Wendell Bird

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Wendell Bird is an American legal historian who formerly practiced law (nonprofit organizations and litigation).

Contents

He is the author of four books on freedoms of speech and press: Press and Speech Under Assault (Oxford University Press 2016), [1] Criminal Dissent: Prosecutions under the Alien and Sedition Acts (Harvard University Press 2020), [2] The Revolution in Freedoms of Press and Speech: From Blackstone to the First Amendment and Fox's Libel Act (Oxford University Press 2020), [3] and of Religious Speech and the Quest for Freedoms (Cambridge University Press 2023). [4] He has also published legal history chapters and articles. [5] He earned his D.Phil. in legal history at University of Oxford, [6] and his J.D. from Yale Law School. [7] He is a visiting scholar at Emory University School of Law. [8]

Nonprofit organization law

He has published three tax chapters and more than 20 articles on the laws affecting nonprofit organizations and charitable giving. [9] He has been an annual faculty member of the Washington Non-Profit Legal & Tax Conference for over 30 years, [10] and is a member of the Board of Advisors of the RIA Thomson Reuters publication, Taxation of Exempts. [11] He has been a member of the Board of Advisors of New York University School of Law's National Center on Philanthropy and the Law. [12]

Litigation

In litigation Bird primarily represented securities claims, such as a suit against Merrill Lynch and its Focus Twenty Fund, [13] or a suit against TH Lee Putnam Ventures and Merrill Lynch, [14] both of which resulted in favorable decisions; and charitable fraud and diversion claims, such as a suit on behalf of the M. L. Simpson Foundation. [15] [16] In 2004, Bird represented APA Excelsior III (owned by predecessor to APAX Partners) and other large Wall Street private equity funds (managed by APAX Partners) in a federal court lawsuit alleging securities law violations in connection with a sale to Healthfield Holdings, Inc. [17] [18]

In 2000-2002, he represented the Bengard Group in a trial and appeal involving sale of a business, winning in excess of $44 million. [19]

In the early 1980s, Bird worked for an Atlanta law firm, and also served as a special assistant attorney general for the State of Louisiana, for which he argued Edwards v. Aguillard to the U.S. Supreme Court. [20]

Other

Bird graduated from Vanderbilt University (B.A., summa cum laude). [21] While at Yale Law School, he served on the Yale Law Journal Board of Editors, [22] and received the Egger Prize of Yale Law School.

He is a member of the American Society for Legal History and of the Society for Historians of the Early Republic. He is also a member of the American Law Institute, [23] a fellow of the American Bar Foundation, [24] and was co-chair of the American Bar Association Subcommittee on Charitable Contributions for nearly 20 years. [21] He is listed in Who's Who in America (1995–present) and Who's Who in the World (1995–present). [21]

Nonprofit organization law chapters and articles

Related Research Articles

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The Alien and Sedition Acts were a set of four laws enacted in 1798 that applied restrictions to immigration and speech in the United States. The Naturalization Act increased the requirements to seek citizenship, the Alien Friends Act allowed the president to imprison and deport non-citizens, the Alien Enemies Act gave the president additional powers to detain non-citizens during times of war, and the Sedition Act criminalized false and malicious statements about the federal government. The Alien Friends Act and the Sedition Act expired after a set number of years, and the Naturalization Act was repealed in 1802. The Alien Enemies Act is still in effect.

Dhimmī or muʿāhid (معاهد) is a historical term for non-Muslims living in an Islamic state with legal protection. The word literally means "protected person", referring to the state's obligation under sharia to protect the individual's life, property, as well as freedom of religion, in exchange for loyalty to the state and payment of the jizya tax, in contrast to the zakat, or obligatory alms, paid by the Muslim subjects. Dhimmi were exempt from certain duties assigned specifically to Muslims if they paid the poll tax (jizya) but were otherwise equal under the laws of property, contract, and obligation.

Edwards v. Aguillard, 482 U.S. 578 (1987), was a United States Supreme Court case concerning the constitutionality of teaching creationism. The Court considered a Louisiana law requiring that where evolutionary science was taught in public schools, creation science must also be taught. The constitutionality of the law was successfully challenged in District Court, Aguillard v. Treen, 634 F. Supp. 426, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed, Aguillard v. Edwards, 765 F.2d 1251. The United States Supreme Court ruled that this law violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment because the law was specifically intended to advance a particular religion. In its decision, the court opined that "teaching a variety of scientific theories about the origins of humankind to school children might be validly done with the clear secular intent of enhancing the effectiveness of science instruction."

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Abrams v. United States, 250 U.S. 616 (1919), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States upholding the criminal arrests of several defendants under the Sedition Act of 1918, which was an amendment to the Espionage Act of 1917. The law made it a criminal offense to criticize the production of war materiel with intent to hinder the progress of American military efforts.

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References

  1. ↑ Press and Speech Under Assault: The Early Supreme Court Justices, the Sedition Act of 1798, and the Campaign against Dissent. Oxford University Press. February 4, 2016. ISBN   978-0-19-046162-1.
  2. ↑ Wendell Bird (January 7, 2020). Criminal Dissent. Harvard University Press. ISBN   9780674976139 . Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  3. ↑ The Revolution in Freedoms of Press and Speech: From Blackstone to the First Amendment and Fox's Libel Act. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. February 28, 2020. ISBN   978-0-19-750919-7.
  4. ↑ Bird, Wendell (2023). Religious Speech and the Quest for Freedoms. Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781009090766. ISBN   9781009090766. S2CID   258147087.
  5. ↑
  6. ↑ Bird, Wendell (2011). Freedoms of press and speech in the first decade of the U.S. Supreme Court (Thesis). Oxford Research Archive.
  7. ↑ "Bird". Lapham’s Quarterly. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  8. ↑ "wbird - OpenEmory | Profile". open.library.emory.edu. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "NCPL Database Search Results:Search "Wendell and Bird"". National Center on Philanthropy and the Law:NYU School of Law. 2009. Retrieved December 29, 2009.
  10. ↑ "46th Annual Washington Non-Profit Legal & Tax Conference Faculty". Washington Non-Profit Legal & Tax Conference. 2009. Retrieved December 29, 2009.
  11. ↑ "Taxation of Exempts". Thomson Reuters. 2009. Retrieved December 29, 2009.
  12. ↑ "Past Members of the Board of Advisors". July 2014.
  13. ↑ "In Re: Merrill Lynch & Co. v., 1:02-md-01484". CourtListener. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  14. ↑ ""There Was a Discrepancy With Reality"". Dealbreaker. April 4, 2006. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  15. ↑ "Ministry says $80M-plus trust is mismanaged". May 27, 2010. Retrieved April 5, 2012.
  16. ↑ Tracy, Tennille, Foundation Questions Value of TH Lee's Portfolio - WSJ , retrieved March 24, 2024
  17. ↑ "APA Excelsior III v. Windley, Venture Capital Litigation Reporter, Vol. 2, No. 10" (PDF). Page Mill Publishing. 2005. Retrieved December 29, 2009.
  18. ↑ "Excelsior v. Windley, 329 F. Supp. 2d 1328". Casetext Search + Citator. July 27, 2004. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  19. ↑ "Orange County California Superior Court, Case No. 797567, Judgment of 1/29/01".
    - "Minutes 9/16/08, California State Board of Equalization:Bengard Group" (PDF). California Board of Equalization. 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
    - "Partial List of Dispute Analysis and Expert Testimony". Mammoth Advisors. 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
  20. ↑ "Edwards v. Aguillard, 482 U.S. 578" . Retrieved December 30, 2009.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Mr. Wendell R Bird Profile | Atlanta, GA Lawyer | Martindale.com".
  22. ↑ "The Yale Law Journal" (PDF). November 1977. Retrieved November 15, 2010.
  23. ↑ "Member Directory:Search Term=Bird". American Law Institute. 2009. Retrieved December 29, 2009.
  24. ↑ "Welcome New Life Fellows - American Bar Foundation".
  25. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 26, 2015. Retrieved July 29, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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