High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Morris Seligman Dees, Jr. (born December 16, 1936) is the co-founder and chief trial counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and a former direct mail marketeer for book publishing. Along with his law partner, Joseph J. Levin Jr., Dees founded the SPLC in 1971, the start of a legal career dedicated to suing organizations in discrimination cases.