Alan Dershowitz, in full Alan Morton Dershowitz, (born September 1, 1938, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.), American lawyer and author known for his writings and media appearances in which he strongly and often controversially defended civil liberties, in particular those regarding freedom of speech. He also garnered attention for his involvement in numerous prominent legal cases.
Dershowitz earned a bachelor’s degree (1959) from Brooklyn College (now part of the City University of New York) and then attended law school at Yale University, where he was editor of the Yale Law Journal. After graduating (1962), he served as a law clerk, first for David Bazelon, who was chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and then for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Arthur J. Goldberg. Dershowitz joined the faculty of Harvard Law School in 1964 and three years later became the youngest law professor to be granted tenure in Harvard University’s history; he retired from teaching in 2013.
