Episode 76: Dan Canon, Civil Rights Lawyer, Professor, and Writer

Daily Matters: The changing face of the legal industry

Civil rights lawyer, teacher, writer, and activist Dan Canon is best known as lead counsel for the Kentucky plaintiffs in the landmark Supreme Court case of Obergefell v. Hodges, which brought marriage equality to all 50 U.S. states. He has also sued President Trump, run for Congress, and taught the next generation of lawyers at the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at Louisville.

In this episode, Dan and Jack Newton discuss:

• Dan’s unique career path from high school dropout to law professor
• Dan’s involvement with the historic Obergefell v. Hodges case
• Criminal justice reform, and what it will take to achieve actual justice
• What Dan learned from his run for Congress
• How the COVID-19 crisis could drive more law students to small law firm work
• The problems inherent in plea bargaining

Daniel J. Canon is a civil rights lawyer, teacher, writer, speaker, consultant, and activist based primarily in Indiana and Kentucky. Dan is consistently voted one of the region's top lawyers in the area of individual/constitutional rights. He has argued before the 6th and 7th Circuit Courts of Appeals, the Kentucky Court of Appeals, and the Kentucky Supreme Court, and he is counsel of record on several published cases from those courts.

Dan is best known as lead counsel for the Kentucky plaintiffs in the landmark Supreme Court case of Obergefell v. Hodges, counsel for the plaintiffs in the pioneering Kentucky and Indiana marriage equality cases of Bourke v. Beshear, Love v. Beshear, and Love v. Pence, counsel for Miller v. Davis, the highly-publicized case in which plaintiffs were refused marriage licenses in Rowan County, Kentucky, and counsel for the protesters in Nwanguma v. Trump. He is also counsel in a number of high-profile civil and constitutional rights cases involving wrongful convictions, inmates' rights, abuse and overreach by law enforcement, and academic freedom.