Arthur H. Bryant, J.D. Professional Standards Subcommittee

Arthur H. Bryant is the Executive Director of Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (TLPJ), a national public interest law firm that marshalls the skills and resources of trial lawyers to create a more just society.  Through creative litigation and innovative work with the broader public interest community, Trial Lawyers for Public Justice protects people and the environment; holds accountable those who abuse power; challenges governmental, corporate, and individual wrongdoing; guards access to the courts; combats threats to our justice system; and inspires lawyers to serve the public interest.  Mr. Bryant has been TLPJ’s Executive Director since 1987.  He is a graduate of Swarthmore College and Harvard Law School, where he captained his team to the Ames Moot Court Competition Championship.  After serving as a law clerk to U.S. District Court Judge Gabrielle M. McDonald, Mr. Bryant worked as an associate at the Philadelphia law firm of Kohn, Savett, Marion & Graf (now Kohn, Swift & Graf), handling First Amendment, civil rights, and complex civil litigation.  While at that firm, he brought and tried the case that forced the admission of women to Philadelphia’s previously all-male Central High School. In 1984, Mr. Bryant joined TLPJ as its sole staff attorney.  Since that time, he has won major victories and established new precedents in several areas of the law, including constitutional law, toxic torts, civil rights, consumer protection, and mass torts.  He has helped build TLPJ into a nationally influential and successful public interest law firm.  Additionally, he has mobilized the trial bar and public interest advocates to challenge several wide-ranging threats to individual rights in our system of justice – launching special projects to counter secrecy in the courts, federal preemption, regressive changes to the Federal Rules, and class action abuse. In 1991, Mr. Bryant was honored by the American Bar Association as one of twenty young lawyers making a difference in the world.  In 1994, because of his success in litigating Title IX cases, he was listed by College Sports Magazine as one of the fifty most influential people in college sports.  In 1996, he received a Wasserstein Public Interest Fellowship from Harvard Law School for “outstanding contributions and dedication to public interest law” and was named by The American Lawyer as one of 45 young lawyers “whose vision and commitment are changing lives.”