Alan Dershowitz facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alan Dershowitz
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Dershowitz in 2009
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Alan Morton Dershowitz
September 1, 1938 New York City, U.S.
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Alan Morton Dershowitz (born September 1, 1938) is a famous American lawyer and law professor. He is known for his expertise in U.S. constitutional law and criminal law. For almost 50 years, from 1964 to 2013, he taught at Harvard Law School. At Harvard, he became the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law in 1993. Dershowitz is often seen on TV and in the news, sharing his opinions as a political commentator and legal expert.
Throughout his career, Dershowitz has defended many famous and sometimes controversial clients. He has represented celebrities like Mike Tyson, Patty Hearst, and Julian Assange. Some of his biggest wins in court involved overturning the convictions of his clients. For example, he successfully defended Claus von Bülow in 1984.
In 1995, he was an advisor for the defense in the famous murder trial of O. J. Simpson. He was part of the legal "Dream Team" with other well-known lawyers. More recently, he was on President Donald Trump's defense team during his first impeachment trial in 2020.
Dershowitz has also written many books about law and politics. Some of his books, like Reversal of Fortune: Inside the von Bülow Case, were even turned into movies. He is also a strong supporter of Israel and has written several books about the Arab–Israeli conflict.
Contents
Early Life and Schooling
Alan Dershowitz was born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, on September 1, 1938. He grew up in an Orthodox Jewish family in the Borough Park neighborhood. His father, Harry, was a co-founder of a local synagogue and was involved in the community.
Dershowitz went to Yeshiva University High School in Manhattan. He was known for being a rebellious student. He once said his teachers joked that he should become a lawyer because it "requires a big mouth and no brain."
After high school, he went to Brooklyn College and graduated with high honors in 1959. He then attended Yale Law School, one of the best law schools in the country. At Yale, he was the editor-in-chief of the The Yale Law Journal and graduated first in his class in 1962.
Career as a Lawyer and Professor
After graduating from law school, Dershowitz worked as a law clerk for two very important judges. First, he clerked for Chief Judge David L. Bazelon of a U.S. Court of Appeals. Dershowitz said Bazelon was a great mentor who taught him a lot. After that, he clerked for Justice Arthur Goldberg at the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 1964, he began teaching at Harvard Law School. Just three years later, at age 28, he became a full professor. At the time, he was the youngest full professor in the school's history. He taught at Harvard for nearly 50 years before retiring in 2013.
While teaching, Dershowitz also worked as a lawyer, taking on many challenging cases. He became famous for defending well-known people and for his work in criminal law.
Famous Cases and Clients
Dershowitz became known for taking on difficult cases and defending famous people. Here are a few of his most notable clients.
Claus von Bülow (1984)
One of Dershowitz's most famous early cases was defending Claus von Bülow. Von Bülow was a British socialite who had been found guilty of attempting to murder his wife, Sunny von Bülow.
Dershowitz handled the appeal. An appeal is a process where a higher court reviews a case to see if mistakes were made. Dershowitz successfully argued the case, and the conviction was overturned. In a second trial, von Bülow was found not guilty. Dershowitz wrote a book about the case called Reversal of Fortune, which was made into a movie in 1990.
O. J. Simpson (1995)
Dershowitz was an appellate adviser for the defense team of O. J. Simpson, a famous football player accused of a serious crime. The trial was one of the most-watched in American history.
Dershowitz worked alongside other famous lawyers like Johnnie Cochran and F. Lee Bailey. This group of lawyers was nicknamed the "Dream Team." Dershowitz later wrote a book about his experience, called Reasonable Doubts.
Donald Trump (2020)
In January 2020, Dershowitz joined the legal team defending President Donald Trump during his first impeachment trial. Impeachment is a process in the U.S. Congress to decide if a president has committed a serious offense that could lead to their removal from office.
Dershowitz argued that a president could only be impeached for committing an actual crime. He said he was defending the Constitution, not just the president. His role was to present arguments to the Senate.
Personal Life
Dershowitz's first wife was Sue Barlach. They married in 1959 and had two sons, Elon and Jamin. The couple divorced in 1976.
In 1986, Dershowitz married Carolyn Cohen, a neuropsychologist. They have one daughter, Ella. The family splits their time between homes in Martha's Vineyard, Miami Beach, and Manhattan.
In 2022, a long legal dispute involving Dershowitz came to an end. A woman who had made accusations against him stated that she might have been mistaken in identifying him. The lawsuits between them were then settled and dropped.
Awards and Recognition
Dershowitz has received many awards for his work in law and civil rights. In 1983, the Anti-Defamation League gave him an award for his work protecting people's rights. He has also received honorary degrees from many universities, including Yeshiva University, Syracuse University, and the University of Haifa in Israel.
He has appeared as himself in TV shows like Spin City and in the documentary No Safe Spaces. A stone with his name on it was placed in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Celebrity Path to honor him.
Works
Dershowitz has written over 50 books on law, politics, and justice. Some of his most well-known books include:
- 1982: The Best Defense
- 1985: Reversal of Fortune: Inside the von Bülow Case
- 1991: Chutzpah
- 1996: Reasonable Doubts: The Criminal Justice System and the O. J. Simpson Case
- 1997: The Vanishing American Jew: In Search of Jewish Identity for the Next Century
- 2001: Letters to a Young Lawyer
- 2002: Why Terrorism Works: Understanding the Threat, Responding to the Challenge
- 2003: The Case for Israel
- 2013: Taking the Stand: My Life in the Law
- 2018: The Case Against Impeaching Trump
- 2020: Cancel Culture: The Latest Attack on Free Speech and Due Process
- 2023: Get Trump: The Threat to Civil Liberties, Due Process, and Our Constitutional Rule of Law
See also
In Spanish: Alan Dershowitz para niños
- List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 2)
