Natasha Merle joined the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) as a LDF/Fried Frank Fellow in January of 2016. Natasha spent the first two years of her fellowship as a litigation associate in the New York office of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, where she handled a variety of complex commercial and pro bono matters. Natasha previously served as a law clerk to the Honorable John Gleeson of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York and the Honorable Robert L. Carter of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Natasha previously served as an Assistant Federal Public Defender in the Capital Habeas Unit of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Arizona where she represented death sentenced individuals in their federal habeas proceedings and before the Arizona Clemency Board. Natasha was also an Equal Justice Works Fellow at the Gulf Region Advocacy Center, where she represented individuals who were facing re-sentencing because their death sentences had been reversed.
Natasha graduated cum laude from New York University School of Law, where she was a student attorney at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem and Legal Aid Society, Juvenile Rights Practice. She graduated with Honors from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in Government and Spanish. She is a member of both the New York and Texas State Bars.
For more information about the LDF/Fried Frank Fellowship, click here.
