Piero A. Tozzi is a Senior Fellow at the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute (C-FAM), and also holds the position of Senior Legal Counsel, Global, with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF).
Prior to joining ADF, Mr. Tozzi ran C-FAM’s New York office while serving as Executive Vice President and General Counsel. He also established the International Organizations Law Group as C-FAM’s public interest law arm, submitting amicus briefs and shadow reports on a proper understanding of international law in fora such as the Mexican Supreme Court and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Previously, Mr. Tozzi served a litigation attorney with the firms Winston & Strawn LLP and Torys LLP in New York, principally handling complex commercial suits and arbitrations. While there he also litigated a number of religious liberty and pro-life cases.
Among the latter engagements was his pro bono representation of a crisis pregnancy center subpoenaed by former New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer in a case that garnered national attention. Mr. Tozzi also represented the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Liberties and Campus Crusade for Christ as amici curiae, arguing that a statute mandating that ostensibly religious organizations like Catholic Charities provide contraceptives to their employees violated the New York State Constitution’s free exercise clause. He has won asylum at trial for victims of foreign religious persecution, and has been recognized by the New York State Bar Association for his commitment to pro bono legal representation.
Mr. Tozzi serves on the working board of the Guild of Catholic Lawyers of the Archdiocese of New York and is past chairman of the Guild’s Young Lawyers’ Committee. He is also a board member of Program Reach, Inc., a Bronx-based not-for-profit that promotes character education and abstinence among at-risk youth, and sits on the Board of Visitors of Ave Maria School of Law. He is a member of the International Law and Practice Section of the New York State Bar Association.
Mr. Tozzi is a graduate of Fordham University School of Law, Class of 1996, and received his B.A. from Columbia University in 1988. A speaker of Mandarin Chinese who lived previously in Taiwan, he has authored articles on Chinese law and politics as well as written and lectured extensively on international law, constitutional law, religious liberties, and conscience rights. Mr. Tozzi and his wife have three children.
Law Review Articles:
“Whither Free Exercise: Employment Division v. Smith and the Rebirth of State Constitutional Free Exercise Clause Jurisprudence?,” 48 J. Cath. Legal Studies 269 (2009).
“The Blessing or the Curse: Whose Values Will Guide Us? Where Will They Lead Us?,” 47 J. Cath. Legal Studies 167 (2008)
“New York State: Steering a Course Between the Scylla of Judicial Activism and the Charybdis of Wayward Legislating – But For How Long?,” Americans United for Life State Supreme Court Project, White Paper Series (2007) (co-author)
“When Conscience Clashes with State Law and Policy: Catholic Institutions: A Response to Susan Stabile,” 46 J. Cath. Legal Studies 161 (2007)
“Constitutional Reform on Taiwan: Fulfilling a Chinese Notion of Democratic Sovereignty?” 64 Fordham L. Rev. 1193 (Dec. 1995)
Amicus Briefs:
International Organizations Law Group Amicus Brief to the National Supreme Court of Justice (Mexico) regarding Baja California’s State Constitutional Amendment Protecting Life from Conception
“International Organizations Law Group Shadow Report to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights as to why Abortion Providers should not be considered “Human Rights Defenders”
International Organizations Law Group Memorandum to the National Supreme Court of Justice (Mexico) regarding Mexico City’s Abortion Law (2008) (Spanish)
Brief for Amici Curiae Campus Crusade for Christ and the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights in Support of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Albany to the New York Court of Appeals (2006)
Other Select Publications:
Español: El reciente fallo a favor del matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo en el Estado de California, en el contexto de un progresivo avance de la Justicia Federal. El Derecho, diciembre 2010.
“The Decline of Universal Rights and the Ascent of the Latex Left,” Chapter in Exiting a Dead End Road: A GPS for Christians in Public Discourse. Kairos Publications. 2010.
“UN Disabilities Treaty Does Not Create Abortion Rights,” MercatorNet, Aug. 5, 2009 (co-author)
“Presionan a El Salvador Sobre el Aborto,” El Diario de Hoy (El Salvador), (Oct. 12, 2008) (co-author)
“Antitrust Enforcement in the Millennium,” BNA Mergers & Acquisitions Law Report (Feb. 2001) (co-author)
“Taiwan Goes to the Polls,” The New Leader (Oct. 10, 1994) (co-author)
Encuentro Mundial de Las Familias, Enero 2009. Sponsored by the Pontifical Council for the Family.