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Rebecca Livengood, Relman Colfax PLLC Photo

Rebecca Livengood

Counsel

Rebecca Livengood is Counsel at Relman Colfax. Rebecca joined the firm in 2019. In her civil rights litigation practice, she works on a variety of cases involving discrimination in housing, provision of public services, and policing.

Rebecca’s work largely focuses on ending racial discrimination in policing and housing, including cases challenging the practice of targeting communities of color through nuisance ordinances and aggressive policing. Rebecca is also part of the team challenging unconstitutional discrimination against African Americans and Gullah-Geechee descendants on Sapelo Island.

Prior to joining the firm, Rebecca was a staff attorney at the Equal Justice Initiative, where she represented prisoners on Alabama’s death row in capital post-conviction cases and challenged excessive punishment in the Alabama criminal justice system. She was also a Skadden Fellow at the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, where she litigated constitutional claims in state and federal courts, with a focus on challenging abusive police practices and protecting the rights of young people in the criminal justice system. Rebecca was among the lead counsel in first-of-its-kind litigation against the New Jersey Department of Corrections under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to secure special education services for hundreds of young people in its custody throughout the state.

Rebecca clerked for the Hon. Michael A. Chagares, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and for the Hon. Stewart Dalzell, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Featured Cases

Harper, et al. v. Cuomo, et al.
HOPE Fair Housing Center v. City of Peoria, Illinois
Relman Colfax filed suit against the City of Peoria, alleging that the City intentionally targeted enforcement of its “chronic nuisance ordinance” in predominantly African-American neighborhoods and against buildings with predominantly African-American tenants, in violation of the Fair Housing Act. On August 31, 2020, HOPE settled its claims. Pursuant to the settlement, the City amended the ordinance and police department policies to ensure nondiscriminatory enforcement of the Ordinance and to protect tenant rights.
Drayton v. McIntosh County, Georgia
This case against McIntosh County and the State of Georgia alleges that the denial of basic municipal services to one of the last Gullah-Geechee communities on Sapelo Island, Georgia violates plaintiffs' constitutional rights.

Publications

R. Livengood, Note, Organizing for Structural Change: The Potential and Promise of Worker Centers, 48 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L. Rev. 325 (2013)

Brief for American Civil Liberties of New Jersey as Amicus Curiae Supporting Respondent, Brown v. New Jersey, 165 A.3d 735 (N.J. 2017)

In the Media

Federal lawsuit filed against Varsity Tavern in Fort Worth alleges racial discrimination
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 03.19.2020

Education

J.D., Harvard Law School, cum laude

B.A., Yale University

Admissions

New York
New Jersey
Application to D.C. Bar submitted; supervised by members of the D.C. Bar

Clerkships

Hon. Michael A. Chagares, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Hon. Stewart Dalzell, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania

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Who We Are
- We are professionals dedicated to fighting discrimination through litigation, as well as counseling those who embrace the vision of an inclusive society.
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- We focus on civil rights because we want to hasten the time when choices about where to live, work, and go to school are not constrained by discrimination and segregation.
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