Dean Alan B. Morrison

Alan B. Morrison is the Lerner Family Associate Dean for Public Interest & Public Service Law at George Washington University Law School where he heads up the Law School’s efforts to increase pro bono opportunities for its students. He teaches civil procedure and the basic constitutional law course there, having previously taught at Harvard, NYU, Stanford, Hawaii, & American University law schools. For most of his career, Dean Morrison worked for the Public Citizen Litigation Group, which he co-founded with Ralph Nader in 1972 and directed for over 25 years. He has argued 20 cases in the Supreme Court, including victories in Goldfarb v. Virginia State Bar; Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council; and INS v. Chadha.

Most relevant for this conference he is lead counsel in American Institute for International Steel v. US, a delegation challenge to the constitutionality of the statute relied on by the President when he imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum, which relies heavily on Gundy v. US. The case was dismissed by a three judge panel in the Court of International Trade, a petition for a writ of certiorari before judgment was denied, and the case (Federal Circuit, No. 18- 1727) will be fully briefed by mid-October. Dean Morrison is not a newcomer to delegation challenges having made them (unsuccessfully) in Bowsher v. Synar (Gramm-Rudman Act) and Mistretta v US (federal sentencing guidelines), as well as in a cert petition that was denied in Humphreys v. US (act allowing President unlimited discretion to increase or decrease pay for federal officers and employees).