Allen Neiman LLB 1956 passed away peacefully at his home in Santa Monica on Nov. 14 at the age of 88.
Born in Chicago in 1929, Neiman and his family moved to Los Angeles 12 years later. He obtained his BS degree from UCLA in 1950 and immediately enlisted in the United States Air Force. Afterwards, he attended USC Gould School of Law and graduated with honors in 1957.
Neiman established his first law firm in 1957 and practiced law for more than 50 years, specializing in commercial litigation and family law. In 1980, he became the Honorary Consul General for Burkina Faso. Neiman was the longest serving member of the Los Angeles Consular Corps; he served on the Executive Committee and held multiple offices in the organization.
Active in the civil rights movement throughout his career, Neiman was formerly vice president of the American Civil Liberties Union, Southern California chapter. In the 1960s, he was a volunteer civil rights worker in Mississippi and worked on voter registration of African Americans and other important issues.
In 2012, Alan Sieroty LLB 1956, a former California state senator and assembly member, endowed the Allen Neiman and Alan Sieroty Lecture in Civil Liberties to commemorate work in this field and support it well into the future. Lecturers have included Justice Albert Sachs, Hon. Jed Rakoff and Justice Goodwin Liu.
Neiman traveled throughout the world, was an avid reader and loved all types of music from bluegrass to opera. He is survived by Deanne, his wife of 31 years, their five children, and several grandchildren.
