Experts in five locations—Berkeley, Cambridge, Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C.—to lead discussions about legal justice on November 11
CAMBRIDGE, MA | November 2, 2015 – As part of its inaugural Distinguished Morton L. Mandel Annual Public Lecture, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences will convene legal experts on November 11, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. EST in a discussion on the ability of low-income Americans to access our justice system. This event, entitled “Making Justice Accessible,” will be held at the House of the Academy in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and will be simultaneously broadcast to regional events in California, Illinois, New York, and Washington, D.C. All of the events will also feature onsite discussions led by Academy members and local legal experts.
Associate Justice Goodwin Liu (California Supreme Court), Judge David Tatel (United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit), and Chief Judge Diane Wood (United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit) will serve as the discussants at this public event.
The Distinguished Morton L. Mandel Annual Public Lecture is made possible by the support and leadership of the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Foundation, based in Cleveland, Ohio. In May 2015, the foundation made a gift of $5.6 million to establish the Morton L. Mandel Program for Civic Discourse and Membership Engagement at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
“The Distinguished Morton L. Mandel Annual Public Lecture significantly enhances the Academy’s ability to promote discourse between our members and the public on the challenges that our society confronts,” said Jonathan F. Fanton, President of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. “Beginning with this inaugural Mandel Lecture, and in the lectures that follow, we will engage experts and the public in defining the issues before us, facilitating new understanding, and identifying opportunities to further the common good,” Fanton adds.
At the conclusion of the discussion by Associate Justice Liu, Judge Tatel, and Chief Judge Wood in Cambridge, legal experts will facilitate discussions as follows: Diane Wood, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and a Senior Lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School (Cambridge); David Oppenheimer, Clinical Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Student Initiated Legal Services Program at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (California); Diana White, Executive Director of the LAF (formerly Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago) (Chicago); David Zornow, global head of Skadden Arps’s Litigation/Controversy practice and a member of the firm’s Policy Committee (New York); and Jane H. Aiken, Vice Dean, Associate Dean for Experiential Education, Professor of Law, and Director of The Community Justice Project, Georgetown University Law Center (Washington, D.C.).
Founded in 1780, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences is one of the country’s oldest learned societies and independent policy research centers, convening leaders from the academic, business, and government sectors to respond to the challenges facing the nation and the world. In its work, the Academy focuses on higher education, the humanities, and the arts; science and technology policy; global security and energy; and American institutions and the public good. Academy research has resulted in reports like The Heart of the Matter and Restoring the Foundation: The Vital Role of Research in Preserving the American Dream. Projects under the guidance of the Academy’s Committee on International Security Studies address the impact of energy and security technologies on global prospects for peace and prosperity. The Academy’s work is advanced by its more than 5,000 elected members, who are leaders, from around the nation and the world, in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.