Dan Werner

Several recent blog posts have mentioned Daniel Werner, whom I was fortunate to meet last week. Dan came to Ulan Baatar, on behalf of the American Bar Association, to make a presentation at the CHRD-ABA conference to combat human trafficking.

Dan is an amazing lawyer with a fascinating background.  He went to high school in Colombia, and spent a fair amount of time wandering around the backcountry in South America, before coming back to the United States for college and law school. We knew a lot of the same people because he and his wife, also a lawyer, worked on farmworker organizing issues in New York state, particularly in the Hudson Valley, before he accepted his present position, as the Deputy Director of the Southern Poverty Law Center in Atlanta. He has extensive experience in litigation combating labor trafficking, including international labor trafficking.

In talking to him, I discovered we had a variety of common interests and experiences, both recreationally (as rock climbers and hikers) as well as politically. Not surprisingly, we have some common acquaintances, if not friends, in New York State. 

Dan at our home for three nights

It was a true pleasure to work and hang out with him during the conference and meeting him was one of the highlights of this trip.