Correction: An earlier version of this obituary incorrectly reported that Mr. Cole had a surviving brother. He had a surviving sister.
Robert T. Cole, 81, who was the head of the international tax practice of the Alston & Bird law firm in Washington, died of stomach cancer May 15 at his home in Washington.
A nephew, Allen Greenberg, confirmed his death.
Mr. Cole directed the international tax division of Alston & Bird from 1997 to 2012. He then became a senior adviser to the Internal Revenue Service.
Mr. Cole often wrote about tax law and tax treaties. With his daughter Jamy Cole-Judd, he owned six Little Gym franchise locations in Northern Virginia.
Robert Theodore Cole was born in Brooklyn. He graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1953 and from Harvard Law School in 1956. He then served two years in the Air Force before receiving a postgraduate diploma in law at the London School of Economics in 1959.
Early in his career, Mr. Cole worked at the Treasury Department, where he represented the United States in negotiating international tax treaties. He later was in private practice with the law firm that became Cole, Corette & Abrutyn.
He did pro bono legal work for clean-water advocacy groups. He also hiked the Grand Canyon several times.
Survivors include his wife of 53 years, C. Margaret Hall of Washington; three children, Elizabeth Cole Bangser of Bethesda, Tanya Cole-Lesnick of Cortlandt Manor, N.Y., and Jamy Cole-Judd of Brambleton; a sister; and seven grandchildren.
— Bart Barnes
