PAUL PERITO

1937 - 2020

Paul Louis Perito  
On Sunday, March 22, 2020, Paul L. Perito passed away peacefully in Bethesda, MD, supported by his beloved wife of 42 years Robin C. Perito, after a battle with Parkinson's disease. Paul was the son of the late Louis and Mary Perito, born in Medford, MA on January 23, 1937; sister of Rosemarie Cokash and her late husband William of Saratoga, CA; father of Katharine P. Colvin and her husband, Nicholas B. Colvin of Baltimore, MD, Meghan P. Bundy and her husband, Walter H. Bundy III of Daniel Island, SC, Andrew L. Perito and his wife Emily R. Perito, of San Francisco, CA; and proud grandfather of eight grandchildren.Paul graduated from Tufts University, Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa, in 1960. He was a Rotary International Scholar at the Victoria University of Manchester in Manchester, England, and in Lund University, Lund, Sweden in 1960-1961 before entering Harvard Law School. Paul graduated from Harvard Law School as an Edward John Noble Scholar in 1964.From 1966 to 1970, Paul served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, where he tried 21 cases, including United States v. Roy M. Cohn, et al. From 1970 to 1971, Paul served as Chief Counsel and later as Staff Director to the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on Crime. Paul subsequently served as Chief Counsel and Deputy Director of the White House Special Action Office on Drug Abuse Prevention from 1971 to 1973.After his government service, Paul spent years in private practice, ultimately as a Partner, and later Senior Counsel, at the law firm of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP, where he served as National Co-Chair of the White Collar Corporate Defense Practice Group and Chair of the Litigation Department in that firm's Washington, DC. office.After leaving private practice, Paul held multiple roles as an officer and member of the Board of Directors at Star Scientific, Inc., whose mission was to reduce toxins in tobacco products.Paul served in numerous roles as a member of the Harvard Law School Alumni Association, most recently as its President from 2012 to 2014. He also served as a member of the International Board of Overseers of Tufts University and a member of the Board of the Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School in Washington, DC.A memorial gathering in Paul's honor will be arranged at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Louis and Mary Perito Memorial Scholarship at Tufts University.