Nadia Ezzelarab

LEGAL EXPERIENCE

Ms. Ezzelarab-Gill has had her own practice since 2008, and is also Of Counsel to THE HAYNES IMMIGRATION LAW FIRM in Washington, D.C. Prior to starting her own practice, Ms. Ezzelarab-Gill was an Associate Attorney at Braverman & Lin, P.C. in Arlington, Virginia, from 2003 to 2008.

Before becoming an immigration practitioner, Ms. Ezzelarab-Gill’s focus was on Human Rights and Humanitarian law. She served as Director of the Legal Department at the Center for the Prevention of Genocide, in Rosslyn, Virginia from 2002 to 2003, where she supervised research and writing of legal sections in Human Rights Reports, published by the Center.

During 2000 - 2002, Ms. Ezzelarab-Gill was an Associate Attorney with the Law firm Kohn, Swift & Graf, P.C. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She participated in complex litigation of international and domestic cases, including Doe v. Karadzic (S.D.N.Y.), in which the firm was co-counsel, representing 23 Muslim Plaintiffs who had been detained in Bosnian Concentration Camps in the 1990s. The Plaintiffs were granted a Verdict of Compensatory and Punitive Damages in the amount of $4.5 Billion. She also assisted in Doe v. Unocal (9th Cir), a case in which Burmese nationals sued in a U.S. Federal District Court that ruled that corporations and their executives can be held liable under the Alien Tort Claims Act for violations of international human rights norms in foreign countries, and that U.S. courts have the authority to adjudicate such claims. However, the District Court dismissed the case, holding that Unocal could only be held liable if it wanted the Burmese military to commit the alleged abuses, which it held that the Plaintiffs had not shown. On Appeal, before an eleven-judge en banc panel, the Ninth Circuit reversed the District Court’s dismissal, and decided to rehear the appeal. The case eventually settled, in 2004. Ms. Ezzelarab-Gill also participated litigation of other Class actions, including Miller v. Pep Boys, Inc. Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County, PA.

Prior thereto, Ms. Ezzelarab-Gill worked as Protocol Liaison Officer at the Embassy of Egypt, in Washington, D.C. in 1999 and 2000. She was Responsible for Communications with the U.S. Department of State, concerning Diplomatic Visas, Customs Clearances, Tax Exemptions; Drafting of Diplomatic Notes for communications with other Governments and Embassies, regarding Diplomatic Relations and Security Matters.

Ms. Ezzelarab-Gill was a Fellow with the Center for Justice & International Law (CEJIL) in Washington, D.C. from 1996 to 1998. Her main focus during the fellowship was to research and prepare a case that had previously been declared inadmissible by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). The complaint charged that the Canadian government was in violation of international human rights laws by failing to provide redress for victims of grave human rights abuses and crimes against humanity. Specifically, the case concerned a Concentration Camp guard who was in charge of shipping Jews to Auschwitz during WWII, but who had been acquitted in war crimes prosecutions in Canada. CEJIL assisted a group of Canadian Jews in the case, which was declared admissible by the IACHR upon re-submission. The IACHR did not make a final ruling on the case, but negotiated a partial settlement. During the fellowship, Ms. Ezzelarab-Gill was also one of the main coordinators of a conference in DC between CEJIL and Members of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Nadia did her clerkship in Sweden, in Haparanda and Boden District Courts, 1989 to1991. She served in a Magistrate capacity, adjudicating Misdemeanor Criminal offences, Torts; Bankruptcy matters Adoptions; Uncontested Divorces; Estate Taxation; Contract Disputes, and was eventually given Expanded Competence in Bankruptcy and Damages proceedings.

EDUCATION

Ms. Ezzelarab-Gill received her J.D. from the University of Lund, Sweden, in 1988, and an LLM Degree in International Law from the American University, Washington College of Law in 1996. During her LLM program, Ms. Ezzelarab-Gill was a Dean’s Fellow with Professor Robert K. Goldman. As a Dean’s Fellow, she researched and assisted in developing principles for the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons, with Professor Goldman, in conjunction with the United Nations, among others. She also served as Inter-American Systems Editor (1994-1996) on The Human Rights Brief, a Newsletter published by the Washington College of Law.

Ms. Ezzelarab-Gill did an Internship at the Organization of American States, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Washington, DC from 1996 to1997, where she researched the status of Amnesty Laws and Accountability in International Law, with a focus on the Inter-American system. She also assisted in drafting submission to the Commission and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.