[4] Lawrence began his legal career in 1980 as clerk to Judge Amalya Lyle Kearse of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Lawrence sits on the Board of Directors of Beyond Conflict, an organization that has been working since 1992 to foster educated dialogue in order to clear the path for peace talks, national reconciliations, and transitions to democracy.

Under Lawrence's leadership on the board, the organization brings peace-making skills to appropriate leaders, those who are enemies to each other, and former combatants through three programs: geographic, thematic, and educational.

He has co-authored numerous Supreme Court amicus curiae briefs, on behalf of the ADL and other civil rights organizations in such cases as Virginia v. Black (2003), involving the constitutionality of the Virginia cross-burning statute, and Elonis v. United States (2015), involving the definition of a "true threat" under federal law consistent with the First Amendment.

He has testified before Congress on free speech on campus and has led Phi Beta Kappa's historic commitment to support for federal funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities.

The plan, "Fulfilling the Promise," was endorsed by the Brandeis Board of Trustees in May 2013 and is being implemented by a broad range of participatory working groups.

Lawrence supported student innovation including bVIEW (Brandeis Visions for Israel in an Evolving World), a conference by and for college students focused on future-oriented programming that depolarizes campus conversations about Israel, and ’Deis Impact, Brandeis’ annual student-run festival of social justice.

Lawrence's signature achievement upon arriving at Brandeis was to secure the Rose Art Museum, hiring its director Christopher Bedford and rebuilding its Board of Overseers.

Since then, the Rose has held many exhibitions such as "Dor Guez: 100 Steps to the Mediterranean" and "Image Machine: Andy Warhol & Photography," both in 2012; "Mika Rottenberg: The Production of Luck" and "John Altoon," both in 2014; and "Lisa Yuskavage: The Brood" in 2015.

"The Catalyst Fund is a bold statement of our belief that a Brandeis University education-open to all-truly changes the arc of young people's lives.

[7] Lawrence also enhanced the international reputation and visibility of the university with events and programs in China, India, South Korea, Israel, Great Britain, Austria, and Italy.

He increased fundraising from alumni and parents in China and India and co-founded with Jindal Global University (Delhi), the first Israel Studies Center in South Asia.

Other achievements made during his administration include raising more than $250[8] million, increasing applications by more than 35 percent to an all-time high, and largely eliminating a structural deficit in the university's finances.

Applications have surged to an all-time high, our endowment has grown to its highest point ever, and we have made significant progress in balancing the University's budget.During Lawrence's tenure, honorary degrees were awarded to a wide range of public figures.

Lawrence co-founded and has lectured at the Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law with the India Institute of Technology at Kharagpur.

In his career and personal life, Lawrence has been a strong advocate for free expression and civil rights enforcement, as well as fighting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement through dialogue, respect, and understanding.

In addition, he argues, university leaders must proactively seek to create a campus climate that protects robust free expression while maintaining an atmosphere of civility.

Lawrence also advocates for studying current bias crime laws as a way of gauging social perceptions of this multicultural society.

We must avoid the risk of focusing too narrowly on bias crimes and thereby failing to observe the true breadth and depth of bigotry in our society.

Bigotry and intra-group animus is a serious and multi-tiered social illness, and it would be facile in the extreme to expect bias crime laws to cure this condition completely or even to address all of its aspects.