Paige Duggins-Clay

Paige Duggins-Clay, J.D., is IDRA’s chief legal analyst. She supports IDRA’s state and federal legal engagement by providing legal analysis and general counsel. She coordinates IDRA’s legal research and strategy, expert testimony and amicus curiae advocacy to elevate the voices of students and coalition partners. Her work builds on IDRA’s almost 50-year legacy of support to families, educators and their attorneys seeking education justice through the courts. Ms. Duggins-Clay also leads IDRA's policy advocacy related to school discipline and policing in Texas.

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Ms. Duggins-Clay participates in state and national coalitions; prepares amicus briefs and position statements; assists civil rights litigators with strategy and preparation of plaintiffs, experts, and witnesses for litigation; and publishes legal analyses of court and agency actions impacting equal educational opportunity. She also leads IDRA’s Texas-focused school discipline and policing work.

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Her co-authored article, Youth Dignity Takings: Understanding and Restoring the Involuntary Property Loss of Book Bans and Trans Bans, appears in the Loyola Interdisciplinary Journal of Public Interest Law. She also co-authored an amicus brief filed in support of the George family in George v. Barbers Hill Independent School District, urged the court to uphold the Texas CROWN Act and protect students from the severe harms caused by discriminatory policing of students’ dress and grooming.

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Ms. Duggins-Clay has a law degree from the University of Texas School of Law, where she was the inaugural G. Rollie White Public Service Scholar. She also earned a certification in human rights, conflict management, and community development from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in South Africa. She has a bachelor’s degree in education and English and a minor in race and ethnic studies from Southwestern University.

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As a law student, she served as a legal fellow for the Texas Civil Rights Project, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid, where she provided litigation research and support, and supported the organizations’ policy and advocacy work. Paige has also worked as a legislative aide and policy analyst to Texas State Senators Judith Zaffirini and Wendy Davis, where she researched and advised on a variety of issues, including school finance and school-to-prison pipeline issues.