Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, Civil Rights Attorney, Appointed Executive Director of
the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Inez H Friedman-Boyce,617-570-1334
May 5, 2015 Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, 908-405-2269
Boston, MA – Today, the Board of Directors of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice announced the appointment of Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, a civil rights attorney, as its Executive Director. He will oversee litigation and advocacy work, and lead a distinguished team.
The Lawyers’ Committee is a non-profit legal organization that safeguards the civil, social, and economic liberties of people in Greater Boston and throughout Massachusetts. The organization promotes and protects civil rights through major law reform cases; public policy advocacy; community education; and community economic development initiatives.
Over the last decade, Espinoza-Madrigal has combined litigation, policy, communications, and alliance-building strategies to promote social change and equality. He is seen as a bridge builder within the civil rights community and across social justice movements, particularly in connection with immigration and LGBT/HIV issues. His work has been featured in the New York Times, the New Yorker, the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Law Journal. He speaks nationally on civil rights issues; contributes writing to the Huffington Post; and provides legal commentary to CNN, Univision, and Telemundo.
“Iván has impressive experience and a powerful commitment to advancing civil rights,” said Inez H. Friedman-Boyce, Co-Chair of the Board of Directors, and a partner at Goodwin Procter LLP, a member firm. “He has a real passion and unique vision for justice,” said Lisa J. Pirozzolo, Co-Chair of the Board of Directors, and a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, another member firm.
Most recently, Espinoza-Madrigal was the legal director of the Center for HIV Law and Policy, where he supervised national projects using HIV as a lens to address racial justice, criminal justice, and immigration issues. Previously, he worked at Lambda Legal, where he developed an initiative to address the legal needs of LGBT and HIV-affected people of color and low-income people. He also handled MALDEF’s immigrants’ rights docket, including a challenge to Arizona’s immigration law, and a landmark U.S. Supreme Court voting rights case. He was also an associate at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver and Jacobson LLP, where he defended the first municipal identification card in the country against an attempt to dismantle the program.
Iván clerked for Judge Clay in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and Judge Ellis in the U.S. District Court, S.D.N.Y. He graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Pennsylvania, and received a J.D. from NYU School of Law, where he was a Root-Tilden-Kern Scholar. The National LGBT Bar Association has recognized him as one of the Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40.
“I am honored to join the Lawyers’ Committee, an organization that has an esteemed history of protecting and expanding the civil rights of marginalized communities, and excited to build on this legacy working closely with the board and member firms, and our supporters and allies across communities and movements to improve the lives of people in Massachusetts and beyond,” said Espinoza-Madrigal.
