Staff
Terri Marsh
Executive Director
Dr. Terri Marsh taught for over a decade Greek political theory and philosophy, Socrates, and women's studies when her studies on the Greek political theorist Thucydides and her concern for human and civil rights issues led her to a career change and study law. Following law school, she worked as a consultant for the Clinton-Gore presidential campaign and subsequently for Legal Defense and Education Fund, an organization dedicated to fighting for racial justice. Dr. Marsh directed the D.C. Superior Court Youth Court for juvenile offenders in Washington D.C. from 1994-2004. Her quest for human rights lead her to represent members of persecuted groups in China to seek justice in the US. In 2002, she filed a landmark case against former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chair, Jiang Zemin, and the Gestapo-like Office 610.
In 2005, Dr. Marsh formally launched the Human Rights Law Foundation (HRLF) and as its Executive Director has continued to coordinate legal work and act as legal counsel for members of persecuted groups in China. She is currently initiating a Justice for Women Program, which will provide legal services to and coordinate litigation on behalf of women subjected to sex crimes and violence in Asia and the United States. In the most recent case filed in May 2011, Dr. Marsh is representing plaintiffs in a potentially groundbreaking lawsuit against Cisco Systems for aiding and abetting torture and other human rights violations by the CCP through design and maintenance of a surveillance system in China called "The Golden Shield".
She has been published on academic topics ranging from classical literature and gender theory to the rule of law in China, and she is currently working on a book entitled "The Politics of Persecution: The Chinese Communist Party's Crimes against Falun Gong. She holds a Ph.D. in Classics from SUNY and a J.D. from New York University School of Law.
Carlos Iglesias
Director (Europe)
Biography forthcoming.
Brian Pierce
Brian Pierce received his law degree in May 2010 from Georgetown University Law Center, where he was on the Dean's List and served as an Articles Editor at the Georgetown Journal of International Law, one of the most prominent international law journals in the nation. While at Georgetown, Mr. Pierce studied in London as part of the Center for Transnational Legal Studies, a program that gathers students and professors from around the world to focus on issues of international law.
Mr. Pierce previously worked at HRLF as an intern and extern in 2008 and 2009. Based on his excellent performance, he was offered a Connie Smead Fellowship and joined HRLF in the fall of 2010.
As a Connie Smead Fellow, Mr. Pierce worked extensively on Doe v. Cisco Systems, Inc., filed in May of 2011, and he continues to be a key member of the HRLF team as this case moves forward.
Mr. Pierce earned his undergraduate degree in Political Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a member of the Illinois State Bar and is pending admission to the D.C. Bar.
Yiyang Xia
Senior Director of Research and Policy (China)
Biography forthcoming.
Arianne Plasencia
Connie Smead Fellow
Arianne Plasencia graduated with high honors from Harvard College in 2006 and the Georgetown University Law Center in 2009, where she was the Managing Editor of the Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law. She is first the recipient of the Connie Smead Human Rights Fellowship. As part of her fellowship, Ms. Plasencia has helped HRLF investigate and draft legal documents in conjunction with a corporate human rights case. She has also worked with other human rights attorneys outside HRLF, helping to build a network of resources and opportunities for HRLF. Ms. Plasencia is also working to initiate HRLF’s new Justice for Women Program, which will provide legal services to women and girls who have been subjected to sex crimes, torture, and violence.
Ms. Plasencia is a member of the New York State Bar and is fluent in Spanish and proficient in French.
Philip McCarthy
Attorney
Prior to arriving at HRLF, Philip McCarthy attended Georgetown University Law Center, where he was on Dean’s List, a member of the Georgetown Journal of Law & Modern Critical Race Perspectives, and a participant in a clinical program with the Institute for Public Representation. Mr. McCarthy earned his undergraduate degree at The College of William and Mary’s Mason School of Business where he was awarded a fellowship to study at the University of Cambridge.
Mr. McCarthy is highly proficient in Spanish. He has studied and/or lived in the Philippines, Japan, Argentina, England, and the United States.
Mr. McCarthy is pending admission to both the New York and D.C. Bars.
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