“Equal Justice – Under Law – For All”

In the yearly collaboration to celebrate Constitution Day, Kent State University Libraries and the Honors College co-hosted a Constitution Day event on Friday, Sept. 16, 2022.

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Accomplished New York attorney and Kent State Honors College alumnus Lloyd De Vos presented a keynote entitled “Equal Justice – Under Law – For All.” De Vos highlighted the U.S. Constitution’s impact on our government, his personal experience as a plaintiff before the Supreme Court, and his ideas and opinions on a living Constitution. Following De Vos’ keynote, he answered several questions regarding current events and the state of our country’s constitution from the audience and a panel of students, moderated by Professor of Political Science Christopher Banks.

De Vos is the founder and senior partner of De Vos & Co. PLLC, a boutique law firm, located in New York City, that specializes in providing legal advice on international tax and business matters. As an adjunct professor of at Georgetown University Law Center, De Vos has been teaching the course Tax Treaties, as part of the Master of Laws in Taxation degree program, since 2008. Prior to this appointment, he was a visiting professor and lecturer at the McGeorge School of Law of the University of the Pacific in Sacramento, California; the University of Haifa, Israel; and the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He has also chaired and lectured at programs and seminars sponsored by the United States Department of Commerce and the American Management Associations.

De Vos was the successful plaintiff in the civil rights case Thorstenn v. Barnard, 489 U.S. 546 (1989), decided by the United States Supreme Court. He filed the case to enforce his rights under the Privileges and Immunities clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

He has held several respected board positions, including serving on the Board of Visitors of Georgetown University Law Center from 2008 through 2019 as a full member and from 2019 to date as an emeritus member. De Vos serves on the Section on Taxation of the American Bar Association and the Section Committee on United States Taxation of Foreigners and Tax Treaties. He is also the author and co-author of numerous publications in the field of international taxation.

An alumnus of Kent State University, De Vos earned bachelor’s degrees, ’70, in history, political science and accounting, all with cum laude honors and distinctions. He was awarded a juris doctor degree from Georgetown University in 1973 and a Master’s of Laws in Taxation degree from New York University in 1977.