Shira Wakschlag
Senior Executive Officer of Legal Advocacy and General Counsel, The Arc of the United States
Chicago, IL
Summary
Shira Wakschlag is a national disability rights lawyer and the Senior Executive Officer of Legal Advocacy and General Counsel at The Arc of the United States. She directs The Arc’s disability rights litigation and amicus brief practice, including briefs filed in the U.S. Supreme Court. Her work focuses on protecting the civil rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities nationwide, including in education, voting access, criminal justice, healthcare, community living, and federal disability law.
Expertise
Shira is available to provide legal analysis and background for journalists covering disability rights law, federal disability policy, Section 504, the ADA, IDEA, voting access, disability and the criminal justice system, healthcare discrimination, community living, and major court cases affecting people with disabilities.
For interviews or background with Shira Wakschlag, contact The Arc’s media team. For national disability policy, public attitudes about disability, and disability in public life, see Katy Neas’s bio.
Career highlights
- Skadden Fellow, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund
- Civil rights litigation attorney in the San Francisco Bay Area
- Leads The Arc’s litigation and amicus practice, educating courts about matters critical to disability rights law
- Recipient, 2022 American Constitution Society David Carliner Public Interest Award
- Published in leading legal and civil rights outlets, including in American University Law Review, Denver Law Review, the ABA’s Human Rights Magazine, and the University of Minnesota’s Impact Magazine
- Served on the board of the Disability Rights Bar Association
- Licensed in Washington, DC and California
Education
JD, University of California, Berkeley School of Law
BA, Brown University
In the news
- CBS News (July 2026): People with disabilities fear service cuts as Trump’s DOJ questions legal protections
- USA Today (Dec. 2025): The pending Supreme Court decision that worries disability rights groups
- Prism (Oct. 2025): 60 years on, landmark protections in the Voting Rights Act are being eroded
- CNET (Sept. 2025): DOJ Sues Uber Over Allegations of Refusing Service to Disabled Customers
- The 74 (June 2025): Supreme Court Unanimously Sides With Disabled Student in Lawsuit vs. District
- Washington Post (March 2025): Disabled Americans fear losing protections if states’ lawsuit succeeds
Updated: October 1, 2026
The Arc promotes and protects the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and actively supports their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes.
