Ria Kanani

In August 2024, Ria began her legal studies at Columbia Law School as part of the Class of 2027. She is a staff member of the Human Rights Law Review, Alumni Relations Chair for the Plaintiffs’ Law Association, a board member of the Domestic Violence Project, and currently serves as an elected Senator in the Student Senate. She was also selected for Columbia’s Human Rights Advocacy Program and its competitive Gender & Sexuality Moot Court Team during her first year.

Ria’s work has consistently centered on advocating for survivors of gender-based violence through both individual representation and systemic reform. In Summer 2025, she worked with the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation, drafting motions to vacate criminal records for trafficking survivors, motions for default judgment, and demand letters in workplace harassment cases. Prior to law school, she interned at the DOJ’s Office on Violence Against Women, where she supported federal policy initiatives. For six years, beginning in high school and continuing through college, she also worked part-time at Allan & Martelle, a family law firm in San Jose, California, where she assisted survivors in domestic violence cases.

Ria earned her B.S. in International Political Economy from Georgetown University, where she founded and led The Women’s Network. She plans to pursue a career in plaintiff-side litigation with a focus on collective action cases on behalf of survivors of sexual harassment. Her long-term vision is to bring the tools of class actions and mass torts—often used in consumer and privacy litigation—into the gender-based violence space, moving the needle for survivors by combining individual advocacy with systemic impact.