Ciara Cooney is a law clerk at Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP.
Ciara is a recent graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, where she was the Managing Editor of the American Criminal Law Review and a student attorney in the Appellate Courts Immersion Clinic. As a student attorney, she argued a case before the D.C. Circuit and co-authored briefs filed in the Second Circuit, D.C. Circuit, and Supreme Court. She was also a research assistant for Georgetown’s Supreme Court Institute. Ciara was awarded the CALI Award for Excellence in Criminal Justice, the Associate Dean's Award for Excellence in Clinic, and Best Advocate in the William E. Leahy Moot Court Competition.
Ciara interned at Rights Behind Bars, where she conducted research on issues impacting prisoners' rights, such as ADA liability, deliberate indifference to medical needs, and religious freedom protections in prisons. Additionally, she was an intern with the Office of the Public Defender for Arlington County and a practicum student with the Georgetown Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection.
Previously, Ciara served as Policy Director for a Baltimore mayoral campaign, developing plans related to economic development, education, and youth empowerment, as well as an intern for U.S. Senator Mark Warner, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, and the Confederation of British Industry.
Ciara received her J.D., magna cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center and B.A., with high distinction, from University of Virginia.