Mark Zaid

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Mark S. Zaid is a Washington DC attorney who founded the James Madison Project in 1998 an organization dedicated to reduce government secrecy. It is interested in the Freedom of Information Act and government whistleblowers. He is the co-editor of LITIGATION UNDER THE FEDERAL OPEN GOVERNMENT LAWS. More information can be found at www.jamesmadisonproject.org. He would be very interested in getting the Supreme Court precedent in United States v. Reynolds overturned.

Mr. Zaid specializes in litigation and lobbying on matters relating to national security, federal employment, foreign sovereign and diplomatic immunity, international transactions, international torts and crimes, defamation, the Constitution (First and Fifth Amendments), and the Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts (FOI/PA).

Through his practice Mr. Zaid often represents former/current federal employees, intelligence officers, Whistleblowers and others who have grievances against agencies of the United States government or foreign governments. Additionally, he frequently represents members of the media and the public in First Amendment and FOI/PA disputes. He has handled hundreds of national security matters including security clearance revocations/denials, IG investigations, and other employment issues throughout the national security and military communities. He currently teaches the DC Bar CLE courses on FOIA and security clearances.

Many of his cases and clients are well-known to the public including such cases as successfully suing Libya for the bombing of Pan Am 103 and shutting down the Department of Defense's mandatory anthrax vaccination program, and clients such as Arianna Huffington, Mohammed Al Fayed and members of Congress.

In connection with his legal practice on international and national security matters, Mr. Zaid has testified before, or provided testimony to, a variety of governmental bodies including the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, the House Judiciary Committee, the House Government Reform Committee, the Department of Energy, the Public Interest Declassification Board, and the Assassination Records Review Board, an independent federal agency. Of particular note he testified as an expert witness on security clearances before subcommittees of the U.S. House of Representatives in February and July 2006, and before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary in April 2001, on the use of pre-employment polygraphs by the U.S. Government.

Mr. Zaid is a frequent contributor of opinion pieces and legal articles and has been published by, among others, the Washington Post, Washington Times, the National Law Journal and Findlaw.com. Additionally, he often appears as a commentator in media interviews for such entities as CNN, FoxNews, MSNBC, BBC, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Reuters, Associated Press and others.

Mr. Zaid also operates www.EsquireComics.com where he sells hi-grade or notable comic books primarily from 1930-1963.

A 1992 graduate of Albany Law School of Union University in New York, where he served as an Associate Editor of the Albany Law Review, he completed his undergraduate education (cum laude) in 1989 at the University of Rochester, New York with honors in Political Science and high honors in History. Mr. Zaid is a member of the Bars of New York State, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, and numerous federal courts.

He can best be reached at ZaidMS@aol.com.