Fellowship recognizes exceptional career in public interest law and contributions to the profession 

Washington, D.C. – Democracy Forward Senior Counsel Bradley Girard is among 16 attorneys nationally selected to receive the prestigious 2024-2025 Wasserstein Public Interest Fellowship, a program at Harvard Law School that “recognizes exemplary lawyers who have distinguished themselves in public interest work and who can advise students who are considering similar career paths.” Girard, who joined Democracy Forward in September as a Senior Counsel, has built a career as an impact litigator with a focus on constitutional law and civil rights, among other areas of expertise. Girard spent a week at Harvard Law School advising students on how to build successful public-interest careers.    

“Bradley is an exceptional lawyer and is deeply committed to making the promise of democracy a reality for all people,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “We are incredibly proud to have him on our team at Democracy Forward and are  very pleased Bradley will be able to offer his invaluable perspective to Harvard Law students and was selected as a Wasserstein Fellow.”

The Wasserstein Public Interest Fellows Program was created in 1990 in honor of Morris Wasserstein to bring outstanding public interest attorneys to Harvard Law School to counsel students regarding careers in public service. The Program recognizes lawyers who have distinguished themselves in public interest work and who can advise students who are considering similar career paths.

“At a time where so much is at stake, it is an honor to get to share my experience with the next generation of public-interest leaders, who are committed to meaningful and lasting change,” said Girard. “Through sharing my experiences, I hope to help these students find the paths to do the critical work about which they are so passionate.”

Girard received his JD and LLM from the Georgetown University Law Center. Before joining Democracy Forward, Girard was Litigation counsel at Americans United, where he played a leading role in, among other things, building an intensive program to train the next generation of public-interest law students and in a range of high-profile First Amendment cases. Earlier in his career, Girard served as a clerk for the Honorable Neal E. Kravitz on the D.C. Superior Court and on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit for the Honorable Martha Craig Daughtrey. Girard also served for two years as the clinical teaching fellow at Georgetown Law’s Appellate Courts Immersion Clinic, where he taught students public-interest impact litigation in the federal courts of appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court and earned an LLM in advocacy. 

Girard serves regularly as lead counsel in courts of appeals across the country and the Supreme Court. His writing has appeared in a variety of legal publications, including the Georgetown Law Journal, the Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy, Law360, and SCOTUS blog.

For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org. 

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