Professor Alan Dershowitz has been described by Newsweek as "one of the most distinguished defenders of individual rights" and by Time as "the top lawyer of last resort in the country." Born in Brooklyn, Dershowitz is a graduate of Yeshiva University High School, Brooklyn College and Yale Law School.
At age 25, he became the youngest full professor of law at Harvard.

An extremely prolific author, his latest book Why Terrorism Works was published this September. As a weekly columnist, his articles have appeared in 50 U.S. daily newspapers. Of his many appointments and awards, he served as visiting Professor of Law at Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1988 and has lectured in Israel on civil liberties during times of crisis.

Dershowitz takes many of his cases on a pro bono basis and continues to represent indigent defendants and causes. A list of his more high profile cases includes Anatoly Scharansky, Claus von Bulow, Jonathan Pollard, Leona Helmsley and William Kunstler.

He is a past recipient of the William O. Douglas First Amendment Award for his "compassionate eloquent leadership and persistent advocacy in the struggle for civil and human rights." In presenting the award, Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel noted: "If there had been a few people like Alan Dershowitz during the1930s and '40s, the history of European Jewry might have been different