David Benjamin Oppenheimer Explained

David B. Oppenheimer is a Clinical Professor of Law at Berkeley Law.[1] He serves as the Director of the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law and the Faculty Co-Director of the pro bono program.[2] [3] [4] He is the author of ten books on civil rights and discrimination law, including the first law school casebook in comparative equality law.[5] [6] [7]

Personal life

Oppenheimer attended the New Lincoln School in New York City.[8]  He attended a number of universities and graduated from the University Without Walls in 1972 with a degree in political science,[9] [10] [11] and from Harvard Law School in 1978. He is married to Marcy Diane Kates and has two step-children and 5 grandchildren.[12] His brother Michael F. Oppenheimer is a professor at New York University.[13] His Sister Amy J. Oppenheimer is the senior partner of a law firm in Berkeley California (Oppenheimer Investigations Group) and a playwright/actress.[14] [15]

Oppenheimer believes “the cause of racial justice is responsible for his existence.”[16] His grandparents Harry Centennial Oppenheimer and Amy Vorhaus Oppenheimer were troubled by the 1915 release of "The Birth of a Nation" so they independently reached out to Booker T. Washington, who then introduced them to each other.

Career

Oppenheimer graduated from Harvard Law School where he was a research assistant to Laurence Tribe.[17] Following graduation in 1978, Oppenheimer clerked for the Chief Justice of California, Rose Elizabeth Bird.[18] [19] [20] [21] [22] He then went to work as a civil rights prosecutor for the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing handling discrimination cases. In 1982, he founded the Boalt Hall employment discrimination clinic, serving as its Director.[23] He moved to the University of San Francisco and then Golden Gate University, where he served as the Associate Dean. He returned to Berkeley Law in 2009 as Clinical Professor of Law and Director of Professional Skills.[24] [25] He has served as a visiting professor at Sciences Po Paris, University of Paris I, University of Paris X, Queen Mary University of London, University College London, University of Bologna, and LUMSA Rome.[26]

Oppenheimer is a member of the American Law Institute and the advisory committee of the European Union Rewiring project on gender equality.[27] He is a former board member of the ACLU of Northern California, Bay Area Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, and Equal Rights Advocates.[28] [29] [30] [31] He is a member of the US Supreme Court Bar and California State Bar.[32] [33]

Expertise

Oppenheimer is best known for his expertise and publications on comparative discrimination law and U.S. civil rights history, including the origins of diversity policies.[34] [35] [36] In The New Yorker magazine, he was described as the “diversity detective” for his historical accounts of the origins of the diversity justification for affirmative action. He has written for numerous news sources including the Los Angeles Times, The National Law Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, and San Francisco Examiner.[37] [38] [39] [40]

Oppenheimer has litigated sexual harassment, pay equity and other forms of sex discrimination cases, as well as race, ethnicity, disability, religious, and age discrimination. He has filed amicus curiae briefs in the California, United States and Japanese Supreme Courts and in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (regarding the fatal beating of Anastasio Hernandez Rojas by U.S. border agents).[41] [42] [43] In the U.S. Supreme Court he served as counsel for amicus curiae National Employment Lawyers Association in Burlington Industries v. Ellerth and for a group of U.S. law school deans in support of the Students for Fair Admissions case v Harvard University and the University of North Carolina.[44]

Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality

In 2011, Oppenheimer founded the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law, which includes over 1000 scholars, advocates, and activists from every continent except Antarctica. Under his direction, the center has facilitated the publication of webinars, books, and conferences by bringing together scholars and advocates from around the world focused on equality law. The Center has developed online multi-university courses on equality law with universities around the globe.[45] [46] The Center works on a variety of issues including climate equality, digital equality, disability rights, global systemic racism, gender-based harassment and violence, equity and criminal justice, LGBTQI rights, intersectional class discrimination, and pay equity.[47] With the Center, Oppenheimer has organized conferences with legal experts on gender discrimination, harassment, and violence.[48] Oppenheimer also mentors young scholars and students at Berkeley and around the globe.[21]

Scholarship

Oppenheimer has written 10 books as well as scores of scholarly papers and articles. His work focuses on U.S. civil rights history, racism, anti-discrimination law, and comparative equality law.[49] His co-authored book Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law: Cases, Codes, Constitutions & Commentary is the first U.S. textbook on comparative anti-discrimination law. His article Negligent Discrimination in the Pennsylvania Law Review is regarded as part of the established canon for discrimination law.[50] His co-authored Whitewashing Race: The Myth of a Color-Blind Society, won the 2004 Benjamin L. Hooks outstanding book award.[51] [52]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: David Oppenheimer . 2024-08-13 . Berkeley Law . en-US.
  2. Web site: About Us . 2024-08-13 . Berkeley Law . en-US.
  3. Web site: 2022-03-21 . The Power of Pro Bono . 2024-08-13 . Berkeley Law Transcript Magazine . en-US.
  4. Web site: Lawyers . Best . 2018-10-12 . Inside Berkeley Law's Pro Bono Program . 2024-08-13 . Best Lawyers . en.
  5. Web site: Oppenheimer, Leiwant,and Wheeler's Patt v. Donner: A Simulated Casefile for Learning Civil Procedure, 2d . 2024-08-13 . www.civilprocedurecasefile.com.
  6. Web site: Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law, Third Edition . 2024-08-13 . www.e-elgar.com . en.
  7. Web site: Berkeley Law Library .
  8. Web site: Lindsey . Kelsey . Vernell McCarroll Oliver, (1922 - 2012) - ForeverMissed.com Online Memorials . 2024-08-13 . www.forevermissed.com . en.
  9. Web site: 2023-09-27 . Recent Faculty Scholarship 2023 by Berkeley Law - Issuu . 2024-08-13 . issuu.com . en.
  10. Book: Chavez, Lydia . The Color Bind . UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS . 78.
  11. Caveat, November 1993 . Caveat.
  12. Web site: Institute . The American Law . Members . 2024-08-13 . American Law Institute . en.
  13. Web site: Michael F Oppenheimer . 2024-08-13 . sps.nyu.edu . en.
  14. Web site: Amy Oppenheimer . 2024-08-13 . Oppenheimer Investigations Group LLP . en-US.
  15. News: Floyd . Thomas . 2024-07-10 . This lawyer is returning to the stage after five decades away . 2024-08-13 . Washington Post . en-US . 0190-8286.
  16. Lemann . Nicholas . 2021-07-26 . Can Affirmative Action Survive? . 2024-08-13 . The New Yorker . en-US . 0028-792X.
  17. Book: Tribe, Laurence . American Constitutional Law, 3d (University Treatise Series) . January 1, 2000 . Foundation Press.
  18. June 2002 . What's New in the Workplace? . Employment Law.
  19. Book: Peppers, Todd C. . Of Courtiers and Princes: Stories of Lower Court Clerks and Their Judges . 2021-02-02 . University of Virginia Press . 978-0-8139-4460-9 . en.
  20. Web site: Oppenheimer . David Benjamin . 1988-04-28 . In Public Life, First-Name Familiarity Isn't Always Affectionate . 2024-08-13 . Los Angeles Times . en-US.
  21. Web site: 2009-09-02 . Professional Skills Program to Become Larger Part of Curriculum . 2024-08-13 . Berkeley Law . en-US.
  22. Spring 1993 . Class Action, Spring 1993 . Class Action . 10 . 5.
  23. 1985 . Oppenheimer . David Benjamin . Forum - Boalt Hall's Employment Discrimination Clinic: A Model for Law School/Government Cooperation in Integrating Substance and Practice . Berkeley Journal of Employment & Labor Law . 10.15779/Z38Z03X . Oppenheimer . David Benjamin .
  24. Oppenheimer . David . Schechter . Susan . Swaroop . Shalini . Keady . Trish . 2013 . Berkeley Law's Student-Initiated Legal Services Projects . Journal of Legal Education . 62 . 4 . 621–630 . 42894316 . 0022-2208.
  25. Web site: CAP - David B. Oppenheimer . 2024-08-13 . cap-press.com . en.
  26. Web site: Who We Are . 2024-08-13 . Comparative Equality . en-US.
  27. Web site: RE-WIRING on LinkedIn: #rewiringinstitutions #transformativeequality #inclusivesociety . 2024-08-13 . www.linkedin.com . en.
  28. Web site: David B. Oppenheimer ACLU of Northern CA . 2024-08-13 . www.aclunc.org . en.
  29. Web site: 2000 . ACLU NEWS Newspaper of the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California .
  30. Web site: Members . 2024-08-13 . LCCRSF . en-US.
  31. November 1993 . Caveat, November 1993 . Caveat . 203 . 6.
  32. Web site: David Oppenheimer . 2024-08-13 . www.edx.org.
  33. Web site: David Benjamin Oppenheimer # 83902 - Attorney Licensee Search . 2024-08-13 . apps.calbar.ca.gov.
  34. Web site: Oppenheimer . David B. . Bierman . James . Harvard president Abbott Lowell is laughing at us again - The Boston Globe . 2024-08-13 . BostonGlobe.com . en-US.
  35. News: 2021-12-01 . Activision, Monster Face Gender-Diversity Deadline as Court Weighs In . 2024-08-13 . Bloomberg.com . en.
  36. Web site: The South African Sources of the Diversity Justification for U.S. Affirmative Action . 2024-08-13 . California Law Review . en-US.
  37. Web site: Oppenheimer . David B. . 2013-03-30 . King's Easter epistle on civil disobedience . 2024-08-13 . Los Angeles Times . en-US.
  38. Web site: Facts are essential . 2024-08-13 . National Law Journal . en.
  39. Web site: Oppenheimer . David . Nov 18, 2005 . Color-blind equality? / A U.S. solution to what ails France -- affirmative action . San Francisco Chronicle.
  40. Web site: Aug 24, 1997, page 61 - The San Francisco Examiner at San Francisco Examiner . 2024-08-13 . Newspapers.com . en.
  41. https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/20/20-1199/232454/20220801155734670_20-1199%2021-707%20bsac%20Deans%20Of%20U.S.%20Law%20Schools.pdfA.pdf
  42. Web site: California Courts - Appellate Court Case Information . 2024-08-13 . appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov.
  43. Web site: 2022-11-10 . Fighting for justice at the border . 2024-08-13 . Berkeley Law . en-US.
  44. https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep524/usrep524742/usrep524742.pdf
  45. Web site: 2020-12-14 . Rapid Reaction: Hosted at Berkeley Law, New Global Course Amplifies COVID-19's Jarring Inequalities . 2024-08-13 . Berkeley Law . en-US.
  46. 28 Mar 2024 . Teaching Law Across Six Continents . Journal of Legal Education . 72 . 1. 4771258 .
  47. Web site: Our Working Groups . 2024-08-13 . Berkeley Law . en-US.
  48. Web site: 2024-01-09 . Alumni experts pursue enduring solutions for gender-related mistreatment . 2024-08-13 . Berkeley Law . en-US.
  49. Web site: David Oppenheimer Global Alliance for Justice Education . 2024-08-13 . en-US.
  50. Oppenheimer . David . 1992 . Negligent Discrimination . University of Pennsylvania Law Review . 141 . 3 . 899–972. 10.2307/3312446 . 3312446 . 2737701 .
  51. Web site: Confronting Inequalities School of Social Ecology . 2024-08-13 . socialecology.uci.edu.
  52. Web site: Whitewashing Race by Michael Brown, Martin Carnoy, Elliott Currie, Troy Duster, David Oppenheimer, Marjorie Shultz, David Wellman - Paper .

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