DETROIT (Feb. 23, 2012) - Wayne State University Law School is pleased to host the Academy of Scholars Annual Senior Lecture by U.S. Assistant Attorney General Tony West on Thursday, March 8, at 4 p.m. in Spencer M. Partrich Auditorium. West will speak on the Department of Justice's efforts to protect consumers from fraud and abuse. The event is free open to the public.

West was nominated by President Barack Obama to be the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Civil Division on January 22, 2009. As the largest litigating division in the Department of Justice, the Civil Division represents the United States in legal challenges to congressional statutes, administration policies and federal agency actions.

West graduated with honors from Harvard College, where he served as publisher of the Harvard Political Review, and received his law degree from Stanford Law School, where he was elected president of the Stanford Law Review. He first served in the Department of Justice a year after graduating from law school. From 1993 through 1994, he served as a special assistant to the deputy attorney general. From 1994 to 1999, he served as an assistant United States attorney in the Northern District of California; after that, he was a state special assistant attorney general in California. Prior to returning to the Justice Department, West was a litigation partner at Morrison and Foerster LLP in San Francisco.

Founded in 1979, the WSU Academy of Scholars aims to raise the scholastic prestige of the university by bringing prominent experts to campus under its aegis and to create a community of scholars. The Annual Senior Lecture Series brings to campus a distinguished scholar or public figure to enhance the intellectual climate on campus and in the community.

Wayne State University is a premier urban research institution offering more than 400 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 32,000 students.

For more information about Wayne State University Law School, visit law.wayne.edu.