Celebration of Service

Gwendolyn Washington is Pro Bono Counsel at Cleary Gottlieb, where she helps lead the firm’s award-winning pro bono litigation practice. Her career has been defined by a sustained commitment to public interest law and expanding access to justice.

Washington spent nearly two decades as an attorney with the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, representing clients in criminal, parole, and mental health matters and serving as an immigrant defense consultant.

She later served as a managing attorney at the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center’s Landlord and Tenant Resource Center and as Pro Bono Director at Rising for Justice, where she managed the Civil Protection Order Project. An alumna of Rising for Justice’s clinical program, she has maintained a strong connection to the organization’s mission.

Before joining Cleary, Washington was Manager for the Tenant Advocacy and Support Practice at Legal Counsel for the Elderly, overseeing housing litigation on behalf of senior citizens.

She has also served as Visiting Faculty at Harvard Law School’s Trial Advocacy Workshop and as an Adjunct Professor at Howard University School of Law, and has held leadership roles with the Washington Council of Lawyers and the District of Columbia Bar Pro Bono Committee.