Marissa Vahlsing

U.S. Legal Director

Region: United States and Global

As U.S. Legal Director, Marissa oversees EarthRights’ use of legal strategies in U.S. courts to defend the rights of frontline communities facing fossil fuel extraction, mining, land-grabbing and human rights violations in cases against corporations, governments and financial institutions.

Marissa has litigated several landmark human rights and environmental justice cases before U.S. courts that have brought significant remedies to frontline communities, including Doe v. IFC (on behalf of Honduran campesinos in the Bajo Aguán) and Maynas v. Occidental (on behalf of Achuar Indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon). She was one of the key members of the trial team in the historic case against Chiquita Brands on behalf of Colombian victims of paramilitary violence. Marissa has also developed and served as counsel on cutting edge Foreign Legal Assistance (1782) cases, as well as on matters before the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights. She has appeared as counsel in Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP).

Marissa is a 2011 graduate of Harvard Law School and holds a B.A. in Political Science from Swarthmore College (2006). She was also a 2005 recipient of a Harry S. Truman scholarship to pursue a career in public service. She has written several articles on the importance of community lawyering methodologies in transnational human rights and environmental work, in addition to frequently speaking publicly on the issue.

She is fluent in Spanish and is currently admitted to practice law in New York, New Jersey and the District of Columbia.