Asaf Orr, Assistant Chief Counsel

Asaf Orr serves as an Assistant Chief Counsel of the Legal Division for the California Civil Rights Department. Prior to joining the Civil Rights Department, he worked as a Senior Staff Attorney and Director of the Transgender Youth Project at the National Center for Lesbian Rights for more than a decade. In that role, Asaf represented transgender youth and their families in a wide range of legal matters to enforce state and federal civil rights laws across the country and strengthen legal protections for transgender youth. He also has extensive experience developing legislation and anti-discrimination policies as well as conducting trainings for lawyers, judges, educators, healthcare providers, and the general public. At the beginning of his career, Asaf worked as a special education attorney and represented low-income children with disabilities throughout Los Angeles County to obtain needed educational supports and services.

Asaf received his J.D. from Rutgers School of Law – Newark and A.B. in Sociology with a minor in American Politics from Vassar College. Following his graduation from law school, Asaf clerked for the Honorable Virginia A. Long on the New Jersey Supreme Court.