Alan Dershowitz's Biography

Alan Dershowitz was born on 1 September 1938 in Williamsburg.

Dershowitz was the first of his family to be delivered outside of home, and his grandfather, Ringel, remained on guard outside the baby room at the hospital lest Alan be stolen.

According to Alan Dershowitz's book, Chutzpah, when he graduated from Yeshiva University High School his parents 'got me a baseball encyclopedia, which they inscribed, "You should know your Talmud like you know your baseball."'

Alan Dershowitz went on to study at Yale Law School, where he was first in his class and editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal.

He became a Harvard University law professor and has defended many high profile cases, including successfully defending Claus von Bülow, who was charged with attempting to murder his wife.

The film 'Reversal of Fortune' based on Dershowitz's book details the inside the story of the case. Dershowitz was played in the film by Ron Silver.

Alan Dershowitz has been a highly prolific author, but has also found time to act for a wide variety of clients including Anatoly Shcharansky, Michael Milken, Jonathan Pollard, Leona Helmsley, Mike Tyson, Penthouse, and Rabbi Meir Kahane.

He was also part of the defence team that secured O.J. Simpson a not-guilty verdict.