Steven Brill (law writer)
Encyclopedia
Steven Brill is the founder of CourtTV and American Lawyer magazine. He also founded the failed Verified Identity Pass, Inc., the New York-based company that operated the Clear airport security fast-pass. The service abruptly shut down June 23, 2009, without any notice to the company's 260,000 paid customers. Brill is the creator of Brill's Content, a now-defunct magazine with a critical eye to the media. He also launched Contentville.com, which was to be a clearinghouse for the buying and selling of web text, news, and info of all sorts. The Contentville.com concept crashed with the dot-coms in 2001. For a time he was a columnist for Newsweek
. His most recent venture is Journalism Online. He is the author of The Teamsters (1978
) and After: How America Confronted the September 12th Era (2003
).
as an example, and profiled teacher Jessica Reid as a model of what could be done without union restrictions. He described how unions, particularly the United Federation of Teachers
and UFT president Randi Weingarten
in New York City, protected incompetent teachers, and were opposed to pay-for-performance, and obstructed necessary reforms, a system he previously exposed in The New Yorker
.
But by the time Brill came to the end of the book, Reid quit. The long hours and stress of her job, with nightly calls to parents, and constant prodding of students, were affecting her marriage. Brill changed his position on charter schools and unions. He said that after two years of researching school reform, he understood the complexities. He reversed his view of Weingarten, and proposed that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg
appoint her chancellor of the school system.
Nonetheless, Diane Ravitch
criticized Brill for being too uncritical of the charter school movement. "Unfortunately, Brill is completely ignorant of a vast body of research literature about teaching. Economists agree that teachers are the most important influence on student test scores inside the school, but the influence of schools and teachers is dwarfed by nonschool factors, most especially by family income."
and Yale University
(B.A., 1972; J.D.
, 1975). He is married and has three children. He currently resides in New York City and Bedford
, New York.
The magazine covered the rise and subsequent precipitous collapse of the law firm of Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey
in 1987.
of Verified Identity Pass, Inc. It allowed travelers to get through airport security
quickly with an annual subscription to the program and pre-screening
.
According to their website, Clear ceased operations "at 11:00 p.m. PST on June 22, 2009... Clear’s parent company, Verified Identity Pass, Inc. has been unable to negotiate an agreement with its senior creditor to continue operations."
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
. His most recent venture is Journalism Online. He is the author of The Teamsters (1978
1978 in literature
The year 1978 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*The Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year, a humorous award given annually to books with unusual titles is created. The first winner was Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude...
) and After: How America Confronted the September 12th Era (2003
2003 in literature
The year 2003 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Peter Ackroyd - The Clerkenwell Tales*Atsuko Asano - No...
).
Class Warfare
His book, “Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix America’s Schools” (2011) described the success of charter schools, using the Harlem Success AcademyHarlem Success Academy
Harlem Success Academy Charter School is the foundation of Success Charter Network, Inc. Its students, most of them starting with disadvantages, have been consistently achieving some of the highest test scores in the state...
as an example, and profiled teacher Jessica Reid as a model of what could be done without union restrictions. He described how unions, particularly the United Federation of Teachers
United Federation of Teachers
The United Federation of Teachers is the labor union that represents most educators in New York City public schools. , there were about 118,000 in-service educators and 17,000 paraprofessionals in the union, as well as about 54,000 retired members...
and UFT president Randi Weingarten
Randi Weingarten
'Randi Weingarten is an American labor leader, attorney, and educator, the current president of the American Federation of Teachers , a member of the AFL-CIO, and former president of the United Federation of Teachers. New York magazine called her one of the most influential people in education in...
in New York City, protected incompetent teachers, and were opposed to pay-for-performance, and obstructed necessary reforms, a system he previously exposed in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
.
But by the time Brill came to the end of the book, Reid quit. The long hours and stress of her job, with nightly calls to parents, and constant prodding of students, were affecting her marriage. Brill changed his position on charter schools and unions. He said that after two years of researching school reform, he understood the complexities. He reversed his view of Weingarten, and proposed that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
appoint her chancellor of the school system.
Nonetheless, Diane Ravitch
Diane Ravitch
Diane Silvers Ravitch is an historian of education, an educational policy analyst, and a research professor at New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. Previously, she was a U.S...
criticized Brill for being too uncritical of the charter school movement. "Unfortunately, Brill is completely ignorant of a vast body of research literature about teaching. Economists agree that teachers are the most important influence on student test scores inside the school, but the influence of schools and teachers is dwarfed by nonschool factors, most especially by family income."
Personal life
Brill is a graduate of Deerfield AcademyDeerfield Academy
Deerfield Academy is an independent, coeducational boarding school in Deerfield, Massachusetts, United States. It is a four-year college-preparatory school with approximately 600 students and about 100 faculty, all of whom live on or near campus....
and Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
(B.A., 1972; J.D.
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
, 1975). He is married and has three children. He currently resides in New York City and Bedford
Bedford (town), New York
Bedford is a town in Westchester County, New York, USA. The population was 17,335 at the 2010 census.The Town of Bedford is located in the northeastern part of Westchester County, and contains the three hamlets of Bedford Hills, Bedford Village, and Katonah...
, New York.
Timeline of projects
- 1978, October: Teamsters (ISBN 0-671-22771-8) is published
- 1979: The American LawyerThe American LawyerThe American Lawyer is a monthly law magazine published by ALM. It was founded in 1979 by Steven Brill. Features include the annual AmLaw 100 Survey and AmLaw 200 Survey , "The View From the Top", their annual poll of law firm chairpersons, and their "Corporate Scorecard"...
launches - 1991: CourtTV launches
- 1998, August: Brill's Content launches
- 2000, July: Contentville launches
- 2001: Brill begins teaching an advanced journalism course at Yale
- 2001, November: Brill signs on as a contributing editor for NewsweekNewsweekNewsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
- 2003, April: After: How America Confronted the September 12 Era (ISBN 0-7432-3709-9) is published
- 2003, October: The America Prepared Campaign is launched
- 2003, Fall: Founded Verified Identity Pass/Clear Registered Traveler
- 2009, April: Co-founded Journalism Online, a digital publishing services company
- 2009, June 23: The Clear/Verified Identity Pass program is abruptly ended.
American Lawyer
The American Lawyer is a monthly law magazine founded by Brill in 1979. One of its early contributors was Jim Cramer.The magazine covered the rise and subsequent precipitous collapse of the law firm of Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey
Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey
Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey was a United States law firm founded in 1968. The firm, based in New York, had grown from eight lawyers at its inception to over 700 lawyers at the time of its bankruptcy and dissolution in 1987...
in 1987.
Brill's Content
Brill's Content was a media watchdog publication that ceased publication in 2001. The publication ran from Vol. 1, no. 1 (Aug. 1998)-v. 4, no. 6 (Fall 2001).Clear
In 2003, Brill founded Clear, a subsidiarySubsidiary
A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
of Verified Identity Pass, Inc. It allowed travelers to get through airport security
Airport security
Airport security refers to the techniques and methods used in protecting airports and aircraft from crime.Large numbers of people pass through airports. This presents potential targets for terrorism and other forms of crime due to the number of people located in a particular location...
quickly with an annual subscription to the program and pre-screening
Vetting
Vetting is a process of examination and evaluation, generally referring to performing a background check on someone before offering him or her employment, conferring an award, etc...
.
According to their website, Clear ceased operations "at 11:00 p.m. PST on June 22, 2009... Clear’s parent company, Verified Identity Pass, Inc. has been unable to negotiate an agreement with its senior creditor to continue operations."