Lisa N. Cloutier

MANAGING LEGAL COUNSEL, BOSTON LICENSED IN MASSACHUSETTS & NEW YORK

Lisa N. Cloutier represents survivors of sexual assault and harassment and LGBTQIA+ students and employees who have experienced discrimination, assisting them in obtaining justice through school Title IX proceedings, civil litigation, and other avenues. Ms. Cloutier works intersectionally and also represents survivors of disability, race, and other discrimination. A high-level athlete herself, she represents athletes who are harassed, assaulted, or discriminated against in SafeSport and other proceedings. She also works with students with disabilities to ensure their educational rights are upheld, with specialized knowledge in working with neurodivergent students.

Ms. Cloutier is a national expert with over fifteen years of experience in successfully advocating for survivors at K-12 schools and higher education institutions, and in policy work on these issues. She is a former Supervisory Attorney at the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, where she supervised a team of six attorneys enforcing federal civil rights laws, including Title IX and laws against disability, race, national origin, and religious discrimination. Ms. Cloutier’s track record of results for her courageous clients regularly has included obtaining course final grade changes, significant monetary awards and tuition refunds, the suspension and expulsion of student perpetrators, the suspension and permanent sanctions against tenured faculty members at top national universities, the removal of coaches and athletic directors, including at Division I schools, and policy changes. Ms. Cloutier also routinely obtains other results that assist her clients in staying in school or continuing their athletic careers. As an expert on trauma-informed investigative practices and working with sexual assault survivors, she has written training curricula for over twenty-five universities on these issues. Ms. Cloutier always brings a trauma-sensitive approach to her work, which leads her to form strong, productive relationships with her clients.

Previously, Ms. Cloutier practiced for five years in the Complex Commercial Litigation Group at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, a large, international law firm. Ms. Cloutier secured multimillion-dollar settlements for clients, guided clients successfully through regulatory inquiries, and won lawsuits at the trial and appellate levels, while maintaining a significant pro bono caseload that included a precedent-setting victory after successfully arguing a novel Constitutional argument on behalf of a pro bono client. After law school, Ms. Cloutier clerked for U.S. District Judge Lawrence Kahn, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.

When she’s not lawyering, Ms. Cloutier is an internationally competitive triathlete. She has completed several Ironman triathlons, including the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, and the Ironman 70.3 World Championship, and she was a member of the U.S. National Team for Triathlon.

Education:

  • J.D., Harvard Law School
    • Managing Editor of the Harvard Journal of Law and Gender
    • President of Students Organized for the Prevention of Domestic Violence (“Stop DV”)
    • Co-Writer of the 1st Law in the Nation Enabling GPS Tracking of Domestic Violence Offenders at a High Risk of Re-Assaulting Victims (This Law Has Been Replicated in Over Twenty-Five States)
    • Co-Presented a Training Module on Universities’ Title IX Obligations to Sexual Violence Survivors at a U.S. Department of Justice: Office on Violence Against Women (“OVW”) National Conference
  • Bachelor of Arts in Politics, Brandeis University, magna cum laude
    • 2001 Truman Scholar Recipient for Public Service Accomplishments
    • 2000 Massachusetts National Organization for Women’s (“NOW”) Woman of Courage Award Recipient
    • Member of the Phi Beta Kappa (ΦΒΚ) Honor Society

Certification:

  • The Danger Assessment (“DA”): Intimate Partner Violence (“IPV”) Lethality Risk Assessment

Featured Work:

  • Featured Panelist, 2018 Truman Scholars National Conference, Washington D.C.

Media Features:

Publications and Cited Work:

Bar Admissions:

  • Commonwealth of Massachusetts
  • State of New York
Ms. Cloutier is not licensed in the State of Michigan.

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