Philip J. Hirschkop

Authors

Philip J. Hirschkop

Document Type

Lecture

Publication Date

3-30-2023

Abstract

Philip J. Hirschkop, a civil rights lawyer who argued the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case, Loving v. Virginia, that struck down state bans on interracial marriage, delivered the annual Leslie Devan Smith, Jr. Lecture on March 30, 2023 at 1:00 p.m. in the Millhiser Moot Court Room at W&L Law. The event was free and open to the public.

Hirschkop was just three years out of law school when he argued Loving. Along with co-counsel Bernard Cohen, he developed the strategy to revive the case, which had ended five years previously with the conviction of Mildred and Richard Loving for defying Virginia’s ban on interracial marriages.

Hirschkop has been counsel in scores of cases protecting the rights of dissidents, prisoners, activists and others shunned by society, including fighting for and winning the right of the leader of the American Nazi party to be buried in a national cemetery as a U.S. veteran. He was chief counsel to many of the groups opposed to the war in Vietnam, and served as General Counsel to PETA for thirty years.

His clients have included Martin Luther King, Jr, H. Rap Brown, two-time Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling, priests Philip and Daniel Berrigan, Dr. Benjamin Spock, comedian Dick Gregory, attorney William Kunstler, and novelist and activist Norman Mailer.

In the lecture, Hirschkop spoke about his experience with the Loving case and provided broader insights and advice from his long and distinguished career. He was introduced by Professor Jon Shapiro of W&L Law, who worked for and was inspired by Hirschkop in his own early years of legal practice.

Recommended Citation

Philip J. Hirschkop, Leslie Devan Smith Jr. Lecture, Washington and Lee University School of Law (Mar. 30, 2023).