Golden Heart Awards 2025 Honoree

ALAN TAUBER

Alan Tauber has practiced law for 36 years, almost entirely in Philadelphia.  He started his career defending insurance companies and commercial corporations, but when the Philadelphia Public Defender Association hosted a rare mid-year hiring class in the Spring of 1996, he was able to obtain one of the sought after spots.  He was hired as an Assistant Public Defender and, although he took a 50 percent cut in pay for which he was relentlessly chastised by his mother, he had the privilege of connecting his work with his political and moral beliefs about justice.  It was a fateful move that led him to a life of fighting for his values and beliefs, working for the outcast and the damned, and confronting a criminal legal system that is generally indifferent to government abuses and excessively retributive and cruel in the punishment of those who have committed crimes.  Growing up in an engaged Jewish household in New Jersey, he was made keenly aware of the importance of civil liberties and the danger of unguarded government power.

After trying cases and writing appeals as a public defender, Mr. Tauber left for private practice where he was able to expand his practice to include civil rights work for those wrongfully prosecuted, physically abused and incarcerated under disgraceful conditions.  This work included the exoneration of several individuals with wrongful convictions. His most celebrated case is the subject of a Netflix show, The Innocence Files, Episode 7 (“Wrong Place, Wrong Time”).

In 2019, his career came full circle when he was asked by then Chief Public Defender Keir Bradford-Grey to return to the Public Defenders Office to serve as her first assistant.  It was an honor and privilege to serve with her, especially during the uniquely challenging era of COVID quarantines when everyone’s case was stuck in place.  We were able to marshall a program that led to the release of nearly a third of the county prisoners and the closure of one of the county prisons. 

After serving briefly as Interim Chief Public Defender, Mr. Tauber returned to private practice in 2022. He now focuses on civil rights and criminal defense cases.