Helen Alvaré

Helen M. Alvaré is an associate professor of Law at the George Mason University School of Law where she researches and writes about family law, and the intersection of family law and religion. As a practicing lawyer, Alvaré specialized in commercial litigation and free exercise of religion matters. She drafted amicus briefs in leading US Supreme Court cases concerning abortion, euthanasia and the Establishment Clause for the Office of General Counsel for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB), later working with the NCCB’s Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities. In this capacity she lobbied, testified before federal congressional committees, addressed university audiences, and appeared on hundreds of television and radio programs on behalf of the US Catholic bishops. Professor Alvaré chaired the commission investigating clerical abuse in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and is an advisor to Pope Benedict XVI's Pontifical Council for the Laity, as well as an ABC News consultant.