PUBLISHED:April 27, 2007

Peter Kahn '76 Honored with Dean's Alumni Achievement Award

Peter J. Kahn graduated with honors from Yale University in 1973 with a Bachelor of Arts, in Political Science, and received his Juris Doctor from Duke University School of Law in 1976. While at Duke Law School, he was articles editor of the Duke Law Journal, and founder/chairman of the Duke Law Forum, a speakers series which attracted national leaders to the Law School.

Mr. Kahn has served Duke Law School in many capacities, serving on the Law Admissions Program, as class agent and as a member of two reunion committees. He has served on the Board of Visitors since 1996, beginning his tenure as chairman in July 2001. Mr. Kahn’s chairmanship of the board was marked by his commitment to developing Duke Law’s international presence by holding Board meetings in international locations where there are clusters of alumni. In addition, Mr. Kahn led an effort in 2006 to build Board membership in the Law School’s Heritage Society, which recognizes alumni who have included the Law School in their estate plans. Most recently, he was as a member of the Dean Search Committee, charged with finding a successor to Dean Katharine T. Bartlett. In 2006, Mr. Kahn was honored by the University with the Charles A. Dukes Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service to Duke.

Mr. Kahn joined Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, D.C. after graduation from Duke Law School, the first Duke Law graduate hired by the firm. He has been a partner since 1985. Mr. Kahn has a diverse complex civil and criminal litigation practice in which he appears on behalf of clients in federal and state courts across the country, at both the trial and appellate levels, as well as in arbitrations and before federal agencies and on Capitol Hill. Mr. Kahn also spends considerable time focused on litigation involving international disputes and has extensive experience before American and foreign tribunals. His Bar admissions include: District of Columbia and Connecticut, the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Courts of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits, the United States District Courts for the District of Columbia, Maryland, Connecticut, Southern District of New York, and Eastern District of Michigan.

The Dean’s Alumni Achievement Award honors a Duke Law graduate who has demonstrated extraordinary service, commitment, and dedication to Duke Law School.