Andrea Ashburn

Andrea Ashburn is a Justice Catalyst Fellow at the New York Legal Assistance Group where they develop impact litigation lawsuits in the areas of consumer protection and tenants’ rights. With the Special Litigation Unit, Andrea brings class action claims against debt collection law firms and process servers that routinely engage in false service of process (sewer service) to secure default judgments against low-income consumers and tenants, often leading to wage garnishments and bank executions.

Andrea's project aims to develop and expand class action litigation as a tool that is currently underutilized but uniquely suited to hold these bad actors accountable. Sewer service is endemic in debt collection and eviction proceedings, but low-income debtors often cannot assert their rights affirmatively. Andrea envisions acting as a class will allow debtors to recover against these bad actors at scale and undermine the financial incentives to engage in sewer service. 

Andrea is a 2023 graduate of Columbia Law School, where they were a Kent Scholar, participated in the Human Rights Institute 1L Advocates Program, and published a note in the Columbia Journal of Law & Social Problems. Throughout law school, Andrea focused on learning to use litigation as a tool for systemic change. Since graduation, they have been working with the Special Litigation Unit on a variety of impact litigation cases. Through the duration of their project and throughout their career, Andrea will continue to use affirmative litigation as a tool to hold bad actors accountable and work towards advancing economic justice for all New Yorkers.

Fellowship type: Justice Catalyst

Organization: New York Legal Assistance Group

Project name: Combating the Predatory Process Serving Industry Through Impact Litigation