Debo P. Adegbile

Advisory Board

Debo P. Adegbile is a partner in WilmerHale’s Government and Regulatory Litigation group and Chair of the firm’s Anti-discrimination practice. His work focuses on matters at the intersection of law, business, government enforcement and policy.

Mr. Adegbile is regarded as a national expert on civil rights law and policy. He has substantial experience representing cities and police departments in connection with U.S. Department of Justice "pattern or practice" federal reform investigations. Mr. Adegbile was counsel to the U.S. Conference of Mayors in connection with the 2020 issuance of the Report on Police reform and Racial Justice and the Kings County (Brooklyn) DA’s Office as a co-author of the 2020 first-of-its-kind report 426 Years: An Examination of 25 Wrongful Convictions in Brooklyn NY. In 2021, Mr. Adegbile was recognized on the inaugural list of the American Lawyer’s Northeast Trailblazers for his work on police reform.

Mr. Adegbile twice defended the constitutionality of two core provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in oral arguments before the United States Supreme Court, including in Shelby County v. Holder.

Previously, Mr. Adegbile served as a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, appointed by President Obama in 2016; Senior Counsel to Patrick Leahy, then-Chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee; and as the Acting President and Director-Counsel and previously as the Director of Litigation for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. He is the Chair of the Board of Trustees and a graduate of Connecticut College; a graduate and trustee of NYU School of Law; and serves as the Vice Chair on the Board of Directors of the Vera Institute of Justice. In 2020, Debo was appointed as the Joseph L. Rauh, Jr. Chair of Civil Rights at University D.C. Law School, and in 2022-23 co-taught a Lawyer and Leaders Professional Responsibility class at NYU Law School with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries.