Aleksandra Chauhan, Ph.D., J.D.

Dr. Aleksandra Chauhan is an attorney, a University of South Carolina adjunct faculty, a writer and a public servant.

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Prior to opening her law firm, Dr. Chauhan was a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law. She directed the Criminal Practice Clinic where law students represented clients on criminal charges, provided parole representation and assisted clients with elimination of barriers to successful reentry.

Before joining the faculty at the law school, Dr. Chauhan was the Juvenile Defender Advocate at the South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, where she supported the work of public defenders and other lawyers in representing youth in the state’s courts. Dr. Chauhan collaborated with the Innocence Project on individuals cases, and represented youth and adults in parole cases. Before then, she was an assistant public defender in Richland County representing youth in the family and criminal courts. She created a Holistic Representation Program at the Richland County Public Defender's Office, which provided reentry services to youth and families. Dr. Chauhan has also been actively involved in criminal justice reform in South Carolina, contributing to drafting bills and providing research for legislators.

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Dr. Chauhan is a certified trainer for the Gault Center’s Youth Defender Advocacy Training Immersion Program, and is one of its Ambassadors for Racial Justice, a program in partnership with the Georgetown Law Juvenile Justice Initiative commissioning lawyers to create training and programming to reduce race disparities in the criminal system. She has trained attorneys and presented at conferences locally, nationally and internationally. 

 

In 2017, Dr. Chauhan was recognized as a Juvenile Public Defender of the Year. In May 2023, Dr. Chauhan was recognized by the American Bar Association for her work with youth in the state’s courts, when she received its Livingston Hall Award, which recognizes lawyers who have made significant contributions in that field.

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Dr. Chauhan is on the Board of Directors for Every Black Girl, Inc. and Lawyers’ Committee on Children’s Right. She obtained both her J.D. and her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of South Carolina.