User:Tuvalevsku/Dan Avi-Isaac

Dan Avi-Isaac (born 1936) is an Israeli lawyer who represented nationally prominent defendants in several major criminal cases in Israel.

Early life and education
He was born Dan Deutscher in Jerusalem in 1936. His father, Yosef Asher Deutscher, a general contractor, had immigrated to pre-State Israel from Poland. After his son Yitzhak (Isaac; יצחק) fell in Israel's Independence war, Deutscher changed the family surname to Avi-Isaac (Isaac's father) in his memory. Dan Avi-Isaac attended the "Maalah" state religious school. He started his law studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem during his military service, graduating with honors. He did his clerkship State Attorney's office under Colin Gilon, and worked in Mendel Sharf's law firm.

Legal career
After admission to the Bar, Avi-Isaac founded an independent law firm mainly focused on family law practice. He later expanded to criminal law, mainly white-collar offenses, and private-business law. Avi-Isaac was sole partner of a small law firm in Jerusalem, with two or three lawyers working under him. The firm provided law services to a small group of clients, including large enterprises, as well as leading businessmen and politicians. Among his clients were Benjamin Netanyahu, lawyer Ram Caspi, Knesset member Rafael Pinhasi, and Oded Mozes. Avi-Isaac also represented clients on the political far right. The two clients with whom he is most identified are Aryeh Deri and Ofer Nimrodi.

In 2001, following the plea bargain concluding the widely publicized Nimrodi case, Avi-Isaac announced that he would not take on new clients but devote himself to prior professional obligations until his retirement. Four years later, in 2005, Avi-Isaac retired from legal practice.

Aryeh Deri
Avi-Isaac represented Aryeh Deri when he was charged with taking bribery and other offenses while serving as the Minister of Interior. As part of his role, being Deri's defense lawyer, Avi-Isaac came across the details of a plot thought of by Deri with the goal being arriving at a "comfortable" ending of the criminal charges held against him, this was later known as the Bar-On Hebron affair. Avi-Isaac tried to block Deri's plot, which led to him being a prosecution witness in the case. Avi-Isaac resigned from representing Deri in his case after Deri disrespected him and his wife. Deri filed a complaint at the Israel Bar Association against Avi-Isaac (from which he later withdrew) and Avi-Isaac was prosecuted at a disciplinary court, which ended with Avi-Isaac being acquitted from all four charges held against him, including failure to keep a secret which was disclosed by a client.

Ofer Nimrodi
Avi-Isaac represented Ofer Nimrodi, newspaper Maariv's publisher, in the eavesdropping case that emerged in 1994. Nimrodi was convicted as a part of a plea bargain and was sentenced to eight months in jail. In 1999 Nimrodi was arrested again and was charged with ordering the murder of his two competitors (Arnon "Noni" Mozes and Amos Schocken) among other offenses. As a part of a plea deal in 2001, Nimrodi admitted to some of the lighter charges and was sentenced to 25 months in jail. The plea deal was considered a success for Avi-Isaac.

Teaching and public occupations
In the years 1975-1978 Avi-Isaac was a member of the Judicial Selection Committee. He was also a member of the Israel Bar Association's disciplinary appeal court and was a member of the central board of the committee. Additionally, Avi-Isaac worked in education and taught at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's law school.

Personal life
Avi-Isaac is married to Naomi Tur-Kaspa and has four children. He is an archery enthusiast. His brother, Benjamin Avi-Itzhak (1933—2017), was an industrial engineering professor at the Technion.