News Release

Edwards to deliver William P. Murphy Lecture
at UNC School of Law on Monday (Feb. 6)

CHAPEL HILL -- John Edwards, director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law, will deliver the 2006 William P. Murphy Lecture at noon Monday (Feb. 6) in the School of Law’s Rotunda.

The title of Edwards’ lecture is "How the Legal System Can Protect the American Dream and America’s Workers." Edwards, a former U.S. senator, was the 2004 Democratic Party vice presidential nominee.

The lecture is free to the public. However, officials at the School of Law anticipate a large crowd that will result in standing room only.

The William P. Murphy Lecture is one of the premier events in the School of Law’s academic calendar. The William P. Murphy Distinguished Speaker Endowment was established by the School of Law’s Class of 1990 in honor of Professor William Murphy, who was a faculty member at the School of Law from 1971 to 1990. Murphy taught Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, both of whom are members of the School of Law’s Class of 1977.

Murphy and many of his family members will attend the lecture, with one son coming from as far away as Russia for the event.

The lecture series brings to the School of Law authorities in the areas of constitutional law, labor law, employment discrimination and dispute resolution. Previous speakers have included Janet Reno, former U.S. Attorney General; Julius Chambers, former chancellor at North Carolina Central University and current director of the UNC School of Law’s Center for Civil Rights; W.J. "Bill" Usery Jr., former U.S. Secretary of Labor and mediator for the 1994 baseball strike; and Seth Waxman, former U.S. Solicitor General.

More information on the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity is available at www.law.unc.edu/povertycenter.

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School of Law contact: Matt Marvin, (919) 962-4125 or mmarvin@email.unc.edu
News Services contact: Deb Saine, (919) 962-8415 or deborah_saine@unc.edu