Lawrence M. Kasen

Growing up in Newark, New Jersey, Lawrence M. Kasen was deeply influenced by witnessing the unequal treatment of individuals based on origin and race. This experience fueled his desire to ensure that civil rights under the U.S. Constitution were accessible to everyone. To pursue this goal, he attended Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ, where he studied the history, religion, languages, and cultures of Native American peoples, along with cultural anthropology.

Realizing the importance of legal education in achieving his objectives, Lawrence enrolled at Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C., in 1976. There, he studied constitutional law under Herbert Reid, a renowned scholar and lawyer involved in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case. This education, along with other civil rights courses, prepared him for a summer clerkship in 1978 with the Solicitor's Office - Division of Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of Interior.

Upon recommendation from the Deputy Solicitor for Indian Affairs, Lawrence pursued a special fellowship in Indian Law and Natural Resources Law at the University of New Mexico's National Indian Law Center and Natural Resources Law Center. This experience led to over two years of representing Indian tribes and individual Native Americans in Nebraska and Arizona.