Zaffar, Ehsan

Ehsan Zaffar

Ehsan is an attorney and consultant specializing in national security, civil rights and civil liberties issues. He has worked to facilitate post-conflict and post-disaster conciliation among diverse communities, assisted in obtaining redress for ethnic, racial and religious minorities, and assessed national security policies on behalf of the federal government to ensure compliance with civil rights and civil liberties policies. He has worked on legal and civil rights issues in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the South Asian earthquake, the earthquake in Haiti, and most recently during the BP oil spill, on behalf of the American Bar Association, the American Red Cross, Ashoka and CDRS. Ehsan teaches courses on national security, constitutional rights and privacy at George Mason University and is the author of a forthcoming textbook on national security and civil rights to be published in 2014.

Experience

• Policy Advisor at the US Department of Homeland Security (2011-Present)
• Adjunct Professor at George Mason University (2011-Present)
• Adjunct Professor at the State University of New York (2011-Present)
• Founding Board Member of the AMANI Institute (Present)
• Counsel at SHINE Humanity (2009-2011)
• Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Los Angeles Mobile Legal Aid Clinic (LAMLAC) (2009-2011)
• Associate at Chamberlin, Keaster & Brockman (2007-2009)

Education

• Certificate in Dispute Resolution at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine University (2007)
• J.D. at Pepperdine University School of Law (2007)
• B.A. in Psychology, Political Science at the University of California (Los Angeles) (2005)

Affiliations

• American Bar Association (ABA)
• Member, Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA)
• Liaison to Standing Committee on National Security Law (ABA)
• Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary (NAALJ)
• Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship and the Law

Publications

• Context is King: A Practical Guide to Reframing in Mediation, Mediate.com (2008)
• The Need For A Self-Sustaining Mobile Legal Aid Clinic, Pepperdine Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law (2008)
• The History and Continuing Influence of Pakistan’s Lawyers’ Movement, MUFTAH Free & Open Debate From Morocco to Pakistan (2010)
• Ehsan Zaffar Blog Entries, The Huffinton Post (2010-2011)

Speaking Engagements

• Chaldean Conference of Bishops – Annual Summit – Toronto, Canada (January 2013)
• White House Hispanic Community Action Summit – San Francisco (July 2012)
• United Nations Human Rights Council Conference on Resolution 16/18 (November 2011)
• Arab Anti Discrimination Committee 10th and 11th Annual Policy Conference (September 2011/12)
• United Voices of 9/11 Hearing Session (August 2011)
• American Immigration Lawyers Association Conference (July 2011)
• Islamic Society of North America Annual Conference (June 2011)
• Equal Justice Works 3rd Annual Conference (October 2009)
• North American South Asian Law Student Association 12th, 11th Annual Conference (February 2010/09)

Working with parties on faith-based or ideological disputes is both challenging and rewarding. I find the most fulfillment in empowering disputants to resolve their conflicts themselves, rather than relying on an abstract and often impersonal system to provide relief.

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Case Manager
Michele T. Pfeiffer

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