Debra Evenson papers

Debra Evenson was a legal expert on Cuba. She received a B.A. from Barnard College in 1964, and Juris Doctor in 1976 from Rutgers Law School. After receiving her J.D., she worked for a short time at a Wall Street firm before becoming an Associate Professor of Law at DePaul University in 1980. In 1982, Evenson traveled to Cuba for the first time, although her work gave her many opportunities to return. She represented the Cuban government in United States lawsuits through a New York law firm with a license to practice in Cuba. In 1993 she was awarded a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to research the role of the Cuban legal profession in the country's period of constitutional transition. Evenson's professional life included service as President of the National Lawyers Guild from 1988 to 1991 and President of the Board of Directors for the Latin American Institute for Alternative Legal Services (ILSA) from 1996 to 2003. In 2007, Evenson co-founded the Center for Inter-American Legal Education (CIALE). Evenson taught classes on the U.S. judicial system and constitutional law at the University of Havana, participated in international conferences concerning legal, economic and social issues in Cuba, and published two books as well as numerous articles. Debra Evenson passed away on August 17, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois.