peers selected him for inclusion in the 2008 “The Best Lawyers in America” in Appellate Law. He was one of five lawyers chosen as Texas Trial Legends in 2011. In 2015, Martindale-Hubbell, a peer review publication, gave him the highest possible rating in both legal ability and ethical standards, even though he had been retired for 15 years!
Royal was an amateur magician, learning at age eight from his great-uncle George Edloff (Edloff had been an office boy for Thomas Edison). His cousin, Nate Leipzig, was a professional magician. Royal’s first public performance was as a winner of a young magicians contest, on stage with Howard Thurston. Royal served as president of the Dallas Magic Circle, the Texas Association of Magicians, and the International Brotherhood of Magicians (IBM). He was a life member of the IBM and a member of the Society of American Magicians. Some of his own card tricks appear in magic publications. In 2015, he received an IBM Presidential Citation for his contributions to magic. For his 100th birthday, Lance Burton e-mailed him best wishes.
Royal celebrated his 101st birthday with two wishes: to live long enough to know the results of the election (he voted by mail) and to have his daughter read him the latest John Grisham, “A Time for Mercy.” He missed the outcome of the elections by half a day and got through half the book.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Royal H. Brin, Sr. and Dora Margules, his sister Jacqueline Goldberg, and his wife Carol. He is survived by his daughter Janice, nephews, nieces, and cousins.
Private burial will be at 1:00 p.m., Thursday, November 12. Because of the pandemic, the service can be accessed virtually using this link:
https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/dallas-tx/royal-brin-9894815
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the North Texas Food Bank or the charity of your choice.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
v.1.9.5