James Pasch
Senior Director of National Litigation, Anti-Defamation League (ADL)
2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
James Pasch was recently named ADL’s Senior Director of National Litigation, after serving the last four years as ADL’s Cleveland Regional Director (serving Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia and Western Pennsylvania). Building on the path-breaking litigation that ADL has helped to bring in federal court for the District of Columbia against the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers for the role they played in the January 6 insurrection, James is leading a legal advocacy practice for ADL during a particularly important time, as antisemitism and extremism become more mainstreamed, normalized and amplified both online and off. In his new position, James will build a strategy of legal advocacy to combat antisemitism and other forms of hate, regardless of their political or ideological source.
In his time leading the ADL Cleveland Office, James launched a pro-bono legal assistance program to assist victims of hate crimes in Ohio and, under his leadership, ADL’s No Place for Hate education programming has grown over 200 percent regionwide. He also drove the region’s response in the aftermath of the Tree of Life synagogue attack in Pittsburgh, the deadliest terror attack on Jews in U.S. history.
James Pasch graduated from University of Vermont and earned his law degree at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Prior to entering the legal profession, James worked on Capitol Hill, first for Senator Frank Lautenberg and then as a law clerk on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He then built a thriving small firm litigation practice in Cleveland.
James served as the Case Western Reserve Law School’s Assistant Dean of Development and External Affairs during the Law School’s Capital Campaign. James has also served two-terms as a Councilman in Beachwood, where he led the City’s passage of its anti-discrimination ordinance. James and his wife, Carly, and their two children, live in Beachwood, Ohio.
The effort to eradicate hate requires the active participation of every component of our society, to include governments, the private sector, communities of faith and indeed every aspect of civil society. There is no more urgent task in front of us. The organizers of the Eradicate Hate Global Summit are doing the United States and the world an enormous service by tackling hatred and extremism with a focus on honest dialogue and conversation, genuine learning and practical solutions. This will not happen overnight, but the Pittsburgh community’s leadership in this effort is genuinely inspiring and motivating.
