Summer 2009
Development Report:
Public Citizen Co-Founder to Lead GW Law’s
Public
Interest Initiative
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Left to right: Lerner Family Associate Dean for Public Interest and Public Service Law Alan B. Morrison, GW Law School Dean Frederick Lawrence
and Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. |
Alan B. Morrison will
head GW’s public
interest and public
service law program as the
University’s first Lerner Family
Associate Dean for Public
Interest and Public Service
Law. A gift of $3 million
from the Annette M. and
Theodore N. Lerner Family
Foundation endowed the
new position.
“The generosity of the
Lerner family has enabled us
to create a position in the law
school that exemplifies our
University’s commitment to
and our students’ passion for
public service,” says GW
President Steven Knapp.
“GW Law has a long
history of dedication to public
service and a demonstrated
commitment to public interest
law,” says Frederick M.
Lawrence, dean of GW’s Law
School. “The selection of Alan
Morrison provides a unique
opportunity to put GW at the
forefront of the growing
interest among lawyers to participate
in public service and
make GW a recognized leader
in cultivating this desire for
professionals to be a part of
larger causes.”
Morrison teamed up with
Ralph Nader in 1972 to found
and direct the Public Citizen
Litigation Group, the litigating
arm of the consumer
advocacy group Public Citizen.
Over the span of his
career, Morrison has argued
20 cases before the United
States Supreme Court, including
the ground-breaking
Immigration and Naturalization
Service v. Chadha.
“Having spent most of my
career in public interest and
public service work, I am very
excited about this opportunity
to promote and advance these
programs at GW Law School,”
says Morrison. “I hope to be
able to imbue students with
all the reasons that I and so
many others have found it so
rewarding to pursue those
careers—and to make it possible
for more students to
do so.”
GW Law has been on the
forefront of public interest law
since the field began to emerge
four decades ago. Opportunities
for students are numerous
and include the Jacob Burns
Community Legal Clinics,
the GW Law Pro Bono
Program, and faculty- and
student-run public interest
projects in fields such as animal
welfare law, environmental
protection, criminal justice
reform and prisoners’ rights.
Morrison received his
undergraduate degree from
Yale College and his law degree
from Harvard Law School.
Between his undergraduate
and graduate education, he
served as a commissioned
officer in the U.S. Navy. His
early legal career includes
working as an attorney at
Cleary Gottlieb and as an
assistant U.S. attorney in the
Southern District of New
York. In 2004, Morrison retired
from Public Citizen to work
at Stanford Law School as a
senior lecturer on administrative
and public interest law.
He has taught at numerous
law schools including Harvard
University, New York University,
Tulane University and
China’s Fudan University.
The position was created
by a gift from the Annette M.
and Theodore N. Lerner
Family Foundation. Under
the leadership of GW alumni
Theodore N. Lerner, A.A. ’48,
L.L.B. ’50, Robert K. Tanenbaum,
J.D. ’82, Marla Lerner
Tanenbaum, J.D. ’83, as well
as Judy and Mark Lerner,
B.B.A. ’75, and Edward and
Debra Cohen, Lerner Enterprises
has become the largest
Washington, D.C.-area
private real estate developer
and is also the managing
principal owner of the Washington
Nationals Baseball
Club. Ted Lerner has served
on the GW Board of Trustees
and Executive Committee.
Gifts from the Lerner Family
Foundation funded the
Annette and Theodore
Lerner Family Health and
Wellness Center at the
University and the Theodore
N. Lerner Hall at the Law
School. Robert Tanenbaum
is currently a member of the
GW Board of Trustees.
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu |
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