In November 1999 I became a partner in Schonbrun, De Simone, Seplow, Harris & Hoffman LLP. Prior to that, on March 1, 1994, I established my own law firm. On May 1, 1997, the firm became Bostwick & Hoffman, LLP. My practice has been in the areas of constitutional and civil rights litigation, including First Amendment, discrimination and privacy litigation, and general business litigation; including copyright and trademark litigation. I also specialize in civil and criminal appeals. In October 1998, I was named one of the 100 most influential attorneys in California by the Daily Journal and in February 1999 one of the top trial lawyers in Los Angeles County by the Los Angeles Business Journal.

In the period from 1976 to 1984 I litigated more than 20 civil rights/civil liberties cases in the following areas: First Amendment rights, criminal law and procedure, rights of persons with disabilities, race and sex discrimination, voting rights, police misconduct, freedom of information and privacy. I was lead counsel in Coalition Against Police Abuse v. Board of Police Commissioners (the "police spying" cases) and in Wilkinson v. FBI (a challenge to the FBI's COINTELPRO operation against the National Committee To Abolish HUAC). In 1984, I received the Clarence Darrow Award for outstanding First Amendment advocacy for my work in the police spying cases. After leaving the ACLU in 1994, I was named "of Counsel" to the ACLU Foundation and a member of the ACLU Foundation Board. I continue to litigate ACLU cases.

I participated in the preparation and trial of matters in the following areas: securities regulation, bankruptcy, contracts, business torts, real estate, copyright, defamation and constitutional law. I also handled a number of appeals. I often had primary responsibility for the cases I handled and on several complex cases I supervised several other attorneys and numerous paralegals. I was also a member of several firm committees, including the recruitment committee.

August 1981 - July 1984

Associate Professor, Southwestern University School of Law
Los Angeles, California.

Courses: Criminal Law and Procedure, Federal Courts, Civil Rights Litigation Seminar, International Human Rights Law, Public International Law, Contracts. I was also the Co-Director (with Stanley Fleishman) of a clinical program on the rights of the disabled and elderly.

In all, I have taught more than 40 separate courses, including First Amendment, Civil Rights Litigation, Constitutional Law Seminars on Equality and Privacy, International Human Rights, International Criminal Justice, Police Abuse Litigation, Slander, Libel, and the First Amendment and AIDS and the Law.

• Member, California Academy of Appellate Lawyers (elected May 2000)
• Co-Chair, International Human Rights Committee, ABA Section on International Law and Practice (1999-2000)
• Member, Los Angeles Copyright Society (1997 - )
• Lawyer Representative, Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference (1989-1992)
• Member, Committee on Private Bar Involvement in Pro Bono Work, The State Bar of California (1988-1991)
• Program Coordinator, International Human Rights Committee, ABA Section on Individual Rights and Responsibilities (1984-1988)
• Committee on Human Rights, The State Bar of California (1983-1986)
• Executive Committee, Section on Individual Rights and
  Responsibilities, Los Angeles County Bar Association (1985-1987)
• Executive Committee, International Law Section,
  Los Angeles County Bar Association (1982-1986)
• Arbitrator (legal fee disputes),
  Los Angeles County Bar Association (1980-1983)
• Arbitrator, American Arbitration Association, Commercial Panel (1981-1985)
• Vice-Chair, Arbitration Committee,
  Los Angeles County Bar Association (1982-1983)
• Judge Pro Tem, Los Angeles Municipal Court (Small Claims) (1983-1984)

• Amnesty International: Since August 1999 I have been a member of AI's 9 member International Executive Committee which oversees AI's operations throughout
  the world.
• Amnesty International - USA: Chair of the Board (1997-99, 1988-89); Member, Executive Committee (1984-1989, 1992-94, 1997-99); Member of Board (1983-89, 1992-94, 1996-99); Chair, International Council Meeting (1991-97); Founder and National Coordinator, AIUSA Legal Support Network (1982-87); Chair of December 1998 International Summit of Human Rights Defenders (Paris, France). I have also undertaken several human rights missions, diplomatic missions (e.g. as a delegate to United Nations meetings) and trial observations for AI. I have served on numerous AIUSA committees and task forces and I have frequently represented AIUSA in the media.
• Human Rights Watch: Member of California Committee; Member of Advisory Committee to Asia Watch; Research mission to Ethiopia (1994)
• Article 19 (International Centre Against Censorship): Member of International Board (since 1999); Chair of 1995 International Conference on Freedom of Expression and National Security (Johannesburg, South Africa).
• International League for Human Rights: Member of Board
• Center For Human Rights and Constitutional Law: Member of Board
• International Human Rights Law Group: Member of Domestic
  Advisory Committee

Honors/Activities:
Staff Member, Annual Survey of American Law (1974-1975)

Research Associate, International Law Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1975-1976)

Law Clerk, Manhattan Legal Services
(N.Y.U. Public Interest Clinic) (1974-1975)

RFK Fellow, Office of Congressman Jonathan Bingham, Washington, D.C. (1974) (responsible for foreign policy related issues, issues relating to Watergate
and tax reform)

Major: International Relations
Class Standing: Top 5%
Honors: Phi Beta Kappa
Magna Cum Laude Regent's Scholarship

• "International Human Rights Law and Police Reform," in Zero Tolerance: Quality of Life and the New Police Brutality in New York City (NYU Press 2001) Eds. A. McArdle and T. Erzen
• "Using Immigration Law to Protect Human Rights: A Legislative Proposal," 20 Mich. J. of Int'l L. 657 (1999)(with William Aceves)
• "Safeguarding Liberty: National Security, Freedom of Expression and Access to Information: United States of America," (with Kate Martin) in Secrecy and Liberty, supra.
• "The Gag Order in the O.J. Simpson Civil Action: Lessons to be Learned?,"
  17 Loyola Ent. L.J. 333 (1997)
• "The 'Blank Stare Phenomenon': Proving Customary International Law in U.S. Courts," 25 Ga. J. Int'l and Comp. Law 181 (1996)
• "Enforcing International Human Rights Law in the United States," in Human Rights: An Agenda for the Next Century, American Society of International Law (1994) (with Nadine Strossen)
• "Double Jeopardy Wars: The Case for a Civil Rights 'Exception,'" 41 UCLA L. Rev. 649 (1994)
• "The Feds, Lies and Videotape: The Need for an Effective Federal Role in Controlling Police Abuse in Urban America," 66 So. Cal. L. Rev. 1453 (1993)
• "The Elimination of Torture: International and Domestic Developments" 9 International Lawyer 1351 (Fall 1985) (with Linda Brackins)
• "Public Interest Lawyers: Three Success Stories," Los Angeles Lawyer (December 1984) (I was one of the subjects of the article)
• Book Review, Hannum, "Guide to International Human Rights Practice," and Meron, "Human Rights in International Law: Legal and Policy Issues," 18 International Lawyer 741 (Summer 1984)
• "The Police Spying Settlement: New Safeguards for Political Expression," Los Angeles Lawyer (May 1984) (with Robert Newman)
• "The Application of International Human Rights Law in State Courts: A View from California," 18 The International Lawyer 59 (Winter 1984) (Symposium)
• "Trade Union Rights Under Article 11 of the European Convention of Human Rights," 5 Comparative Labor Law 149 (1982)
• "Assignment to Trial Department; Motions; Procedure in Chambers," in California Civil Procedure During Trial (C.E.B. 1982) (with Dale L. Gronemeier)
• "Environmental Law/The Clean Air Act Amendments," 1974/75 Annual Survey of American Law 641
• "The Right of Self-Determination in Very Small Places," 8 N.Y.U. Journal of International Law and Politics 331 (1976) (with Professor Thomas M. Franck)

I have also written dozens of articles for various publications, including the
newsletters and magazines of various organizations, on civil liberties, civil rights and international human rights issues. See, e.g., "The United Nations and the Death Penalty," in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948-1988: Human Rights, The United Nations and Amnesty International, at 89-99 (Published by AIUSA in Fall 1988)(with Zazi Pope); "The Use of International Law in ACLU Cases" (paper presented at ACLU Biennial Conference, Madison, Wisconsin, June 1989, updated in 1991 for the ACLU Biennial Conference in Burlington, Vermont). Since 1991 I have been the National Coordinator of the ACLU International Human Rights Task Force and the Editor of the ACLU International Civil Liberties Report. I have also published numerous op-ed pieces on civil liberties and international human rights topics in the Los Angeles Times, the Daily News, the Los Angeles Daily Journal, Newsday and the Herald Examiner. I am also a frequent speaker on First Amendment, civil rights and international human rights issues at CLE programs, law schools, symposia, Bar Association meetings, and other public events. See, e.g., XII N.Y.L. Sch. J. Hum.Rts. 599 (1995)(re human rights trials in Ethiopia).

• Sandin v. Conner, 515 U.S. 472 (1995)(argued)*
  (Prisoners Rights, Due Process)
• United States v. Alvarez-Machain, 504 U.S. 655 (1992)(argued)*
  (Extradition Treaty, International Law)
• Reno v. Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, 119 S.Ct. 136 (1999) (Immigrants Rights, Federal Jurisdiction)
• Reno v. Flores, 507 U.S. 292 (1993)
  (Immigrant Rights, Due Process)
• San Francisco Arts & Athletics, Inc. v. U.S. Olympic Committee, 483 U.S. 522 (1987)(First Amendment, Trademark)
• Board of Directors of Rotary Int'l v. Rotary Club of Duarte, 481 U.S. 537 (1987)(Sex Discrimination)
• Crawford v. Board of Education, 458 U.S. 527 (1982) (Desegregation)

• United States v Messer, 197 F. 3d. 330 (9th Cir 1999) (Speedy Trial Act, Conviction Overturned)
• Maktab Tarighe Oveyssi Shah Maghsoudi, Inc. v. Kianfar, 179 F.3d 1244 (9th Cir. 1999)* (First Amendment, Trademark)
• United States v. Phillips, 174 F.3d 1074 (9th Cir. 1999)* (Criminal Law)
• Martinez v. City of Los Angeles, 141 F.3d 1373 (9th Cir. 1998)* (Police Misconduct, International Human Rights)
• Alvarez-Machain v. United States, 107 F.3d 696 (9th Cir. 1997)* (Federal Tort Claims Act, Torture Victim Protection Act, Constitutional Law)
• Hilao v. Estate of Marcos, 103 F.3d 789 (9th Cir. 1996)* (International Human Rights)
• Abebe-Jira v. Negewo, 72 F.3d 844 (11th Cir. 1996)* (International Human Rights)
• Standing Committee v. Yagman, 55 F.3d 1430 (9th Cir. 1995) (First Amendment)(Amicus)
• Siderman v. Republic of Argentina, 965 F.2d 699 (9th Cir. 1992)
  (International Human Rights, Foreign Sovereign Immunity)
• American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee v. Thornburgh, 970 F.2d 501 (9th Cir. 1991)*
  (First Amendment, Immigrants Rights)
• United States v. Aguilar, 871 F.2d 1436 (9th Cir. 1989)
  (International Human Rights, Sanctuary Case)
• Chalk v. United States District Court, 840 F.2d 701 (9th Cir. 1988)*
  (AIDS Discrimination)
• Levine v. United States District Court, 775 F.2d 1054 (9th Cir. 1985)*
  (First Amendment, Gag Order)
• Martin v. International Olympic Committee, 740 F.2d 670 (9th Cir. 1984) (Sex Discrimination)

• Doe v. Unocal, 963 F.Supp. 880 (C.D. Cal. 1997)* (International Human Rights)
• Johnson v. County of Los Angeles, 865 F. Supp. 1430 (C.D. Cal. 1994)*
  (First Amendment)
• Wilkinson v. United States, 774 F. Supp. 1360 (N.D. Ga 1991)* (Due Process)
• American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee v. Meese, 714 F. Supp 1060 (C.D. Cal. 1989)* (International Human Rights, First Amendment)
• Rogan v. City of Los Angeles, 668 F. Supp 1384 (C.D. Cal. 1987)* (Civil Rights, Due Process)
• Thomas v. Atascadero Unified School District, 662 F. Supp 376 (C.D. Cal. 1987)* (AIDS Discrimination)
• Wilkinson v. FBI, 633 F. Supp 336 (C.D. Cal. 1986)* (Freedom of Information Act)
• Handel v. Artukovic, 601 F. Supp 1421 (C.D. Cal. 1985)* (argued as amicus) (International Human Rights)
• Wilkinson v. FBI, 99 F.R.D. 148 (C.D. Cal. 1983)* (Civil Rights, Archival Privilege)

• People v. Mitcham, 1 Cal. 4th 1027 (1992)* (Death Penalty)

• People v Brown, 100 Cal. Rptr 2d 211 (2000)*
• Del Rio v. Jetton, 55 Cal. App. 4th 30 (1997)* (SLAPP Suit Defense)
• City of Huntington Park v. Superior Court, 34 Cal. App. 4th 1293 (1995)*
  (Civil Rights, Police Misconduct)
• McCarthy v. Fletcher, 207 Cal. App. 3d 130 (1989)* (First Amendment)
• Ketchens v. Reiner, 194 Cal. App. 3d 470 (1987)* (First Amendment)
• Rubin v. City of Los Angeles, 190 Cal. App. 3d 560 (1987)* (First Amendment, State Secrets Privilege)
• Coalition Against Police Abuse v. Superior Court, 170 Cal. App. 3d 888 (1985)* (Civil Rights, First Amendment, Privacy)