Linda Singer

Linda Singer (born September 14, 1966, in Cleveland, OH) was the Washington, D.C. Attorney General from January 2, 2007 to January 5, 2008. She is Counsel and co-chair of the Public Client Practice at Zuckerman Spaeder, a DC Law Firm.

Education and career

Ms. Singer is a magna cum laude graduate of both Harvard College (B.A. 1988) and Harvard Law School (J.D. 1991) where she was a leader [Paul Langner, Jan. 30, 1992 Boston Globe] of student protests over the absence of tenured African American women on the law school faculty.

Ms. Singer served for nearly three years as a staff attorney in the Criminal Defense Division of the Legal Aid Society in New York City, where she carried a large caseload and tried several felonies, securing acquittals in all. She also drafted the appellate brief on a death penalty case on which the death sentence was overturned.

Next, Singer was hired as the Executive Director of Appleseed [http://www.appleseeds.net/servlet/FlashPage] , a national foundation that creates and supports non-profit legal organizations to work on state and local systemic reform. Singer was the founding staff person at Appleseed which is now a network of 18 state organizations, employing 70 staff, that the American Layer describes as “pro bono’s new frontier.” Her work at Appleseed focused broadly on social and economic justice with specific work on education reform, access to health care, immigrant rights, financial literacy for the un-banked, and government disaster relief.

Ms. Singer tendered her resignation as attorney general on December 17, 2007, after having reportedly been frustrated for months with her role in the Adrian Fenty administration. Fenty had been relying more heavily on General Counsel Peter Nickles, whom the mayor then named as the interim attorney general to replace Ms. Singer.

Professional activities

Ms Singer has spoken extensively before legal organizations, and conferences including the American Bar Association, The International Bar Association, American Association of Law Schools, Equal Justice Works, National Legal Aid and Defenders Association, FDIC, Law Schools, and Law Firms across the country. She has been published in the Legal Times, Chronicle of Philanthropy, American Banker, Washington Post, and has been featured in American Lawyer, Chronicle of Philanthropy, Fast Company, and the Harvard Law School Bulletin.

Ms. Singer has served as a Board member and as Chair of the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation in New York, which provides funding to support grassroots organizations working to advance environmental justice and reproductive health care.

Personal life

Ms. Singer is married to Joseph Sternlieb, a businessman and civic leader in Washington. They have two children.

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