Lambda Legal, the nation’s largest legal nonprofit advocating for full legal and civil rights for LGBTQ+ people and everyone living with HIV, today named Douglas Curtis as its Chief Legal Advocacy Officer, effective February 9, 2026. In this role, Curtis will become the senior-most leader of the Legal Department at Lambda Legal, guiding a team of nearly 50 civil rights attorneys, policy advocates, and program staff from multiple practice areas across the United States. With more than 35 years of litigation, compliance, and organizational leadership experience, Curtis most recently served as Regional Director for Lambda Legal’s Midwest Regional Office based in Chicago.
Before joining Lambda Legal, Curtis spent three decades building and leading legal teams and legal departments across top law firms, international companies, and civil rights organizations. As a partner at the law firms WilmerHale and Arnold & Porter, his practice primarily focused on high-stakes commercial litigation and civil rights matters. Throughout his career, Curtis devoted substantial pro bono time to significant matters, including representing six Guantánamo detainees in Boumediene v. Bush, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case affirming constitutional habeas rights. More recently, before joining Lambda Legal, Curtis co-counseled with Lambda Legal in Eller v. Prince George’s County Public Schools, a transgender rights case.
“We are tremendously excited to bring Doug into this important leadership role at Lambda Legal,” Lambda Legal CEO Kevin Jennings said. “Doug brings deep experience in impact litigation and developing and leading legal teams involved in multiple aspects of legal work. His experience, leadership, and demonstrated commitment to civil rights could not be more essential at this critical moment for our movement, and I could not be more grateful for his eagerness to take on this important role.”
“I am deeply honored that Lambda Legal has entrusted me with this role at this critical moment in our movement,” Curtis said. “Since joining Lambda Legal in 2023 as Midwest Regional Director, I have witnessed the dedication and excellence of all my colleagues across multiple departments and could not be more energized to work with them in my new role. It is indeed a privilege to work with the awesome legal team here at Lambda Legal, and to collaborate across departments to get our important work done.”
Curtis’s executive leadership experience includes serving as Deputy General Counsel at WeWork, where he oversaw litigation, compliance, and employment while directing legal department operations and building infrastructure to support the company’s global growth. At Reuters Group PLC, he held senior roles including EVP and Global Head of Ethics and Compliance, where he developed and launched the company’s first global ethics program across four continents, and Regional General Counsel for Continental Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, managing Geneva-based members of the global legal department.
Curtis has also served in senior board roles at civil rights and social justice nonprofits, including the National Center for Law and Economic Justice (since 2003) and the Legal Aid Society of New York (2002–2021).
Curtis holds a J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where he served as Treasurer of the Harvard Law Review. He served as a law clerk to the Hon. Patricia M. Wald on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit following law school. He earned his B.A. in Social Studies, magna cum laude, from Harvard College, and was a Rotary Foundation Scholar at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris.