Connor Leighton-Cory Appointed Inaugural Director of LGBTQ+ Clinic

06.25.26 — Connor Leighton-Cory, a nationally recognized advocate for the rights and dignity of LGBTQ+ immigrants and young people, will join Northeastern Law on September 1, 2026, as an assistant clinical professor and director of the new LGBTQ+ Clinic.

“Connor has spent his career doing some of the most important civil rights work in the country: fighting for LGBTQ+ immigrants and youth at moments that genuinely define their lives. Northeastern Law has long been a place where LGBTQ+ lawyers are trained to lead, and Connor’s direction of our new LGBTQ+ Clinic will ensure that tradition finds its fullest expression yet in direct service to clients who need it most,” said Dean James Hackney.

Leighton-Cory has built his legal career around the civil rights of LGBTQ+ immigrants and young people, bringing dedicated representation to some of the most consequential matters affecting their lives. Prior to joining Northeastern, he served as a senior staff attorney at Immigration Equality, where he engaged in policy efforts to protect transgender immigrants’ rights and managed a large volume of immigration cases for LGBTQ+ individuals and families.

Leighton-Cory received his JD from Georgetown Law in 2016, where he was a Public Interest Law Scholar and recipient of the Lorri L. Jean Student Award for Excellence in LGBTQIA Leadership and Advocacy. His scholarship has been published in the Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law and the Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law and Policy. In 2019 he was recognized by the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association as one of the nation’s 40 Best LGBTQ+ Lawyers Under 40.

“I am so honored to join Northeastern as the director of a clinic expressly centered around legal issues impacting the LGBTQ+ community, and proud to join an institution with a strong commitment to social justice,” said Leighton-Cory. “I look forward to supporting law students who seek to protect and uplift communities that are under attack, and whose lived experiences may be part of what brings them to this work.”