Lecture to explore legacy of Justice Brandeis

January 24, 2011

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Professor Melvin I. Urofsky will deliver a lecture on the diverse life of Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, at noon Feb. 2 at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, Holland Hall Room 180.

Urofsky is a professor of law and public policy and a professor emeritus of history at Virginia Commonwealth University and was the chair of its history department.

Brandeis, the namesake for Brandeis University in Massachusetts and the law school at the University of Louisville, helped establish the concept of right-to-privacy, championed labor laws and fought against public corruption throughout his influential career as a practitioner in Boston. He was also an influential leader of the American Zionist movement before and during his years on the Supreme Court.

“Justice Louis D. Brandeis not only is widely regarded as one of the most outstanding justices in Supreme Court history, but also many consider him to be one of America’s greatest lawyers,” said Michael Allan Wolf, UF law professor and Richard E. Nelson Chair in Local Government Law.

Urofsky, whose lecture is entitled “The Five Lives of Louis Brandeis,” is a leading Brandeis scholar whose most recent book on the associate justice, “Louis D. Brandeis: A Life,” was published in 2009 by Pantheon Books. Urofsky is the editor – with David W. Levy – of a five-volume collection of Brandeis’ letters as well as the author of “American Zionism from Herzl to the Holocaust” and “Louis D. Brandeis and the Progressive Tradition.”

“Professor Urofsky’s book on Brandeis is probably one of the most significant judicial biographies of the past decade – and of course Brandeis was more than just a judge,” said Mark Fenster, UF law professor and associate dean for faculty development. “It was prominently reviewed upon its publication and very widely praised.”

“Mel Urofsky has spent decades studying the life and work of Brandeis, and this promises to be an enjoyable and informative talk,” Wolf said.

This event is free and open to the public.