Alan Dershowitz, one of the country’s most prominent lawyers and a passionate advocate for Israel, is retiring from Harvard Law School.
Dershowitz, 75, who is known for taking on high-profile and often unpopular causes and clients, has taught at Harvard Law for half a century. His retirement becomes official on Friday, Dec. 20.
In 1967, he became the youngest full professor in the school’s history. An expert in criminal and constitutional law, Dershowitz has served on the defense team of celebrities including O.J. Simpson and Claus von Bulow, and more recently Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
Dershowitz, a Brooklyn native who has written and spoken often about his Orthodox Jewish upbringing, has used his prominence to defend Israel over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In 2006, Dershowitz publicly challenged former President Jimmy Carter for the views he expressed in his book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid,” calling the book biased.
While “proud to be Jewish and engaged with Israel’s future,” Dershowitz also assisted Palestinian students when they sought inclusion of the Palestinian flag in a campus display, said Harvard Law School dean Martha Minow. — jta