Shiva Kooragayala

Staff Attorney for Democracy 2025

Shiva Kooragayala is a Staff Attorney for Democracy 2025 at Democracy Forward.

Most recently, Shiva completed a clerkship for Honorable Judge Joan H. Lefkow at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Since graduating from law school, Shiva first worked at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, and Flom LLP and then at a litigation boutique, Massey & Gail LLP. While in private practice, Shiva maintained a robust pro bono practice in which he represented low-income renters facing eviction and inmates and pretrial detainees in civil rights cases, affirmatively brought fair housing actions, and helped obtain relief for refugees seeking humanitarian asylum in the United States. Shiva worked as an urban and social policy researcher at the Urban Institute, a policy research organization based in Washington, D.C. before he became a lawyer.

Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Shiva graduated from Emory University, where he earned degrees in Political Science and Sociology and completed a concentration in Community Building and Social Change. He also holds a Master’s degree in city planning from the University of Pennsylvania and a Juris Doctorate from the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, where he graduated with honors. While in law school, he was the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Law and Social Policy and was a member of the Civil Litigation Clinic, where he focused on eviction defense. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors of the Law Center for Better Housing, a Chicago-based housing justice organization, and the Chicago Chapter of the South Asian Bar Association Foundation. He also serves on the Young Professional Board of Ascend Justice and on the Emerging Leaders’ Council of the Legal Services Corporation.

Shiva lives in Chicago with his wife and puppy and is a member of the Illinois Bar.