James Vorenberg (October 1, 1928 – April 12, 2000) was the Roscoe Pound Professor of Law and Dean of

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

, former

Watergate The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...

Associate Special Prosecutor, and first chair of the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission.

Biography

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Vorenberg attended

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

, from which he graduated ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

'' with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in 1948, and

, from which he earned the

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree in 1951. In his first year at Harvard Law, he achieved the highest grades in his class and was awarded the Sears Prize. He served as the president of the ''

Harvard Law Review The ''Harvard Law Review'' is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ''Harvard Law Review''s 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of 143 ...

'' while attending the school. In 1953, he clerked for Justice

Felix Frankfurter Felix Frankfurter (November 15, 1882 – February 22, 1965) was an Austrian-American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1939 until 1962, during which period he was a noted advocate of judicia ...

at the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

. Vorenberg became a professor at Harvard Law School in 1962. In 1973, he served as principal assistant to

Archibald Cox Archibald Cox Jr. (May 17, 1912 – May 29, 2004) was an American lawyer and law professor who served as U.S. Solicitor General under President John F. Kennedy and as a special prosecutor during the Watergate scandal. During his career, he was a p ...

in the

Special Prosecutor's Office. He served as chairman of the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission from 1978 to 1983. In 1981, he was elected to the

Common Cause Common Cause is a watchdog group based in Washington, D.C., with chapters in 35 states. It was founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, a Republican, who was the former Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the administration of President L ...

National Governing Board. He was named associate dean at Harvard Law in 1977, and was named dean and Roscoe Pound Professor of Law in 1981. He retired at the end of June 1989. "I've tried to encourage students to follow diverse, varied patterns out of law school," Vorenberg told ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' in 1989. Vorenberg and

Jack Greenberg Jack Greenberg (December 22, 1924 – October 12, 2016) was an American attorney and legal scholar. He was the Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund from 1961 to 1984, succeeding Thurgood Marshall. He was involved in numerous crucial ...

, Dean of Columbia College, wrote ''Dean Cuisine'', a cookbook that ''

'' reviewed in 1991, saying: "a modest tome that should be required reading for all those tiresome people who say they never cook anymore. Vorenberg suffered from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

during his final 14 years. He died of

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

in Boston on April 12, 2000.James Vorenberg, Watergate Prosecutor's Right-Hand Man, Dies at 72 - The New York Times
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vorenberg, James 1928 births 2000 deaths 20th-century American lawyers Deans of Harvard Law School Harvard Law School alumni Harvard Law School faculty Lawyers from Boston Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States Deans of law schools in the United States People with Parkinson's disease Harvard College alumni 20th-century American academics

Biography

See also

References

External links