Ira Gant ’10
From his vantage point on the Massachusetts Superior Court bench, the Honorable Ira Gant ’10 puts justice at the top of his priority list. He knows a lot about how the criminal justice system works, given his 15 years of service with the Committee for Public Counsel Services (Massachusetts’ public defender agency), including serving four years as CPCS’ forensic services director and seven years as staff counsel for the Innocence Program.
Judge Gant started working as a public defender on criminal cases right after graduating from Northeastern — exactly what he had wanted to do since entering law school. In this way, Northeastern fulfilled his expectations. “I came to Northeastern for two reasons: the institutional commitment to public interest law matched my own, and, with the co-op program, I knew I would quickly be back to work learning in the field — where I learn best,” he explains.
Arizona Supreme Court, Staff Attorney’s Office, Phoenix, Arizona
Ira worked on a case in which a citizen group challenged a state program as violating separation of church and state.
- International Law Society (co-chair)
- Criminal Law Society (founder)
- Northeastern University Law Journal (managing editor)
Ira assisted Professor Deborah Ramirez with national security law research and grant writing.
US Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Special Litigation Section, Washington, DC
- Advanced Criminal Procedure: Investigation
- Appellate Advocacy
- Criminal Trial Practice
- Federal Courts and the Federal System
- First Amendment
Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, Trial and Appellate Divisions, Washington, DC
Legal Skills in Social Context
Committee for Public Counsel Services, Roxbury Defenders Unit, Roxbury, Massachusetts
Ira represented clients at arraignment hearings, appearing before a variety of judges, and second-sat a two-day jury trial.
Committee for Public Counsel Services, Boston, Massachusetts
- Trial Attorney
- Staff Counsel, Innocence Program
- Forensic Services Director