Audrey J. Wiggins

Audrey J. Wiggins is the acting deputy director of Legal Programs and Director of Employment Discrimination at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law where she is responsible for supervising all of the Committee’s litigation and other advocacy efforts in the areas of employment discrimination, community development, fair housing, education and environmental justice.  She is also the acting director of the Employment Discrimination project where she is responsible for dismantling all discriminatory barriers to employment by challenging all forms of racial, national origin and sexual discrimination in the workplace.  Audrey has also served as the director of the Fair Housing and Environmental Justice projects where she was responsible for all advocacy efforts.  In addition, Audrey was a leader in the Committee’s legal assistance to disaster survivors after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita by developing a manual on the issues faced by displaced persons in the areas of emergency government assistance, education, housing, environmental hazards, employment, voting and protections for victims of domestic violence.  She handles civil rights matters through all phases of their processing from the administrative filing, at trial and through appeal.   

Audrey received her undergraduate degree, cum laude, in Broadcast Journalism from Hampton University.  Her Juris Doctor degree is from North Carolina Central University.  While in law school, Audrey worked for Legal Services of North Carolina, Legal Services of Pennsylvania, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina. 

Immediately prior to joining the Lawyers’ Committee, Audrey was an attorney advisor for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.  While at the Civil Rights Commission, Audrey investigated and reported on numerous civil rights issues including the training, recruitment, and discipline of police officers; racial profiling; the detention of asylum seekers and the confinement conditions of those who seek lawful entry into the United States; post “9-11” immigration policies; the practical implications of the No Child Left Behind Act on school systems; and voting rights.  Audrey was a leader in the Civil Rights Commission’s investigation of the voting irregularities in Florida during the 2000 presidential election and was responsible for investigating the role of the state government in all aspects of the electoral process.  Audrey was an examining counsel at the Tallahassee and Miami hearings and a leader in the development and finalization of the Commission’s report.  Audrey also represented the Commission in employment matters.

Audrey advocated for the civil rights of students in cases against a Hawaii public school system in private practice and for defendants as a criminal defense attorney.  Audrey primarily practiced criminal defense with the Office of the Public Defender in Durham, NC.  While an assistant public defender, Audrey represented hundreds of clients in cases ranging from juvenile cases, traffic violations and murder. 

Audrey is licensed to practice law in North Carolina; the District of Columbia; the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the United States Supreme Court.  

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (LCCRUL), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination. The principal mission of the Lawyers’ Committee is to secure, through the rule of law, equal justice under law, particularly in the areas of housing, community development, employment, voting, education and environmental justice.  For more information about the LCCRUL, visit www.lawyerscommittee.org.

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