David Kairys (born April 16, 1943, in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

) is Professor of Law at

Temple University School of Law The James E. Beasley School of Law (known as Temple Law) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Temple University, a public university, public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1895 and enrolls ...

. He is the first James E. Beasley Chair (2001–07). Kairys is a

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

lawyer. He authored
Philadelphia Freedom, Memoir of a Civil Rights Lawyer
' and
With Liberty and Justice for Some
'. He is a

gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms and ammunition by civilians. Most countries allow civilians to own firearms, bu ...

proponent. He is also a strong advocate for removing money corruption from politics. Kairys earned a B.S. from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

(1965), an LL.B. from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

(1968), and an LL.M. from the

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Carey Law, or Penn Law; previously University of Pennsylvania Law School) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Phi ...

(1971). He specializes in

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...

and civil rights law. He was a founding partner and is of counsel to Kairys, Rudovsky, Epstein, Messing & Rau. Among his awards are the

Alliance for Justice An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

honor list for 2008, the

Association of American Law Schools The Association of American Law Schools (AALS), formed in 1900, is a non-profit organization of 175 law schools in the United States. An additional 19 schools pay a fee to receive services but are not members. AALS incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non- ...

2007

Deborah Rhode Deborah Lynn Rhode (January 29, 1952January 8, 2021) was an American jurist. She was the Ernest W. McFarland Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and the nation's most frequently cited scholar in legal ethics. From her early days at Yale Law ...

Award for extraordinary contribution to public interest by a law professor, the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...

of Pennsylvania's Civil Liberties Award, the

Poor Richard Club The Poor Richard Club was a private club in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, whose members were mostly members of the advertising industry. The club bestowed an annual Gold Medal of Achievement to several celebrities, including several U.S. Presidents. ...

of Philadelphia Pro Bono Award, the Freil-Scanlan Award (best Temple law faculty scholarship), and the First James E. Beasley Chair (Temple Law School).

References

External links

Temple Law bioResume
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kairys, David Living people 1943 births Temple University faculty American civil rights lawyers American gun control activists Pennsylvania lawyers Cornell University alumni Columbia Law School alumni University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni Lawyers from Baltimore