Civil Rights Attorney Dan Siegel announced last week that he will run for Mayor of Oakland in 2014. Siegel spoke about his race with Oakland blogger Zennie Abraham.

Originally from New York, Siegel was a political activists during his years as a law student at UC Berkeley. Since 1973 he’s been in private practice as an attorney, specializing in labor law, employment discrimination and civil rights litigation.  He served as legal adviser for Mayor Quan early in her term, but he quit in protest over Quan’s mishandling of Occupy Oakland.

Siegel has gathered attention most recently for standing up against the Domain Awareness Center and for representing port truckers against mistreatment by the City and Port of Oakland.

Siegel’s entrance into the race means that Oaklanders concerned with the protection of human rights and civil liberties now have a candidate they can support.