OXFORD, Miss. — Alberto J. Mora, Wal-Mart vice president
and former general counsel for the U.S. Navy, presents the
Sherman L. Muths Jr. Lecture Series in Law Thursday, Oct.
18, at the University of Mississippi School of Law.
The 4 p.m. lecture is to be presented in the William N.
Ethridge Jr. Moot Court Room of the Lamar Law Center.
Titled “Weakening America: Use of Cruelty in the War on
Terror,” the program is free and open to the public, and a
reception will follow.
Mora served as general counsel for the Department of the
Navy in Washington, D.C., from 2001 to 2005. As the chief
legal officer and chief ethics officer of the U.S. Navy and
Marine Corps, Mora managed the Office of the General
Counsel.
While in this position, he openly opposed detainee abuse at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and led an effort within the
Department of Defense to end coercive interrogation tactics
used by some military agencies. In May 2006, the John F.
Kennedy Library Foundation honored Mora’s service as Navy
General Counsel by awarding him the John F. Kennedy Profile
in Courage Award, recognizing his opposition to
governmental policies and practices permitting detainee
abuse.
Mora is responsible for Wal-Mart’s legal affairs in Puerto
Rico and other overseas retail markets, including China,
Japan, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, the United
Kingdom and five Central American countries. His career
combines extensive private sector experience with
significant public service in the legal, foreign policy and
national security arenas. He earned his bachelor’s degree
with honors from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and his
law degree from the University of Miami School of Law.
The Sherman L. Muths Jr. Lecture Series in Law was
established at the law school in 2000, with a gift from
Sherman L. Muths Jr. and his wife, Celia Muths, of
Gulfport. The purpose of the series is to bring a
distinguished legal scholar to the law school annually to
deliver a public lecture on practical aspects of the legal
profession and to interact informally with students and
faculty.
Law Dean Samuel M. Davis said Mora is an excellent choice
for the series.
“He has a wealth of experience, in both private practice
and public service, as head of huge teams of lawyers,
Davis said. “Moreover, he has Mississippi ties; during his
formative years, his father was a member of the UM Medical
Center faculty, and he grew up in Jackson. Our students
will learn a great deal from him about the practical
aspects of public and private practice.”
For additional information or assistance related to a
disability, contact Connie Lamb at 662-915-6900. To learn
more about the UM School of Law, visit
http://www.law.olemiss.edu.