Tim O'Brien

Tim O’Brien is an attorney and an award winning journalist whose achievements include covering the U.S. Supreme Court for ABC News for nearly twenty-five years. He is a recognized expert on the Court, its Justices and on the development of a generation of constitutional law.

O’Brien’s reporting has received the highest accolades of both the legal and journalism professions. The National Academy of Arts and Sciences awarded him an Emmy for his contributions to CNN’s coverage of the September 11th terrorism attacks. His television documentaries on the criminal justice system received the American Bar Association’s highest award (The Silver Gavel Award) as well as a Columbia-DuPont Award for Excellence in journalism.

O'Brien also received a Columbia-DuPont Award for Human Rights Reporting for “Escape From Justice—Nazi War Criminals in America,” an ABC News documentary. His reporting on the death penalty and alternative dispute resolution have also been separately recognized by the American Bar Association for journalism excellence.

O'Brien is currently a contributing correspondent to the PBS Broadcast, “Religion and Ethics Newsweekly.” His 2006 PBS Report on "DNA and Fair Trials"--which explores the legal and ethical implications of post-conviction DNA exoneration, was awarded the CINE Golden Eagle. His report on Georgia's Sex Offender Law (2007)was honored with the Silver Screen Award from the U.S. International Film and Video Festival.

O'Brien's opinions on issues ranging from the death penalty to broadcast coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court have appeared on the Op Ed pages of The New York Times, The Washington Post and other major newspapers around the U.S.

O’Brien is a “Distinguished Alumnus” of Michigan State University (from where he received his B.A. degree in Communications) and a member of the Board of Visitors of the Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans (from where he received his Juris Doctor law degree.) He also holds a M.A. Degree in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland in College Park, MD. O’Brien has also been named a “Distinguished Alumnus” of Woodward Academy (College Park, GA, formerly Georgia Military Academy), where he attended high school with his twin brother, Peter (also a recipient of the “Distinguished Alumnus” Award.)

O'Brien also teaches law and has served as "Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law" at a number of prominent American laws schools, including Hofstra University School of Law (Hempstead, NY), Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law School (Ft. Lauderdale,FL), St. Thomas University School of Law (Miami, FL) and Loyola University School of Law (New Orleans.)

A frequent lecturer on the Supreme Court and legal issues generally, O’Brien was the keynote speaker at the Judicial Circuit Conference for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia meeting at Williamsburg, Virginia in 2002. In 2009, he was the keynote speaker for annual meetings of the state bar associations of Michigan and Kentucky.

O'Brien is an avid biker and in his spare time leads bike tours for Discovery Bike Tours, Inc., headquartered in Woodstock, Vermont. Other intersts include snorkeling, photography and videography, and baseball, especially the Baltimore Orioles.

Mr. O’Brien and his wife “Petie” reside in Kensington, Maryland outside Washington D.C. They have two children, Tracey and Tim, who have provided them with four grandchildren: Connor, Ryan and Jack McGee and Kathryne Hope O’Brien.