Olivia Sedwick

Olivia N. Sedwick currently serves as Counsel in the General Legal division at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Olivia handles strategic litigation and policy matters that fall outside of the Lawyers’ Committee’s core areas yet are important to the Lawyers’ Committee’s priorities. Currently, Olivia plays an integral role in supporting the Lawyers’ Committee’s response to the fallout from the Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision in the SFFA v. UNC/Harvard cases. Olivia is deeply engaged in the fight against systemic discrimination through the enforcement of civil rights, with a goal of promoting greater opportunity for Black communities and communities of color. She utilizes a host of legal and advocacy-based strategies, including engaging in impact litigation and providing legal support to nonprofit organizations and other entities seeking advice on their racial equity programs and initiatives. She also advocates for federal guidance and policy to ensure equitable access to crucial resources for Black communities and communities of color.

Immediately prior to joining the Lawyers’ Committee, Olivia was a voting rights litigator at Elias Law Group and served as counsel on the teams that successfully secured a second majority Black congressional district in the states of Alabama (Merrill v. Milligan) and Louisiana (Ardoin v. Robinson) in the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to Elias Law Group, Olivia was the 2020-2021 Murnaghan Appellate Advocacy Fellow at the Public Justice Center in Baltimore, MD. As the Murnaghan Fellow, Olivia engaged in direct and amicus representation in both state Maryland courts and federal appellate courts, advocating for a broadened civil rights view on issues such as language discrimination as a proxy for intentional racial discrimination (Yu v. Idaho State University, 9th Cir., amicus). Most significantly, she successfully argued before the Maryland Supreme Court in the matter of Wheeling v. Selene Finance, et al. advocating for the proper interpretation of a state law that prevents unlawful evictions and unlawful threats of eviction. Olivia’s advocacy ensured that the intent of that law would be properly enforced, that residents would not be unlawfully threatened with eviction without prior notice.

Prior to the Public Justice Center, Olivia clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans, Louisiana for the Hon. Carl E. Stewart. Prior to her clerkship, Olivia began her career at Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP in the Washington D.C. office as an antitrust litigation associate.

Olivia is a proud alumna of Howard University School of Law, graduating in the top fifteen percent of her class and earned her B.A. in Political Science with a double-minor in Economics and History, summa cum laude, from Winston-Salem State University.

Bar Admission: Admitted in the District of Columbia. Admitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.