Announcing the Center’s New Executive Director

We are excited to officially announce the Center’s next Executive Director, Hayley Lawrence!

Hayley joins the Center from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Washington, DC office, where she has been a member of the firm’s litigation and white-collar defense practice groups.  Hayley specialized in matters relating to national security law, international trade, and anti-money laundering policy.  Her pro bono practice focused on representing individuals in criminal justice matters and working with groups like Brady, Giffords, and Everytown to promote gun safety policies as amici before the federal courts of appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.

To date, Hayley’s academic publications examine the intersection of gender studies and constitutional law, with a focus on the Second Amendment and voting rights law.

From 2021 to 2022, Hayley served as a law clerk to Judge Robin L. Rosenberg of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Hayley received her J.D. and LL.M. in International & Comparative Law with honors from Duke Law School in 2021.  She was chosen as the 2021 recipient of the Justin Miller Award for Intellectual Curiosity, served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy, and was a Research Assistant for Professor Emerita Sara Beale, with whom she published a book chapter on the role of AI and robotics in the law.

Hayley will join us at the Center on January 1, 2026.  We are thrilled to welcome her!