Bio, Wanda M Akin: Woman Advocate and Champion of Issues Affecting Women as Lawyers, Litigants, and Survivors of Human Rights Violations & Atrocities
Wanda M. Akin, Esq., is the founder of her own law firm, Wanda M. Akin & Associates, in Newark, NJ, Co-Founder of the International Justice Project; a teacher of International law and Trial Advocacy, an activist in Coalitions with, among others, The YWCA Northern New Jersey, The Womens Initiative For Gender Justice in The Hague and with the American Bar Association Center For Human Rights. She is also a loving wife to Raymond M. Brown, guide and mentor to Chad Brown and Elena Brown Hazard and beloved Nana to 10-year-old Philip Clinton Hazard IV of Georgia.
Wanda is a graduate of the University of Louisville and Seton Hall Law School. Affectionately described as a barracuda by one former female entrepreneur client, she has served as House Counsel for one of Americas largest insurance firms, and while an Of Counsel litigator at one of NJs premier insurance defense law firms, she and others litigated one of the largest($100M+) insurance frauds in the Americas. Since establishing her own firm in Newark, she has represented accused persons ranging from public officials and individuals in complex white collar cases to persons charged with a variety of street crimes. She also maintains a varied civil practice which includes family law, commercial, trademark, intellectual property and personal injury cases. She serves as an agent and legal counsel to authors, publishers, artists and athletes.
Wanda was recently inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, one of the premier legal associations in North America. The induction ceremony at which Wanda M. Akin became a Fellow took place in February 2023 before an audience of approximately 525 during the Spring Meeting of the College in Key Biscayne, Florida.
Parallel to her private practice Wanda has maintained a dynamic engagement in civil society and international human rights. She consulted with various International Organizations on setting up the structure for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and served as co-counsel to an accused at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. In 2005, she became one of a small number of American women admitted to practice at the International Criminal Court in The Hague (ICC). The Rome Statute which governs the ICC makes special provisions for the protection of women and children victims of mass atrocities including allowing them to participate in criminal trials.
Wanda has served for 20 years as a Legal Representative for Victims and survivors of the Darfur Genocide who have been recognized at the ICC. In support of that work Wanda co-founded the International Justice Project, (IJP) headquartered in NJ, a nonprofit which has supported health, housing, immigration and asylum initiatives for Darfurians in NJ, throughout the US, Europe and Africa. She has also during that time served on various ICC committees, consulting with the ICC Registrars, co-counsel, the ICC Prosecutors as well as other organs of the Court.
Wanda has guided the IJP in its playing a role in supporting victims through the Muslim Ban and issues of family separation. She has also allied the IJP with the YWCA Northern New Jersey, the New Jersey Coalition Against Human Trafficking (and is participating in the coalitions current efforts to expand its focus to include other forms of slavery), The Coalition for the International Criminal Court, The Institute for the Liberal Arts at Boston College and The Institute for Global Understanding at Monmouth University. These efforts are abetted by Wandas membership on the American Bar Associations Center for Human Rights, Business and Human Rights Project Advisory Board. The Business and Human Rights Project is dedicated to educating lawyers and others about the evolving Responsibility of Businesses to Respect Human Rights in the supply chain and with respect to labor and other practices.
In addition, Wanda has taught at the Seton Hall Law School (including in its Cairo Summer Program in Cairo, Egypt, coordinated with the American University In Cairo) and Seton Hall Universitys School of Diplomacy and International Relations.
At the 2023 Fourth Annual International Law Conference on the Status of Women, International Womens Day, Wanda received the New York City Bar Associations Huntington Her Hero Lifetime Achievement Award for her work in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights.
Company Firm
Wanda M. Akin & Associates
Firm Mailing
1 Gateway Ctr Ste 2600
Newark
New Jersey
07102-5323
United States of America
Fellow Since
February 25, 2023
Practice Areas
- Civil Rights-Plaintiff
- Criminal Defense
- Employment
- Family Law
- Intellectual Property
- Personal Injury-Plaintiff
- Product Liability-Plaintiff
- Public Defender
- White Collar-Defense
Chapter
- New Jersey
Committee(s)
Contact Info