Meet the Host: Max Gaston ’13 J.D.

Max Gaston (he/him) returned to Notre Dame Law School in October 2021 as the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Gaston leads the development and implementation of strategic initiatives at the Law School that champion a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment, including proactive initiatives to support belonging, and the Law School’s mission of educating a different kind of lawyer.

Prior to Notre Dame Law School, Gaston was a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, where he litigated state and federal civil rights matters involving the First Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause, LGBTQ+ rights, and voting rights. He led the ACLU of Florida’s ongoing litigation in The Dream Defenders v. DeSantis, seeking to hold unconstitutional the governor and legislature’s racially motivated anti-protest legislation, and successfully argued before Chief Judge Mark E. Walker in the Northern District of Florida to have the law preliminary enjoined.

Prior to that, Gaston was a litigation consultant with the Human Rights Law Network in New Delhi, India, where he advised Indian Supreme Court advocates on public interest litigation matters involving caste discrimination and the violation of constitutional rights. He is a former commercial litigation and arbitration associate with Williams Montgomery & John in Chicago, and a former state prosecutor with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office.