Ayesha Khan

Ayesha N. Khan has extensive civil rights and appellate experience, having formerly served as a Deputy Chief in the Appellate Section of the Civil Rights Division in the U.S. Department of Justice and as the Legal Director of a national civil rights organization. She has represented clients before the United States Supreme Court, every federal circuit, and state appellate courts throughout the country. She has also litigated extensively at the trial level in federal and state courts nationwide. Her clients have ranged from private individuals to commercial entities, local school districts to municipalities, and state governments to the United States.

She concentrates her practice on two areas. She is an appellate generalist who represents individual and corporate clients throughout the country in matters involving a virtually unlimited array of subject areas, including business disputes, constitutional questions, civil rights issues, and family law. She also represents individual plaintiffs in trial-level civil rights cases involving, among other things, sexual harassment, racial profiling, and LGBTQ issues. She is an aggressive, thorough, and compassionate advocate for her clients.

• Sexual Harassment & Gender Discrimination
• LGBTQ Rights
• Constitutional Law
• Class Actions
• General & Commercial Litigation/Trials

• Intellectual Property: Trademarks, Copyright & Patents
• Personal Injury & Products Liability

• Free Consultation
• Credit Cards Accepted
• Contingent Fees

District of Columbia

District of Columbia Bar

Since 1991

Maryland

Since 2015

1st Circuit

Since 2012

2nd Circuit

Since 2010

3rd Circuit

Since 2002

4th Circuit

Since 1999

5th Circuit

Since 1996

6th Circuit

Since 2000

7th Circuit

Since 2002

8th Circuit

Since 2016

9th Circuit

Since 1996

10th Circuit

Since 1997

11th Circuit

Since 1993

D.C. Circuit

Since 1999

Federal Circuit

Since 2006

U.S. Supreme Court

Since 1995

Partner, Litigation and Appellate Practice

Potomac Law Group

2016 - Current

Deputy Chief

U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Appellate Section

2015 - 2016

Legal Director

Americans United for Separation of Church and State

1998 - 2015

Staff Counsel

ACLU National Prison Project

1993 - 1998

Associate

Covington & Burling

1991 - 1993

University of California - Berkeley

J.D. (1989)

1986 - 1989

Honors: Order of the Coif (rank: top 5% of class); Women in the Public Interest Scholarship

Activities: CALIFORNIA LAW REVIEW; Articles Editor, BERKELEY WOMEN’S LAW JOURNAL

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

B.A. | Philosophy

1980 - 1984

Honors: Degree Awarded with Highest Distinction, Rank: Top 3%; James B. Angell Scholar; University Honors 1984

District of Columbia Bar  # 426836

Current

Maryland State Bar Association

Current

Women's Bar Association

Current

Attorney Fees under the Prison Litigation Reform Act: Interpretations and Challenges

13 CIVIL RIGHTS LITIGATION AND ATTORNEY FEES (Clark Boardman Callaghan Pub., Steve Saltzman ed., 1997)

Holy Headache: Is Bufferin’ an Adequate Prescription for the Rev. Phelps?

2010 CARDOZO L. REV. DE NOVO 388 (2010) (lead author, with Michael Blank)

The Application of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act to the Segregation of HIV-Positive Inmates

65 WASH. L. REV. 839 (1990)

The Butcher, the Baker, the Candlestick Maker: When Nondiscrimination Principles Collide with Religious Freedom

Maryland Bar Journal (forthcoming in July/Aug. 2017 issue)

July, 2017

Damned if You Do, Damned if You Don't: The Pitfalls and Pratfalls of Complying with the Establishment Clause

Municipal Lawyer Magazine

June, 2017

At a Crossroads: The Intersection Between Religious Liberties and Nondiscrimination Principles

PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE? RECONCILING NON-DISCRIMINATION PRINCIPLES WITH CIVIL LIBERTIES (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights ed., 2013)

2013