Preeta D.
Bansal is a lawyer whose career has spanned government service and private
practice. A partner at the international law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate,
Meagher & Flom LLP, Ms. Bansal heads the appellate litigation group. She
regularly represents major Wall Street and corporate clients on significant
issues of law before the federal and state appellate courts, including the
United States Supreme Court. A member of the Council on Foreign
Relations, she also serves on the advisory boards of several leading human rights
and civil rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, the Lawyers'
Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the National Women's Law Center.
Ms. Bansal
served as the Solicitor General of the State of New York from 1999 through
2001. The New York Times called her a "legal superstar" and the New
York Law Journal referred to her as "one of the most gifted lawyers of her
generation, who combines a brilliant analytical mind with solid, mature
judgment."
Ms. Bansal
is a magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Harvard-Radcliffe
College, and a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, where she
was Supervising Editor of the Harvard Law Review. She served as a law
clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens of the United States Supreme Court
(1990-1991) and to Chief Judge James L. Oakes of the United States Court of
Appeals for the Second Circuit (1989-1990). She served as Counselor in the
U.S. Justice Department and as Special Counsel in the Office of the White House
Counsel from 1993-1996. She has taught constitutional law, and was a Visiting
Fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy
School of Government.
Ms. Bansal
was appointed to the Commission by former Senate Minority Leader Thomas Daschle
(D-SD), and reappointed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). She served
as Chair of the Commission in 2004-2005, and Vice Chair in 2007-2008.
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