JoAnna Adkisson is an associate in the firm's Washington D.C. Litigation Practice, where she represents plaintiffs and defendants in a broad range of high-stakes litigation matters in federal, state, and appellate courts across the country from complaint filing all the way through trial and appeal. She has extensive experience managing discovery in the most complex disputes, including in several multi-district litigations involving large and varied classes of plaintiffs, while remaining hands on and supportive of both her clients and litigation teams. This posture allows her to remain close to the facts and, ultimately, allows for the effective implementation of a clear and deliberate litigation strategy. Ms. Adkisson is also sought out as an adept communicator who handles high-stakes discovery disputes, oral arguments, fact and expert witness depositions, mock jury exercises, settlement discussions and mediations, and trial settings with a notable degree of competence and care.
Outside of her regular practice, Ms. Adkisson teaches courses in International Law, International Human Rights Law, Comparative Legal Systems, and The Nature and Function of Law.
Ms. Adkisson graduated from The George Washington Law School, where she was a member of George Washington's International Human Rights Law Clinic and was selected as one of a small cohort of students to complete the International Human Rights Law summer intensive at the University of Oxford. She also served as the Editor-in-Chief of The George Washington International Law Review, Chair of the Van Vleck Constitutional Moot Court Competition, and research assistant to both Professor Ralph Steinhardt and Professor Sonia Suter.
Additionally, Ms. Adkisson served as a legal extern to judges in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia for The Honorable Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson and in the District of Oregon for The Honorable Judge Ann Aiken. Her law school internships also included time with the United States Agency for International Development, the Environmental Defense Fund, and an indigent criminal defense firm.
Prior to law school, Ms. Adkisson had a career in international development and human rights. She lived and worked in Africa, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.
