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Sarah Dunne Named as New Legal Director for ACLU of Washington (10/12/2006)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.org
SEATTLE -- The
American Civil Liberties Union of Washington today announced that it has hired
Sarah Dunne as its new Legal Director. Dunne has more than a dozen years of
public interest litigation and policy experience that includes race and sex
discrimination cases in the Civil Rights Division of the U. S. Department of
Justice.
"The ACLU is very fortunate to have Sarah to lead our
legal program," said Kathleen Taylor, ACLU of Washington Executive Director.
"She brings valuable experience, vibrant enthusiasm, and a strong devotion to
basic rights for everyone."
Previously with the law firm of Hillis
Clark Martin & Peterson in Seattle, Dunne began work with the ACLU in
October. As Legal Director, she supervises the ACLU of Washington's large and
active docket. The ACLU's more than 40 current cases focus on a diverse range of
civil liberties issues, including free speech, racial justice, religious
freedom, due process, privacy, reproductive and women's rights, immigrants'
rights, gay rights and voting rights. Dunne directs a seven-person legal team
that includes senior staff attorneys Aaron Caplan and Nancy Talner and Skadden
Arps Fellow Rose Spidell. Attorneys Andy Ko, Alison Holcomb and Doug Klunder,
who direct special projects, will work with Dunne on litigation arising from
their projects. The legal department also relies on the work of scores of pro
bono attorneys, and help from numerous interns and
volunteers.
"There have been moments in our history when civil
liberties have been tested, and today is one such time. That makes the ACLU's
work more important than ever." Dunne said.
Dunne comes to the ACLU
with an English degree from Stanford University and a law degree from the
University of Chicago, where she was president of the Chicago Law Foundation.
She was recently honored by the Young Lawyers Division of the Washington State
Bar Association with its Professionalism Award for substantial volunteer legal
work at her law firm, where she served as pro bono coordinator.
As
a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice for
several years during the Clinton administration, Dunne litigated cases involving
school desegregation, gender equity in athletics, special education, sexual and
racial harassment, and retaliation.
Dunne grew up in south King
County and came back to the state in 2003. While working at Hillis Clark Martin
& Peterson in Seattle, she did extensive pro bono work on sex
discrimination, voting rights and Title IX cases. She has also consulted on the
ACLU of Washington's education equity work. Dunne has been on the Legal
Committee of the Northwest Women's Law Center, and has been an active volunteer
with Passages Northwest, Seattle Works and the Voter Protection
Project.
"I started my law career in public interest law, and my
goal has always been to come back to it," Dunne said. "In many ways, this feels
like coming home."
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