Terry Lord: Irish Pursuit for Human Rights

Tony’s Restaurant
3755 Richmond Ave
Houston, TX 77046

Thursday January 23, 2025

11:30 AM - 1:00 PM

Join Virtually ===> January 23, 2025

Terry R. Lord

Terry Lord, former federal prosecutor,

Mr. Lord, who spent almost 30 years as a prosecutor in the US Department of Justice, Criminal Division, was a member of a legal delegation to Ireland and Northern Ireland in September of 2024. The attorneys in the delegation visited law schools, legal societies, bar associations, media representatives and historians. The purpose of these meetings was to share information and lessons learned about how the legal system can promote the Rule of Law and work towards agreements to end political violence.

This presentation will be an important study of how the Irish have resolved their differences with the UK, dealt with long-standing religious discrimination and violence, and promote the Rule of Law throughout the world. Most significantly, the US can adopt some of these programs to diminish political violence and improve civility.

The Irish know that political and religious violence can erupt at any moment- their institutions are working to bring people together through sports, charitable organizations, and non-government groups. They are sending their own delegations to foreign countries facing war and civil violence to help bring about peace and human rights.

The story of the Irish pursuit for human rights and the Rule of Law is a never-ending journey, just as it is for every nation.

Full bio:

Mr. Lord retired from the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2004 after serving as a prosecutor in the Criminal Division for almost thirty years. He began as a Special Attorney in the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section in 1970 serving on Strike Forces in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. The Assistant Attorney General (AAG) for the Criminal Division named him the Chief of the Las Vegas Strike Force in 1987.

Selected by the American Political Science Association in 1990 to be a Congressional Fellow, Lord spent a year in the US Senate as a Legislative Assistant to Senator Joe Lieberman (D-I-Conn). He aided the Senator with legislative hearings in the Governmental Affairs Committee chaired by the late Senator John Glenn (D-Ohio) and Senate floor debate on a variety of bills. Upon completion of the one year Senate Fellowship, Lord returned to the DOJ Criminal Division as the Principal Deputy Chief of the General Litigation and Legal Advice Section (GLLAS). This section, one of the largest in the Division at the time, prosecuted cases involving immigration and customs fraud, industrial health and safety criminal violations, bribery and graft not involving official corruption, Indian affairs, and many other federal offenses. From 1994 to 1996, Lord was the Acting Chief of GLLAS.

The AAG for the division appointed Lord to be the Chief of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) in 1996. By this time, the use of the internet to distribute child pornography, and to commercially exploit children on a world-wide basis had become a major social and criminal law enforcement issue. CEOS led national enforcement initiatives against child pornography rings operating throughout the US while working with investigators from federal, state and local agencies. Attorneys from CEOS trained prosecutors in US Attorney offices, District Attorney offices and even prosecutors around the world in new techniques in the investigation and prosecution of child exploitation offenses. Lord was a member of theInterpol Committee on Crimes against Children and headed a sub-committee on Legal Training. This Interpol committee organized and conducted training on child exploitation enforcement for investigators and prosecutors throughout the globe.

The Overseas Professional Training and Development Section (OPDAT) of the Criminal Division selected Lord to be the Resident Legal Advisor (RLA) at the US Embassy in Bucharest, Romania. From 2001 to 2003, Lord assisted the Romanian Ministry of Justice and the Prosecutor-General’s office in establishing new programs to combat human trafficking, organized crime and corruption. Training seminars and conferences were held in every part of Romania for investigators, prosecutors and judges. Lord completed his DOJ career as the Acting Regional Director for Central Europe, OPDAT, working in Washington, DC from 2003-2004. He supervised and directed RLA programs in eleven countries, although a majority of the efforts focused on the Balkans.

Lord now lives in Houston, Texas. He is a 50 year member of the State Bar of Texas, Vietnam War veteran and educated at Southern Methodist University (BA-1963) and the University of Texas School of Law (JD-1966).