Ananda Burra

Background

About Ananda Burra

I am an experienced litigator and educator, focusing on civil rights, democratic values, international law, and legal history. I am currently Senior Counsel at Democracy Forward, where I litigate on behalf of marginalized communities and for human-centric causes at all levels of the US court system. Prior to this position, I served as Associate Professor of law at BML Munjal University in New Delhi, focusing on international law, international institutions, transnational litigation, legal history, and civil rights. My research and teaching focused on how issues of jurisdiction and venue define the boundaries of sovereignty and the competence of international institutions. This built on my experience in litigation and legal history. I was an associate at the New York City civil rights law firm of Emery Celli Brinkerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel, where I represented clients in cases in both state and federal court. My litigation docket spanned from climate change, to voting rights, to representing individuals subject to unconstitutional incarceration in the United States. I was recognized as a Super Lawyer: Rising Star in New York by Thomson Reuters. Prior to that position, I was a global disputes associate at Jones Day, where I represented both sovereign states and private parties in international investment arbitrations, as well as parties in a diverse array of state and federal court matters. My pro bono docket included representing prisoners in appellate court litigation, representing asylum seekers in immigration courts, and representing city officials in litigation relating to monuments to white supremacy. I hold a JD, magna cum laude, and a PhD in the History of International Law from the University of Michigan. I served as a law clerk at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, as a visiting research fellow at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law at the University of Cambridge, and as the Charles McCurdy Fellow at the University of Virginia.