Alexa Van Brunt
Clinical Professor of Law
Phone
(312) 503-1336
Curriculum Vitae (pdf)
Related Links
Roderick MacArthur Justice Center
Biography
Alexa Van Brunt is the Director of the MacArthur Justice Center Clinic at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, where she litigates complex civil cases designed to end mass imprisonment and promote criminal legal system reform. She has served as lead counsel on class action suits challenging discrimination and excessive force by law enforcement, the violation of prisoners' rights in correctional facilities, denial of access to counsel for people in custody, wrongful conviction damages actions, and the elimination of cash bond in the criminal courts. She supervises teams of law students who serve as junior counsel on MacArthur’s cases.
Areas of Expertise
- Civil Procedure
- Civil Rights
- Criminal Law
- Constitutional Law
Courses
Selected Publications
- Toward a Just Model of Pretrial Release: A History of Bail Reform and a Prescription for What's Next, 108 Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology 701 (2018) (with Locke E. Bowman).
- Commentary: Dart’s Misguided Approach to Jail Reform, Chicago Tribune (Mar. 12, 2018).
- Adult Interrogation Tactics in Schools Turn Principals Into Police Officers, Guardian (Mar. 18, 2015).
- The ‘Torture’ Memos Prove America’s Lawyers Don’t Know How to be Ethical, Washington Post (Dec. 12, 2014).
Education
- BA magna cum laude, Brown University
- JD, Stanford Law School
Prior Appointments
- Clinical Associate Professor of Law, Northwestern University School of Law
- Clinical Assistant Professor of Law, Northwestern University School of Law
- Law Clerk, 2009-2010, Hon. Myron Thompson, US District Court – Mid. District of Alabama