About me
Vikram Swaruup serves as Executive Director of Legal Aid DC, a position he assumed in February 2023, bringing extensive experience in civil rights law and government service to his leadership of one of the District's most vital legal advocacy organizations. His appointment represents a strategic transition from his previous role as Chief Deputy Attorney General for the District of Columbia, where he developed deep collaborative relationships with Legal Aid DC on critical tenant and consumer protection matters.
During his tenure at the Office of the Attorney General, Swaruup played a pivotal role in establishing the D.C. Attorney General Office's Civil Rights Section, demonstrating his commitment to institutionalizing civil rights enforcement within District government. In this capacity, he served as counsel on a successful 2020 federal lawsuit challenging efforts to remove hundreds of thousands of Americans from food stamp eligibility, working directly with Legal Aid DC attorneys who represented individual District residents facing potential impacts.
Prior to his District government service, Swaruup worked as an appellate attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, where he defended the constitutionality of the Matthew Shepard-James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act, gaining crucial experience in federal civil rights litigation. His judicial experience includes prestigious clerkships with Judge Mary M. Schroeder of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Judge Lucy H. Koh, who served on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and now sits on the Ninth Circuit.
Swaruup's educational foundation includes degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and the University of California Berkeley School of Law. As Executive Director of Legal Aid DC, he continues to champion access to justice for low-income District residents while advocating for systemic changes that address root causes of legal problems, including recent efforts to defend Public Service Loan Forgiveness programs against proposed federal changes.
