Welcome Shomari Ward, Youth Represent’s new Litigation Director.
Shomari’s role includes advancing Youth Represent’s strategic impact litigation work; advising on how to proceed on matters where clients are in need of legal consultation; and supervising members of the legal team. In addition, he monitors Youth Represent’s impact litigation to ensure they are moving in the direction most helpful for clients.
Raised between New York and Jamaica, W.I., Shomari earned his bachelor’s degree from SUNY-Albany. After a brief teaching stint, he attended the Howard University School of Law in Washington, DC. where he earned his Juris Doctor degree.
No stranger to juvenile rights, Shomari previously spent years working at the Legal Aid Society’s Juvenile Rights Practice’s Special Litigation and Law Reform Unit. He said he was drawn to Youth Represent’s transformational mission and looks forward to the opportunity to continue to work closely with our young clients.
Formerly incarcerated youth often struggle to find employment in their early 20s after being incarcerated in their teenage years. Shomari hopes to “deepen our impact litigation” against a range of employers involving this type of employment discrimination. The aim is to better serve young people attempting to reintegrate into society post-incarceration and “...shift the landscape” in their favor.
”The Fair Chance Act is supposed to be the lay of the land; but for so many applying for jobs, this law is simply not a reality. This is where strategic litigation can have a transformational impact across New York and the Country,” Shomari said.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Shomari,” said Youth Represent Executive Director Michael Pope. “His experience and passion for the law as one of many tools to bring about real change is wonderfully aligned with our mission to serve young people. Also, his strategic leadership is already helping to move the needle on some key cases and litigation.”
A music lover, the Brooklynite also teaches a course at CUNY Law in Long Island City, NY and takes classical piano lessons in his spare time.