Areas of Focus
Alexa Van Brunt is the Director of the Illinois office at the MacArthur Justice Center (MJC). She also directs and teaches the Civil Rights Litigation Clinic at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. Alongside her colleagues at MJC, Alexa litigates complex civil cases challenging mass imprisonment and promotion criminal legal system reform. She has served as lead counsel on class action suits challenging discrimination and excessive force by law enforcement, the violation of prisoners’ rights in correctional facilities, denial of access to counsel for people in custody, wrongful conviction damages actions, and the overuse of pretrial detention in the criminal courts. She also supervises teams of law students who serve as junior counsel on MJC’s cases.
Alexa is the recipient of the Ruth Goldman Award from the Chicago Chapter of the American Constitution Society, the Award for Excellence in Pro Bono Service from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and the Illinois Voters of Illinois Independent Precinct Organization’s “Legal Eagle” award.
Prior to joining MJC, Alexa clerked for the Hon. Myron Thompson, U.S. District Court – Middle District of Alabama. Alexa received a law degree, with distinction from Stanford Law School and a bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from Brown University.