Theresa Amato is a US public advocate and political activist. Founder and first president of the Citizen Advocacy Center (Elmhurst, Illinois) which builds democracy for the 21st century, she currently serves as executive director of Citizen Works, an organization devoted to rebalancing the power between corporations and citizens. She is also the Director of its Fair Contracts Project. Amato is a manager of Amato & Main, LLC, through which she advises nonprofits, foundations, and progressive candidates seeking office.
Early career
Born March 1, 1964, Amato began her legal career as a law clerk for The Honorable
Robert W. Sweet
Robert Workman Sweet (October 15, 1922 – March 24, 2019) was an American jurist and United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Education and career
Sweet ...
(
Southern District of New York
The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of New York State. Two of these are in New York City: New ...
-Manhattan) and then became a staff attorney at
Public Citizen Litigation Group
Public Citizen Litigation Group is a public interest law firm in the United States.The group is the litigation arm of the non-profit consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen. Its attorneys work on cases involving health and safety regulation, ...
in Washington, D.C. She litigated high-profile cases and was the director of the Freedom of Information Clearinghouse. Amato has also served as the executive director of the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation, worked in private practice, and is of counsel to the firm Despres, Schwartz & Geoghegan. Amato is licensed to practice law in Illinois, New York and Washington, D.C. and has experience litigating and supervising the litigation of lawsuits at all levels of state and federal courts, testifying in front of public bodies, conducting corporate transactional work in the areas of banking, trusts, and securities, philanthropic fundraising and grantmaking, and navigating regulatory agencies.
In both 2000 and 2004, Amato served as the national presidential campaign manager and in-house counsel for
Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes.
The son of Lebanese immigrants to the U ...
, who obtained the highest vote count in the United States for a third-party progressive candidate since 1924, and shepherded election reform efforts and litigation to open up the political system to competition. She also appears in the Sundance-selected and
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
s short-listed documentary about Ralph Nader, "An Unreasonable Man".
Book
In 2009, the New Press (New York) published Amato's book, "Grand Illusion, The Myth of Voter Choice in a Two-Party Tyranny", which advocates for drastic electoral reforms. Amato's knowledge of election law was termed by 'Publishers Weekly' as "encyclopedic," and the publisher of ' Ballot Access News' called it "the best book ever written on ballot access".
In 1997, Amato was named by
The American Lawyer
''The American Lawyer'' is a monthly legal magazine and website published by ALM Media. The periodical and its parent company, ALM (then American Lawyer Media), were founded in 1979 by Steven Brill.Harvard Law School as a Wasserstein Public Interest Law Fellow. In 1999 and 2000, respectively, Amato received both the NYU Law and Loyola Law Chicago Public Service Awards.
In 2002, Harvard's Institute of Politics at the
John F. Kennedy School of Government
The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...
named Amato a Fellow. She led there a seminar entitled "Mobilizing for Justice: How to Take on the System and Make a Difference."
She has written for several publications on human rights, politics. Mother of two, she also writes about Italian-Americans and she has a regular column on parenting in Fra Noi.
She teaches a course called "Advocating for Social Justice in Illinois" at
Northeastern Illinois University
Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) is a public university in Chicago, Illinois. NEIU serves approximately 9,000 students in the region and is a Hispanic-serving institution. The main campus is located in the community area of North Park wi ...
. At
Loyola Law School
Loyola Law School is the law school of Loyola Marymount University, a private Catholic university in Los Angeles, California. Loyola was established in 1920.
Academics
Degrees offered include the Juris Doctor (JD); Master of Science in Legal ...
Chicago, she teaches the course "Community Lawyering and Civic Rights"(Fall 2013).
She is writing a book about public interest lawyering and the legal profession, to be published in 2014.
Degrees
Harvard University, A.B. 1986, cum laude in Government and Economics;
NYU School of Law
New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...
, J.D., 1989.
Amato currently serves on the Council of Regents of Loyola University Chicago, and on the Advisory Board of the
Loyola University Chicago School of Law
Loyola University Chicago School of Law is the law school of Loyola University Chicago, in Illinois. Established in 1909, by the Society of Jesus, the Roman Catholic order of the Jesuits, the School of Law is located in downtown Chicago. Loy ...
New York University Law Review
The ''New York University Law Review'' is a bimonthly general law review covering legal scholarship in all areas, including legal theory and policy, environmental law, legal history, and international law. The journal was established in 1924 as a c ...
, the recipient of the Orison S. Marden for first place oralist in Moot Court, and the recipient of the NYU Vanderbilt Medal for "extraordinary contributions to the School of Law". Amato serves on the Council of Regents of Loyola University Chicago, on the Advisory Board of the Loyola University Chicago School of Law's Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies, and is a distinguished scholar in residence for the Fall 2013 term at Loyola University Chicago's School of Law.