Kathryn Eidmann is Public Counsel’s President and Chief Executive Officer and holder of the Helen & Morgan Chu CEO Distinguished Chair.
A leading civil rights lawyer, Kathryn has spent over a decade at Public Counsel leading innovative legal advocacy to advance justice for communities across the country. She has litigated major cases in the areas of education equity, children’s rights, gender discrimination, criminalization of poverty, immigrants’ rights, housing and homelessness, and the rights of low-wage workers. Most recently, she served as Public Counsel’s Vice President, Chief of Litigation and Legal Programs, where she oversaw a team of 120 attorneys, social workers, organizers, and administrative staff providing direct legal services, impact litigation, and policy advocacy.
Kathryn has been recognized in the legal and advocacy communities for her creative litigation and advocacy. In 2019, she received the California Lawyer of the Year award for the victory she secured in People v. Duenas, a landmark California Court of Appeal opinion establishing for the first time that courts may not impose mandatory court fees on indigent criminal defendants. She was named as one of the “Top 40 Lawyers Under 40” in California by the Daily Journal in 2021. She is a frequent speaker on education equity and economic justice issues, and her work has been covered by national and local news media, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, MSNBC, and PBS News Hour.
Kathryn taught at the University of California, Irvine School of Law from 2017-2024. She was appointed by Mayor Eric Garcetti to serve on the Los Angeles Board of Library Commissioners and the Commission for Community and Family Services, advising the City of Los Angeles on issues of poverty and the needs of children, youth, and families. She also served on the Board of Directors of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles.
Prior to joining Public Counsel, Eidmann was a law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeal for the District of Columbia Circuit for Judge Thomas B. Griffith and practiced complex civil litigation at the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson. She received her A.B. magna cum laude from Harvard College and her J.D. from Yale Law School.
