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Peter Sabin Willett, known as Sabin Willett, (born March 6, 1957) is an American
lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...
and
novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...
, a partner with the Philadelphia-based
law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP is an American multinational law firm with approximately 2,200 legal professionals in 31 offices across North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Mergers with other law firms stimulated global growth and led to ...
, formerly a partner at
Bingham McCutchen Bingham McCutchen LLP was a global law firm with approximately 850 attorneys in nine US offices and five international offices. It ceased operations in late 2014, when several hundred of its partners and associate lawyers left the firm to join Phi ...
. He lives near
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
. He is perhaps best known as a
defense lawyer A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer (mostly barristers) specializing in the defense of individuals and companies charged with criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while others are employed by the various jur ...
for several Uighur prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp.


Education

Willett was educated in England at
Gresham's School Gresham's School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Day school, day and boarding school) in Holt, Norfolk, Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Bac ...
,
Holt Holt or holte may refer to: Natural world *Holt (den), an otter den * Holt, an area of woodland Places Australia * Holt, Australian Capital Territory * Division of Holt, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives in Vic ...
, and at Harvard College and
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 ...
. *
Gresham's School Gresham's School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Day school, day and boarding school) in Holt, Norfolk, Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Bac ...
: graduated with three A-levels, 1975 * Harvard College: Bachelor of Arts ''magna cum laude'', 1979 *
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 ...
:
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 ...
''cum laude'', 1983A Bankruptcy Lawyer at Gitmo -- Alumni Focus
/ref>


Novels by Sabin Willett

*''The Deal'' (Random House, 1996) *''The Betrayal'' (Villard, 1998) *''Present Value'' (Random House, 2003)


Articles by Sabin Willett

* * * *


Legal Publications by Sabin Willett

*
Adel's Anniversary: A Guantanamo Tale
', JURIST ( University of Pittsburgh School of Law Journal), March 2006 *''The Doctrine of Robin Hood: a Note on Substantive Consolidation'' (4 DePaul Business & Commercial Law Journal 87, Fall, 2005) *''The Shallows of Deepening Insolvency'' (60 The Business Lawyer 533, February, 2005) *''Bankruptcy Trial Tactics'' (ABA Judicial Division Bench/Bar Bankruptcy Conference, March, 2005) *''The Doctrine of Necessity: a Polemic'' (13 Journal of Bankruptcy Law and Practice no. 4 at 61, 2004)


Lawyer

As a lawyer, Willett concentrates his practice in commercial and bankruptcy litigation. He also represents a number of Uyghur captives in Guantanamo held by the United States at
Guantanamo Bay detention camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp ( es, Centro de detención de la bahía de Guantánamo) is a United States military prison located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, also referred to as Guantánamo, GTMO, and Gitmo (), on the coast of Guant ...
as part of the War on Terror. Five of the Uighurs, including two of Willett's clients, were determined not to be enemy combatants and released to Albania in 2006. The United States Congress's passage of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 was intended to strip the Guantanamo captives of the right to access the US justice system, including writs of habeas corpus. The Act was intended to close the approximately 200 outstanding writs of habeas corpus. Willett turned to a provision of the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, which set out rules through which captives could challenge the rulings of their Combatant Status Review Tribunals, to set in motion challenges which could result in the remaining Uyghurs also being rules as "
no longer enemy combatant No Longer Enemy Combatant (NLEC) is a term used by the U.S. military for a group of 38 Guantanamo detainees whose Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) determined they were not "enemy combatants". None of them were released right away. Ten of ...
s". On June 12 of 2008 the United States Supreme Court ruled that the executive branch could not keep the Guantanamo captives from accessing the US Judicial system. In an unrelated development, on June 20, 2008, an appeals court in Washington considering
Parhat v. Gates ''Parhat v. Gates'', 532 F.3d 834 (D.C. Cir. 2008), was a case involving a petition for review under the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 filed on behalf of Huzaifa Parhat, and sixteen other Uyghur detainees held in extrajudicial detention in the Un ...
under the Detainee Treatment Act, overruled Uyghur captive Hassan Parhat's Combatant Status Review Tribunal's determination that he was an "enemy combatant", based a lack of evidence. Willett was one of Parhat's lawyers. The Department of Justice decided not to appeal the Parhat v. Gates ruling. In September 2008 the Bush administration abandoned the claim that any of the Uyghurs were "enemy combatants". In June 2009 Willett and
Susan Baker Manning Susan is a feminine given name, from Persian "Susan" (lily flower), from Egyptian '' sšn'' and Coptic ''shoshen'' meaning "lotus flower", from Hebrew ''Shoshana'' meaning "lily" (in modern Hebrew this also means "rose" and a flower in general), ...
accompanied four Uyghurs, including Hassan Parhat, to freedom in Bermuda. The Micronesian state of Palau announced it would accept the other thirteen Uyghurs, but there have been complications, and they remain at Guantanamo.


Memberships

*Boston Bar Association *Massachusetts Bar Association *New Hampshire Bar Association *American Bar Association


References


External links


Profile from Harvard Law School Bulletin, 2006


Sources


P. Sabin Willett at Bingham McCutchenA Talk with Sabin Willett
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willett, Sabin 1957 births Living people Harvard College alumni Lawyers from Boston People educated at Gresham's School Guantanamo Bay attorneys Harvard Law School alumni