Lisa L. Davis, J.D., LL.M. is an experienced attorney and executive level manager of organizations engaged in legal and institutional reform, gender justice, and rule of law work globally. As a former U.S. trial attorney, she is skilled at investigations and litigation in US federal and administrative courts, which has translated well into her comparative and international legal work of 25 years. Ms. Davis has an extensive network among legal and media professionals, and human rights defenders globally. Most recently, she served as Executive Director for the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ), an influential 6000+ member organization of judges in 100 countries., where she prompted a greater number of women judges at all levels into the international sphere, on international courts, as experts vis-a-vis the UN, UNODC, UN Women, World Bank and other international law bodies, and as advisors on rapid response rule of law assessment missions in immediate post-conflict or conflict sensitive country contexts (Central African Republic, Guatemala, Syria). The program design and partnerships she introduced to IAWJ expanded the association’s involvement with other justice sector actors, intragovernmental task forces, local communities, and legislative bodies.
For sixteen years, she was a part of the executive management team at Freedom House, a highly regarded democracy promotion organization. She held several key positions: Senior Legal Advisor for International Legal Affairs, Director of Rule of Law and Human Rights Programs (and technical director for the RIGHTS Consortium’s two global leader-with-associates cooperative agreements), and Deputy Director of (all) Programs. Her most distinctive work was creation of a global portfolio of projects, leadership tools, and advocacy to support human rights defenders in Central Asia, Southeast Asia, North Africa and the Middle East, and Latin American, providing atrocity prevention guidance for USAID missions, and elevating anti-corruption priorities within transitional justice and human rights accountability efforts.
Through her in-house counsel and executive management experiences, she offers learned and practiced advice on a broad range of US and foreign legal matters: contracts, compliance, risk management, governance, international operations, employment law, as well as litigation in foreign settings.
Ms. Davis obtained an LL.M. in International & Comparative Law, with distinction, from Georgetown University Law Center, and a Juris Doctor, from the University of Georgia School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in both Virginia and the District of Columbia, and has represented NGOs and the U.S. government before international bodies. She is a recipient of the DC Bar Association’s International Public Interest Law Award.
