Alan Dershowitz

Biography

Alan Morton Dershowitz (born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and legal scholar. He is a professor emeritus at Harvard Law School, where he became the youngest full professor in the school’s history at age 28.

Early Life and Education

Dershowitz was born in Brooklyn, New York. He attended Yeshiva University High School before studying political science at Brooklyn College, graduating magna cum laude in 1959. He then attended Yale Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of The Yale Law Journal and graduated first in his class in 1962.

Legal Clerkships

After law school, Dershowitz clerked for Chief Judge David L. Bazelon of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (1962–63) and for Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg.

Harvard Law School

Dershowitz joined the Harvard Law School faculty at age 25 and became a full professor at 28. He was appointed Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law in 1993 and retired from teaching in 2013.

Notable Cases

Dershowitz has represented numerous high-profile clients throughout his career. He won a new trial for Claus von Bülow in a 1984 attempted murder case. He was part of the team that successfully defended O.J. Simpson in 1995. In 2011, he joined the legal team for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Representation of Jeffrey Epstein

Dershowitz was a member of Jeffrey Epstein’s legal team during the 2007–2008 federal prosecution negotiations. He has publicly stated that he helped negotiate the non-prosecution agreement between Epstein and federal prosecutors.

Awards and Recognition

In 1983, the Anti-Defamation League presented Dershowitz with the William O. Douglas First Amendment Award. He has received numerous academic awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship for his work on human rights.

Notes

Alan Dershowitz appears in the Epstein Files as one of the attorneys representing Jeffrey Epstein in negotiations with federal prosecutors.