Patricia Okonta joined LDF as Assistant Counsel in 2022. Prior to joining LDF, Patricia severed as law clerk for Chief Judge Margo K. Brodie of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York and the Honorable Jane B. Stranch in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Previously, she completed a Skadden Fellowship at LDF, where she successfully compelled an Atlanta-based housing provider to eliminate a restrictive screening policy that automatically denied tenant applications from individuals with prior convictions. She also served as counsel in a 2020 order from the Southern District of Texas enjoining a public school district from enforcing a dress and grooming code against a student that wore culturally significant locs. In addition, Patricia represented an individual on federal death row seeking Section 2255 relief, victims of prison neglect during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals formerly sentenced as juveniles seeking parole in Mississippi, and families seeking educational equity in Florida.
Patricia received her J.D. from Columbia Law School, as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and Cambell Award Recipient, and served as Executive Editor of the Columbia Human Rights Law Review and former staffer of the Jailhouse Lawyers Manual. She received her B.A., with distinction, from Yale University.
