Daniel Mark Siegel is a civil-rights attorney at the Oakland-based law firm Siegel, Yee, Brunner & Mehta, former legal adviser to Oakland Mayor

Jean Quan Lai Jean Quan (born October 21, 1949) is an American politician that served as the 49th mayor of Oakland, California from 2011 to 2015. She previously served as City Council member for Oakland's 4th District. Upon inauguration on January 3, 201 ...

, and candidate in the 2014 Oakland mayoral race. He specializes in employment and labor law.

Early life and education

Siegel was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and raised in

and on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

. He attended high school in New York, graduating second in his class. He graduated magna cum laude from

Hamilton College (New York) Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York. It was founded as Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812 in honor of inaugural trustee Alexander Hamilton, following ...

in 1967 with a bachelor's degree in Philosophy and Religion.

Law School

Siegel graduated from UC Berkeley's

Boalt Hall The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (commonly known as Berkeley Law or UC Berkeley School of Law) is the law school of the University of California, Berkeley, a public research university in Berkeley, California. It is one of ...

in 1970.

Student activism

Siegel was a student activist in 1967-1970 while he attended UC Berkeley's

University of California, Berkeley, School of Law The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (commonly known as Berkeley Law or UC Berkeley School of Law) is the law school of the University of California, Berkeley, a public research university in Berkeley, California. It is one of ...

. He was also a leader in the local

Students for a Democratic Society Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was a national student activist organization in the United States during the 1960s, and was one of the principal representations of the New Left. Disdaining permanent leaders, hierarchical relationships ...

. As

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of Californi ...

Student President-Elect in 1969, Siegel is known for his role in the student rebellion on "Bloody Thursday," when thousands of students clashed with hundreds of

California Highway Patrol The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is a state law enforcement agency of the U.S. state of California. The CHP has primary patrol jurisdiction over all California highways and roads and streets outside city limits, and can exercise law enfor ...

officers and Alameda County sheriff's deputies sent by the office of then-California governor

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

to assert control over a piece of property known as " People's Park." The 2.8 acre People's Park was, in 1969, in the midst of a stalled redevelopment plan, littered with debris and abandoned cars. During a rally on

Sproul Plaza Sproul Plaza (pronounced ) is one center of student activity at the University of California, Berkeley. It is divided into two sections: Upper Sproul and Lower Sproul. They are vertically separated by and linked by a set of stairs. History S ...

on that day, May 15, 1969, Siegel received the microphone as the crowd of 3,000 agitated to reclaim what was perceived as their community space, when he yelled "Take the park!" His exhortation was perceived as the start of a riot, which featured protestors marching against riot police, who responded with shotgun fire among other acts, killing one and blinding another.

State Bar of California controversy

Upon receiving his J.D. degree from the University of California School of Law in 1970 and passing the California

bar examination A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction. Australia Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associa ...

, Siegel was denied a license to practice law by a subcommittee of the

State Bar of California The State Bar of California is California's official attorney licensing agency. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law, investigating complaints of professional misconduct, prescribing appropriate disciplin ...

. According to the ''

Long Beach Independent The ''Press-Telegram'' is a paid daily newspaper published in Long Beach, California. Coverage area for the ''Press-Telegram'' includes Long Beach, Lakewood, Signal Hill, Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos, Compton, Downey, Hawaiian Gardens, Lynw ...

'', his admittance to the bar was denied on moral grounds because he allegedly "advocated violence and the seizure of property and lied when he denied advocating those things". Earlier in the year, he had been charged with inciting a riot, but had charges dismissed due to a lack of evidence. Siegel and his lawyer Malcolm Burnstein appealed the subcommittee's decision, taking his appeal to the

California Supreme Court The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacra ...

, which overruled the State Bar and found that Siegel possessed the requisite "moral character" to practice law.

Professional career

Siegel, Yee, Brunner & Mehta

Today, Siegel is a civil rights attorney at the Oakland-based law firm Siegel, Yee, Brunner & Mehta. In recent years, he has won a series of high-profile

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...

and

employment discrimination Employment discrimination is a form of illegal discrimination in the workplace based on legally protected characteristics. In the U.S., federal anti-discrimination law prohibits discrimination by employers against employees based on age, race, g ...

lawsuits, and has represented clients such as the

National Union of Healthcare Workers National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) is an independent, democratic labor union based in Oakland, California, that represents 15,000 healthcare workers in California. It was formed in 2009 after a split with the SEIU United Healthcare Work ...

. He has served as both general counsel and Interim Executive Director of the Pacifica Radio Foundation, and has served as a director on both the Pacifica National Board and the Local Station Board of

KPFA-FM KPFA (94.1 FM) is an American listener-funded talk radio and music radio station located in Berkeley, California, broadcasting to the San Francisco Bay Area. KPFA airs public news, public affairs, talk, and music programming. The station sign ...

in Berkeley. In 2006 he completed an eight-year tenure on the

Oakland Unified School District Oakland Unified School District is a public education school district that operates a total of 80 elementary schools (TK–5), middle schools (6–8), and high schools (9–12). There are also 28 district-authorized charter schools in Oaklan ...

Board of Directors.

City of Oakland

Siegel, a long-time friend of Oakland Mayor

, served as her Legal Adviser until November 14, 2011, when he resigned in protest of her decision to clear protestors associated with

Occupy Wall Street Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a protest Social movement, movement against economic inequality and the Campaign finance, influence of money in politics that began in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Financial District, Manhattan, Wall S ...

from their camp at

Frank H. Ogawa Plaza Frank H. Ogawa Plaza is a public square located in Downtown Oakland. Location and elements Occupy Oakland Nov 12 2011 PM 29.jpg Frank H. Ogawa Plaza is located where San Pablo Avenue converges with Broadway and 14th Street. The west side of t ...

. Siegel subsequently announced, via Twitter: "No longer Mayor Quan's legal advisor. Resigned at 2 am. Support

Occupy Oakland Occupy Oakland refers to a collaboration and series of demonstrations in Oakland, California that started in October 2011. As part of the Occupy movement, protestors have staged occupations, most notably at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza in front of Oakla ...

, not the 1% and its government facilitators." In 2011, Matthai Kurivila of ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'' described Siegel as "one of Oakland's most active and vocal police critics". On January 9, 2014, Siegel announced his candidacy for mayor of Oakland. Seigel was not elected, and

Libby Schaaf Elizabeth Beckman Schaaf (born November 12, 1965) is an American politician who has been Mayor of Oakland, California since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served on the Oakland City Council. Schaaf won the November 4, 20 ...

was sworn in on January 5, 2015.

Personal life

Siegel and his wife, Anne Butterfield Weills, have lived in Oakland since 1977. Weills is an attorney who is listed "of counsel" at Siegel, Yee, Brunner & Mehta. Their son, Michael, was also an associate at Siegel & Yee. Weills' son from a previous marriage, Christopher Weills Scheer, is an author and journalist.

References

External links

Siegel & Yee websiteCampaign website
* http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/05/30/donald-trump-bike-lock-attack-suspect-lawyer-tucker-carlson-assault-debate {{DEFAULTSORT:Siegel, Dan Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American anti–Vietnam War activists Members of Students for a Democratic Society American political activists Lawyers from Oakland, California Politicians from Oakland, California Pacifica Foundation people UC Berkeley School of Law alumni Hamilton College (New York) alumni Activists from California