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Floyd Abrams

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Floyd Abrams
Abrams in 2006
Born (1936-07-09) July 9, 1936 (age 88)
New York City, U.S.
EducationCornell University (BA)
Yale University (JD)
OccupationAttorney
EmployerCahill Gordon & Reindel
Known forFirst Amendment litigation
Spouse
Efrat Surasky
​
(m. 1963)​
Children
FamilyElliott Abrams (cousin)

Floyd Abrams (born July 9, 1936) is an American lawyer. A member of Cahill Gordon & Reindel since 1963 and currently senior counsel, he has argued in 13 cases before the Supreme Court of the United States.[1][2] Abrams was co-counsel to The New York Times in the 1971 Pentagon Papers case, and represented Judith Miller in the CIA leak grand jury investigation, Standard & Poor's, and Lorillard Tobacco Company among others. [3][4][5][6] He also represented Senator Mitch McConnell in the Citizens United 2010 Supreme Court case.[7][8]. Two of Abrams' clients had been on death row for crimes, and their convictions were overruled by the Supreme Court.[9][10][11]

Early life and education

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Abrams was born in New York City on July 9, 1936, the son of Rae (née Eberlin) and Isadore Abrams.[12] He is of Jewish descent and had a bar mitzvah ceremony.[13][14] His first cousin is Elliot Abrams, President George W. Bush's deputy national-security advisor.[15] He earned his undergraduate degree from Cornell University in 1956, and after trying to decide between a PhD in American History and law, he obtained his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 1960.[16]

While at Cornell, Abrams participated in Reserve Officers' Training Corps and was a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army.[14]

Career

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From 1961 to 1963, Abrams clerked for Judge Paul Conway Leahy of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware.[17] Abrams joined Cahill Gordon & Reindel in 1963 and became a partner in 1970.[citation needed] He was also a Visiting Lecturer at Columbia Law School from 1981 to 1985.[18]. He was the William J. Brennan Jr. visiting Professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.[19]

He created the Floyd Abrams Institute for Freedom of Expression at Yale Law School.[20]

Abrams is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[21]

His clients have included The McGraw-Hill Companies, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, Time Magazine, Business Week, The Nation, Reader's Digest, Hearst, AIG, and others.[22]

He is the subject of the PBS - American Masters documentary Floyd Abrams: Speaking Freely, which was nominated for an Emmy.[23][24]

Personal life

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Abrams lives in New York City with wife Efrat Surasky, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease.[25][26] Together they have a son, Dan Abrams of ABC, as well as the host of On Patrol: Live and Court Cam, and a daughter, Judge Ronnie Abrams of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

In 2008, he played the role of Judge Hall in the movie Nothing but the Truth.

Recognitions

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  • Presented with the Chambers and Partners' Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010.[27]
  • Recipient of the Freedom of Speech Award from The Media Institute in 2024.[28]
  • Honoree and recipient of the Inaugural Floyd Abrams Award by the National Coalition Against Censorship in 2024.[29]

Selected publications

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  • Speaking Freely: Trials of the First Amendment, (Viking Press, 2005) ISBN 978-0-670-03375-1.
  • Friend of the Court: On the Front Lines with the First Amendment, (Yale University Press, 2013) ISBN 978-0-300-19087-8.
  • The Soul of the First Amendment, (Yale University Press, 2017) and ISBN 978-0-300-19088-5.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ https://www.cahill.com/professionals/floyd-abrams
  2. ^ https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/floyd-abrams-supreme-court-free-speech/29080/
  3. ^ https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/floyd_abrams_latest_first_amendment_suit_challenges_new_tobacco_law
  4. ^ https://www.businessinsider.com/floyd-abrams-sp-defense-strategy-2013-2
  5. ^ https://www.npr.org/2005/10/11/4953466/lawyer-says-miller-lost-in-court-won-on-principle
  6. ^ https://perkinscoie.com/insights/podcast/inside-story-pentagon-papers-featuring-floyd-abrams
  7. ^ "Facial Recognition Start-Up Mounts a First Amendment Defense in Privacy Suits". The New York Times. 11 August 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  8. ^ Wilson, Chris (2023-09-18). "13 Supreme Court appearances and other important cases in Floyd Abrams' career". American Masters. PBS. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
  9. ^ https://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/02/nyregion/chronicle-033502.html
  10. ^ https://www.thirteen.org/openmind-archive/government/floyd-abrams-friend-of-the-court/
  11. ^ https://www.businessinsider.com/floyd-abrams-on-bradley-manning-case-2013-3
  12. ^ "Abrams, Floyd 1936–". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  13. ^ Blum, Howard (July 7, 2005). "Q and A With Floyd Abrams". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Does your heritage as a Jew give you a particular affinity as a lawyer for the First Amendment, which protects freedom of religion, freedom of speech and establishes the separation of church and state?
  14. ^ a b "Interview with Floyd Abrams". Interviews with Max Raskin. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
  15. ^ Dana, Rebecca (December 6, 2016). "The Abrams Family". The New York Observer.
  16. ^ "Floyd Abrams – first amendment litigator".
  17. ^ "Floyd Abrams delivers annual Salant Lecture". Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy. 10 October 2013. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  18. ^ "Floyd Abrams, Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP: Profile & Biography". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  19. ^ https://law.yale.edu/yls-today/news/floyd-abrams-59-writes-new-book-first-amendment
  20. ^ https://law.yale.edu/isp/initiatives/floyd-abrams-institute-freedom-expression
  21. ^ https://www.amacad.org/person/floyd-abrams
  22. ^ https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/floyd-abrams/
  23. ^ https://www.speakingfreelyfilm.com/
  24. ^ https://www.wnet.org/2024/07/29/the-wnet-group-receives-35-new-york-emmy-nominations-4-news-documentary-emmy-nominations/
  25. ^ "Abrams, Floyd 1936–". Contemporary Authors. Cengage. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  26. ^ Floyd Abrams: Speaking Freely. American Masters, episode 3602, September 22, 2023
  27. ^ "Cahill".
  28. ^ https://www.mediainstitute.org/2024/10/28/media-institute-will-honor-floyd-abrams-patrick-butler-richard-e-wiley-at-free-speech-america-gala-in-washington/
  29. ^ https://ncac.org/about-us/events/annual-benefit-2024
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