Dr. Astha Pokharel

Biography

Astha Sharma Pokharel is a Clinical Teaching Fellow at the International Human Rights Law Clinic at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. Before joining the clinic, she was a Bertha Justice Fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights, where she worked to defend constitutional rights while advocating for justice in Palestine and environmental justice cases. Notable cases include Bronner v. Duggan, related to the American Studies Association’s decision to endorse a boycott of Israeli academic institutions, and Energy Transfer Partners v. Greenpeace, which addresses the legal challenges faced by organizers resisting the Dakota Access Pipeline. Additionally, she represented residents in Cancer Alley, Louisiana, in cases such as White Hat v. Landry, which challenged state anti-protest laws affecting critical infrastructure. Sharma Pokharel has also worked on behalf of Palestinian landowners in Silber v. Airbnb, contesting illegal and discriminatory Israeli settlement enterprises in the West Bank. In the spring and summer of 2020, she was involved in legal teams challenging the detention of immigrants amid the COVID-19 pandemic in cases like Dada v. Witte. She completed her Juris Doctorate at New York University in 2017, where she was an advocate for the Global Justice Clinic and Immigrant Rights Clinic, representing individuals in deportation proceedings.

Research Interests