Edward A. Hailes, Jr.

Edward Hailes, Jr. is an experienced civil rights attorney and ordained Baptist minister. He joined the Advancement Project staff in 2001 as the Director of its Power and Democracy Program. He is a former general counsel for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, directing both the agency’s historic investigation into allegations of voting irregularities in Florida during the November 2000 presidential election and the high-profile hearing on police practices and civil rights in New York City sparked by the police shooting of Amadou Diallo. Hailes also served for ten years as a legal, then legislative, counsel for the NAACP, gaining a remarkable record of success in civil rights litigation and legislative advocacy. A graduate of Howard University School of Law, he also earned his undergraduate degree at Howard University as an honors program graduate. He’s served as an Adjunct Law Professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, is the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of FairVote, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Center for Effective Government. Reverend Hailes is the assistant to the pastor of Mt. Moriah Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.

*Hailes is admitted in Washington DC.