Shayan Modarres (born May 15, 1984) is an

Iranian American Iranian Americans are United States citizens or nationals who are of Iranian ancestry or who hold Iranian citizenship. Iranian Americans are among the most highly educated people in the United States. They have historically excelled in busine ...

civil rights activist Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life ...

and

attorney Attorney may refer to: * Lawyer ** Attorney at law, in some jurisdictions * Attorney, one who has power of attorney * ''The Attorney'', a 2013 South Korean film See also * Attorney general, the principal legal officer of (or advisor to) a gove ...

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures r ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

. He is originally from the Washington, D.C./Maryland metropolitan area. He has assisted in the representation of the family of

Trayvon Martin Trayvon Benjamin Martin (February 5, 1995 – February 26, 2012) was a 17-year-old African-American from Miami Gardens, Florida, who was killing of Trayvon Martin, fatally shot in Sanford, Florida, by George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old Hispanic an ...

since 2012. He was a

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

candidate for

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

for

Florida's 10th Congressional District Florida's 10th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Florida. It was reassigned in 2012, effective January 3, 2013, from the Gulf Coast to inland Central Florida. Before 2017, the district included parts of w ...

in the 2014 midterm election.

Early life

Modarres was born in Silver Spring,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

to immigrant parents who moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

from

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

in the 1970s. His father worked as a statistics professor before retiring from American University in 2013. His mother works in IT/security for one of the nation's largest healthcare providers. Modarres graduated from American University with a degree in pre-law and political science, and later graduated cum laude from

Florida A&M University College of Law Florida A&M University College of Law or FAMU College of Law is an ABA-accredited law school in Orlando, Florida, United States. It is part of Florida A&M University. History On December 21, 1949, a division of law was established at the then ...

Career

After graduating from law school, Modarres immediately opened his own law firm in downtown Orlando. Modarres still actively operates this firm. In 2013, Modarres represented Attorney

Benjamin Crump Benjamin Lloyd Crump (born October 10, 1969) is an American attorney who specializes in civil rights and catastrophic personal injury cases such as wrongful death lawsuits. His practice has focused on cases such as Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown ...

in an appeal to Florida's 5th District Court of Appeals, regarding a hotly contested deposition, during the case of State v. Zimmerman. He also received a $100,000 settlement in 2013 from the Seminole County Sheriff's Office for an excessive force lawsuit in which two deputies tased a black man in Sanford, Florida. The lawsuits were later terminated once dash-cam video of the incident surfaced. Modarres also co-organized a rally protesting minimum mandatory sentencing, gun violence, and disparate treatment of minorities in Florida's criminal justice system. The rally drew over 2,000 people to downtown Orlando. Mr. Modarres is currently Deputy Director for Counseling in the Office of the Solicitor, United States Department of the Interior, in Washington, D.C.

Political career

Modarres is a former Democratic candidate for United States House of Representatives for Florida's 10th Congressional District. He was attempting to unseat the incumbent,

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or again ...

Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the U.S. Secretary of State under Presidents William Henry Harri ...

, in the 2014 midterm election. Modarres was endorsed by the Orlando Sentinel in the Democratic primary.
Orlando Sentinel

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Modarres, Shayan 1984 births Living people American lawyers American civil rights activists American politicians of Iranian descent Florida Democrats