Professor alan dershowitz biography

An acclaimed Harvard Law School professor, Alan Dershowitz had an enviable life filled with book deals, speeches, and wealthy clients.  He frequently appeared as a guest on network and cable television shows, often staking out controversial positions on issues relating to the criminal justice system. His appetite for publicity seemed insatiable.

At the time of the murders, Dershowitz was just finishing a book called The Abuse Excuse--and Other Cop-Outs, Sob Stories, and Evasion of Responsibility.  Concerned that Dershowitz's thesis may negatively impact Simpson's case, Shapiro decided to hire Dershowitz, in part to "shut him up." Rarely present in court, Dershowitz spent most of his time handling motions and other support documents. His main assignment was to prepare for possible appellate review of an adverse trial outcome.

In his book, The Best Defense, Dershowitz gave a view of the approach he would later take in the Simpson case.  "Once I decide to take a case," Dershowitz wrote, "I have only one agenda: I want to win.  I will try, by every fair and legal means, to get my client off--without regard to the consequences."   In his memoir The Best Defense, Dershowitz noted that "almost all of my clients have been guilty."

Alan Morton Dershowitz (born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer, professor, and political commentator who is Jewish. He has spent most of his career at Harvard Law School, where he became the youngest full professor of law in its history in 1967, at the age of 28. He has held the Felix Frankfurter professorship there since 1993. He was born in Brooklyn.

Dershowitz is known for his role in several important legal cases and as a commentator on the Arab–Israeli conflict. As a criminal lawyer, he has won 13 of the 15 murder and attempted murder cases he has handled, and has represented many celebrity clients, such as Mike Tyson, Patty Hearst, Jeffrey Epstein and Jim Bakker. His most famous cases include his role in 1984 in overturning the conviction of Claus von Bülow for the attempted murder of his wife, Sunny, and as the appellate adviser for the defense in the trial of O.J. Simpson in 1995. In 2020, he was hired by President Donald Trump to defend him during his impeachment trial.

He is a political liberal, and has written several books on politics and law, including Reversal of Fortune: Inside the von Bülow Case (1985), the basis of the 1990 film; Chutzpah (1991); Reasonable Doubts: The Criminal Justice System and the O.J. Simpson Case (1996); The Case for Israel (2003); Rights From Wrongs: A Secular Theory of the Origins of Rights (2004) and The Case for Peace (2005).

He is also a writer (guest columnist/blogger) for The Huffington Post.

References

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1. ↑Dershowitz, Alan M. (1 May 1992). Chutzpah. Simon and Schuster. ISBN  – via Google Books.
2. ↑See Alan Dershowitz speak at Prager University.
3. ↑For his having won 13 out of 15, see Pollak, Joe. "Dershowitz wins 13th murder case"Archived 2010-10-12 at the Wayback Machine, Harvard Law Reco