Niji Jain

Niji Jain is a civil rights litigator and the Director of the Impact Litigation Practice at The Bronx Defenders.1 She has extensive experience in developing and litigating challenges to systemic violations and injustices that affect low-income communities.1

Professional Background

Niji Jain has been with The Bronx Defenders since March 2017, progressing through various roles:

1. Impact Litigation Attorney (March 2017 - January 2022)
2. Senior Staff Attorney (January 2022 - June 2023)
3. Director of Impact Litigation Practice (June 2023 - Present)1

Prior to joining The Bronx Defenders, she worked as an Associate at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP for five years and served as a Law Clerk for The Honorable Orinda D. Evans in the Northern District of Georgia.1

Education

Niji Jain holds a Doctor of Law (J.D.) degree from Emory University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in Human Biology from Stanford University.1

Areas of Expertise

As a civil rights litigator, Niji Jain focuses on various issues affecting low-income communities, including:

• Government surveillance
• Discriminatory separation of families by child welfare authorities
• Racially biased policing
• Property seizure and forfeiture
• Immigration abuses1

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Work

Niji Jain is also an advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace and in her legal practice.1 She was a leading member of the Bronx Defenders' Race, Class, Power, Privilege Task Force, where she oversaw an organization-wide diversity and inclusion needs assessment process.1

Language Skills

Niji Jain is a native Hindi speaker with conversational skills in Urdu and proficiency in Spanish.1

In her current role as Director of the Impact Litigation Practice, Niji Jain is responsible for practice-wide strategy, supervision, professional development, and stakeholder relationships.1 She recently expressed excitement about stepping into this new leadership position in June 2023.2