Jeff Kurzon
| Jeff Kurzon | |
|---|---|
|
Jeff Kurzon (left) and Lawrence Lessig at a march for campaign finance reform in Jan 2014 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Jeffrey Mead Kurzon 1976 |
| Political party | Democrat |
| Residence | Brooklyn |
| Alma mater | McGill University |
| Occupation | Attorney |
Jeffrey Mead "Jeff" Kurzon (born 1976) is a New York City attorney and politician.
Education and early career
Jeff Kurzon graduated from McGill Law School in 2003, after studying abroad at the University of Aix-Marseille in France. He began his career as a lawyer at Sidley Austin, which he later left to create his own law firm.[1]
Public interest lawyering
Defense of indebted law students
Kurzon's firm represent law school graduates who sued in a class action their law schools, including New York Law School and Cooley Law School,[2] for misrepresenting their post-graduate employment statistics[3] to lure students to take on hundreds of thousands dollars in debt.[4]
Defense of unpaid Huffington Post bloggers
Jeff Kurzon was the lead attorney who filed a lawsuit representing a class of about 9,000 unpaid Huffington Post bloggers, claiming that the Huffington Post and its acquirer AOL unjustly made profits by using the unpaid writers' work.[5]
Political career
Kurzon became involved in New York City politics in 2007 [6] as one of the top fundraisers for Barack Obama, raising over $150,000 for the candidate[7] and organizing one of the earliest and largest grassroots groups in New York City in support of the candidate.[8]
2014 congressional election
In February 2013, Kurzon announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for New York's 7th congressional district against 22-year incumbent Nydia Velázquez.[9][10] Kurzon pledged to not accept any PAC or lobbyist money,[11] challenging Velázquez (who sits on the Financial Services Committee) to do the same.[12] After the Federal Election Commission issued guidance on Bitcoin, Kurzon announced he would be the first candidate in New York to accept bitcoin donations from individuals.[13]
In the June 24, 2014 primary, Kurzon lost to Velazquez by a large margin.[14][15]
Election results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Nydia M. Valezquez | 7,627 | 80.95 | ||
| Democratic | Jeffrey M. Kurzon | 1,796 | 19.05 | ||
| Total valid votes | 9,423 | 100% | |||
See also
External links
References
- ↑ "An Ideal(ist) House Candidate from NYC". The Armenian Mirror Spectator. February 21, 2014.
- ↑ "Cooley Law gets served some of its own medicine". The ABA Journal. August 2011.
- ↑ "New York Law School sued by students over claims about graduates success". Bloomberg. August 10, 2011.
- ↑ "Kurzon LLP sues Cooley Law school for defamation". The ABA Journal. July 2012.
- ↑ "Huffington Post bloggers suit against AOL". Bloomberg. March 30, 2012.
- ↑ "7th-district Congressional candidate refuses PAC, lobby money". DNAinfo. 2014.
- ↑ "David finds a new Goliath". New York Press. February 27, 2013.
- ↑ VoterBook NYC Group
- ↑ "Attorney announces campaign against Nydia Velázquez". The Observer. February 2013. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
- ↑ "Three challenge Velazquez". The Times Ledger. May 1, 2014.
- ↑ "Attorney Jeffrey Kurzon announces his candidacy for Congress in downtown district". New York Press. March 3, 2013.
- ↑ "Nydia Velázquez unfazed by potential challengers". The Observer. March 2014.
- ↑ "NY Congressional Candidate Jeff Kurzon". BetaBeat. 4 June 2014.
- ↑ Mary Frost, Velazquez clobbers Kurzon in Democratic primary for 7th CD, Brooklyn Daily Eagle (June 25, 2014).
- 1 2 Representative in Congress: Election Returns June 24, 2014, New York State Board of Elections.