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Alan Dershowitz

by Dylan from Mission Viejo

"The best answer to bad speech is good speech"
Alan Dershowitz arguing his case in a court of law (http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2013/12/13/alan-dershowit (Jennifer Smith))
Alan Dershowitz arguing his case in a court of law (http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2013/12/13/alan-dershowit (Jennifer Smith))

I first became interested in Alan Dershowitz at the same time I decided to become a lawyer. This was around the 5th grade when I found out my cousin got accepted into Harvard law school. Alan Dershowitz worked at Harvard as "the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School," (Biography 1) for most of his career. I found it interesting to not only learn about the school my cousin got into but to also learn about someone that I could look up to. I selected Alan Dershowitz for my personal career hero because he is a very successful man that has many of the same views as me. Alan Dershowitz also shares a career that I would also like to go into. Alan Dershowitz is a revolutionary lawyer who has won many cases that would have been lost by other lawyers and has changed the way we look at law. These are the reasons why I chose Alan Dershowitz as my personal career hero.

The job of a lawyer includes filing a lot of paperwork and being organized. A lawyer's job is to either defend or prosecute a person in a court of law. A lawyer will collect facts interpret data and formulate an argument to protect their client. In order to become a lawyer you must receive a bachelor's degree, a pre-law degree, and a Juris Doctor degree. "The mean annual lawyer salary is $130,880, which is equivalent to a mean $62.93 hourly wage. While the bottom ten percent earns $54,310, the top ten percent earn an average of $168,010" (How Much Do Lawyers Make?) this salary is relatively stable with a slight increase in pay soon to come. A similar career would be a judge because they deliberate over trials in a court of law. A recent development in law is that More than 30% of law firms have set the goal of increasing their non-fee earner headcount over the next year.

Alan Dershowitz was born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. "Dershowitz was born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to Harry and Claire Dershowitz, an Orthodox Jewish couple, and was raised in Borough Park." (Alan Dershowitz 1). His father was a person who firmly believed that justice would prevail. His father raised him to believe that "it was the Jew's job to defend the underdog" (Alan Dershowitz). I believe this saying encouraged Alan to become a lawyer that way he could in fact defend the underdog. Alan attended Yeshiva University High School in the years 1952-1956. Alan then continued on to college at Brooklyn college, then graduating in 1959. Alan then attended Yale; this is where he finished his schooling, continuing to graduate in 1962. A huge milestone in Alan Dershowitz career was the O.J. Simpson case in June 1994. Alan Dershowitz defended O.J. Simpson in a case that was thought to be an easy verdict of guilty, in the end O.J. was found not guilty and Alan Dershowitz proved himself as an amazing lawyer.

Alan Dershowitz gives back to society by defending what is right helps protect the underdogs, when the odds are stacked against someone Alan will still protect them in a court of law. In this way Alan Dershowitz is a hero by protecting those who are innocent and keeping the people civilized. Alan Dershowitz was one of the lawyers who proved Mike Tyson not guilty in the controversial Mike Tyson trial. Without Alan Dershowitz having protected Mike Tyson would have gotten a lifetime in prison. I believe this is the highest form of civil service, saving a man's life who has so much to offer from life imprisonment, few people can say they have done the same .Mike Tyson now uses a lot of his earnings to support the "Laureus Sport for Good Foundation." (Mike Tyson Charity Work, Events and Causes 1). Additionally, Alan Dershowitz helped a charity of his own, "the Jewish National Fund honored Frankfurter Professor of Law Alan M. Dershowitz for his legal acumen and "unshakable" advocacy for Israel." (Jewish Charity Honors Dershowitz 1). Dershowitz not only helps the Jewish community in the court he also donates money to many Jewish charities like this one.

In order to reach my dream career of becoming a lawyer I have to set many goals. Some goals I have for high school included getting straight "A"s. Another high school goal I have is to continue playing high school soccer and also to continue refereeing soccer for both Volunteer and for a job. My college goals include attend a top 20 law school and receive great grades at that school. My other college goal is to try and stay at a local school that way I can avoid out of state expenses. The final set of goals I have are just for my life, these include goals such as becoming a successful lawyer. Finally I hope to be like Alan Dershowitz and eventually own or co-own my own law firm.

Page created on 6/3/2014 12:00:00 AM

Last edited 6/3/2014 12:00:00 AM

The beliefs, viewpoints and opinions expressed in this hero submission on the website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, viewpoints and opinions of The MY HERO Project and its staff.

Bibliography

Smith, Jemmifer. "Alan Dershowitz Says Goodbye to Teaching Law (But Not to The Spotlight)." [Online] Available http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2013/12/13/alan-dershowitz-says-goodbye-to-teaching-but-not-to-the-spotligh.

Wikipedia. "Alan Dershowitz." [Online] Available http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Dershowitz.

Dershowitz, Alan. "Biography ." [Online] Available http://www.alandershowitz.com/biography.php.

Look To The Stars. "Mike Tyson Charity Work, Events and Causes." [Online] Available Looktothestars.org.

Hernandez, Javier. "Jewish Charity Honors Dershowitz." [Online] Available Thecrimson.com.