W. Barton Leach Dies; On Faculty Since 1929

W. Barton Leach '21, Story Professor of Law, emeritus, and an authority on property law and estate planning, died suddenly Wednesday afternoon. He was 71 years old.

Leach received both the A.B. and LL.B. degrees from Harvard. After leaving the Law School, he served for a year as secretary to Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. Leach joined the Harvard faculty in 1929. He became Professor of Law in 1931 and Story Professor of Law in 1950.

Leach taught in both the School of Public Administration and in the Law School. One of his major legal contributions was a book entitled The Rule Against Perpetuities, published in 1955.

Leach is survived by a wife and three children.