Education
Sullivan graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Morehouse College in 1989 and received his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1994.
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Ronald Sullivan, Junior.
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Career
Prior to joining the Harvard Law School faculty, Sullivan served as the Director of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. Sullivan was elected President of the Black Law Students Association at Harvard Law School and served as a general editor of the Harvard Black Letter Law Journal, now known as the Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Journal. Prior to joining the Harvard faculty, Sullivan worked with the District of Columbia law firms of Baach Robinson & Lewis and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, where Sullivan quickly gained experience with high-profile cases, such as those involving President Clinton.
He was recruited by then-Dean Elena Kagan to become part of the Harvard Law School faculty.
He teaches first year criminal law and upper level criminal procedure at Harvard, where he is consistently received high feedback from his students for his approachability, sense of humor, and admirable ease at the front of the classroom. He continues to write in the areas of criminal law, criminal procedure, democracy, and race.
He is the Director of the Criminal Justice Institute at Harvard Law School, where he serves as "a real live criminal defense lawyer for clients who can"t afford one." Sullivan also oversees the January term Trial Advocacy Workshop, an intensive three-week course for Harvard Law School students, featuring assistance from high-profile lawyers and judges from around the country. Sullivan also now serves as the official faculty advisor for Harvard Law School"s chapter of the Black Law Students Association.
Sullivan has appeared as a legal analyst on Cable News Network, Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, and Fox News Channel.
He is known to take on countless cases, pro bono, across the nation, in addition to the cases he oversees as part of the Criminal Justice Institute. He represented one of the Jena Six defendants, and never lost a case during his years in Washington, District of Columbia"s Public Defender Services office. Sullivan supported fellow Harvard Law School alumnus Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election where he chaired then-Senator Obama"s Criminal Justice Policy Group.
