Trenton,
NJ – Chinh Q. Le, a former assistant
counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational
Fund who is now a practitioner-in-residence
at Seton Hall University School of Law’s
Center for Social Justice, has been nominated
director of the New Jersey Division on Civil
Rights by Attorney General Anne Milgram.
Le, who is also an adjunct associate research
scholar at Columbia University School of Law,
worked at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund for
five years litigating cases related to education,
school integration, voting rights and affirmative
action. At Seton Hall Law School, his areas
of focus include affordable housing preservation,
mortgage fraud, tenant rights and charter
schools.
“Chinh
Le has an extraordinary background and commitment
to justice and civil rights,” Attorney
General Milgram said. “His experience
and involvement in the important social and
civil issues facing our state make him well-qualified
to lead the Division.”
Le, 34 and a resident of Jersey City, said,
“I am excited by the opportunity to
work on behalf of the people of New Jersey
and ensure that all residents are protected
against acts of discrimination – whether
that’s in the workplace or in the housing
market, or in places of public accommodation.
New Jersey was among the first states to enact
laws against discrimination regardless of
race, national origin, age, sexual orientation,
or disability. I intend to continue the more
than 50-year tradition of investigating and
pursuing civil rights’ complaints.”
Le’s appointment must be confirmed by
the New Jersey Commission on Civil Rights,
which is scheduled to meet Wednesday.
Le has been at Seton Hall Law School’s
Center for Social Justice in Newark since
July 2008. He has worked on initiatives for
the Urban Revitalization Project and supervised
students in the Civil Litigation Clinic and
the law school’s pro bono programs.
He has also been serving as a consultant to
the Center for Institutional and Social Change
at Columbia University School of Law for the
past year, working to design an interdisciplinary
educational curriculum.
Le
was assistant counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense
and Educational Fund in New York from October
2001 to July 2006. He litigated cases related
to issues of educational equity, K-12 school
desegregation, voting rights, higher education
affirmative action and school vouchers. The
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund,
founded in 1940 under the direction of Thurgood
Marshall, is America’s oldest and most
successful civil rights law firm. LDF has
litigated the most significant civil rights
cases in American history, including the landmark
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas
that ended legalized racial segregation in
public schools.
Le
was born in Saigon, Vietnam and grew up in
Springfield, Virginia. He received a Bachelor
of Arts from the University of Virginia in
Charlottesville in 1997 and his law degree
from the University of Virginia School of
Law in 2000. He also earned a master’s
degree in American government at the University
of Virginia in 2001.
He
clerked for Judge Walter K. Stapleton of the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
in Wilmington, Delaware in 2000 and 2001 while
completing his master’s degree.
He
was an associate at Jenner & Block, a
New York law firm from August 2006 until April
2008, focusing on commercial litigation and
white collar criminal investigations. Pro
bono work included cases related to voluntary
school integration, voting rights, and tenant
and housing rights.
Le
succeeds C. Carlos Bellido, who has been acting
director since January. Bellido will stay
at the Division as chief of staff.
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