Donald Poole, a veteran tax attorney who spent 38 years at McDonough Holland & Allen in Sacramento, died April 29 from complications during recovery from heart surgery. He was 66 years old.
Poole specialized in estate planning and charitable giving and worked with a number of high-net-worth clients in the Sacramento region, his colleagues said. He was honored by the State Bar’s Board of Legal Specialization in 2007 for dedicating more than 30 years in the tax law field.
In a 2003 interview with Sacramento Lawyer magazine, Poole tried to dispel the notion that tax law is boring. “How can it be?” he said. “As attorneys, we get to see families and businesses in times of crisis, exhibiting their best intentions and their worst tendencies. If they're rowing in opposite directions, we get to show them how to pull together on those oars. And when that happens, it's just wonderful ….”
With his breadth of knowledge in gift, charitable, estate and corporate tax law, Poole was a frequent lecturer and a sounding board to colleagues in the McDonough Holland firm, said partner Stuart List.
“He had an open-door policy and was incredibly generous with his time,” List said.
Poole is survived by his wife and two children. A memorial will be held Saturday at the Del Paso Country Club in Sacramento.
— Cheryl Miller
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