Shreya Dutt

My journey into law was driven by a deep commitment to social causes and understanding the devastating impact of corruption on economies and individuals. I was very active in public protests and public advocacy in school leading up to law school, which was centered around human rights. I actively participated in the Anna Hazare Movement in India, a popular movement against institutional and systematic corruption, where I was involved in drafting legislation. Seeing the kind of impact law could have on holding public officials accountable inspired me to pursue anti-corruption and anti-money laundering work. Throughout my 5 years of law school in India, I worked back-to-back internships, and then formally practiced for 6 years before pursuing my LLM at New York University. As a litigator in India, I was part of the prosecution office leading investigations and trials in corruption and money laundering cases. To build my advocacy experience, I simultaneously worked on cases involving sexual assault, murder, kidnapping, homicide investigations, and commercial matters like property disputes, wills, and employment-related litigation. After graduating from NYU, I worked at the IMF's legal department for 3 months (extending to 4-5 months informally) on corruption and money laundering matters, including cross-border coordination and asset tracing, focusing on anti-money laundering frameworks and governance. I currently work with Honorable Justice Gerald Lebovitz at the New York Supreme Court, who is also a professor at NYU. He's a hands-on judge who takes a lot of interest in teaching, which I really need as I explore an entirely new jurisdiction in the US. I handle civil liberty and civil rights cases, including FOIL requests for disclosure of government information, personal injury matters, and wrongful termination of government employees. My work involves aiding the judge in reports and recommendations, drafting opinions, researching, and analyzing briefs and arguments to help him reach his decisions. One of my proudest accomplishments was arguing a case before the Supreme Court of India in 2023 that overturned the wrongful conviction of an individual who had been wrongfully accused of a corruption offense for 22 years. What I love most about my work is the ability to take something so complex that others would see as just financial or money-related claims and turn it into a simple layman understanding of how it affects us all. I really understand how corruption affects individuals - when you hear about infrastructural defects in buildings or flyovers that cause casualties, and you understand it traces back to corruption. I'm glad I get to work with something complex that I can digest, simplify, and spread awareness about every day.