B.A., Kalamazoo College; J.D., University of Michigan
David Abramowitz has served in various position in the U.S. Government for nearly 25 years, most recently as General Counsel at the House Financial Services Committee. Immediately prior to joining the House Financial Services Committee in 2019, he was Managing Director for Policy and Government Relations for almost 10 years at Humanity United, a foundation that focuses on advancing human freedom by combating human trafficking and modern slavery, among other human rights issues. After a federal clerkship in the Eastern District of Michigan and a fellowship in South Africa working on human rights issue at the end of the Apartheid regime, Professor Abramowitz joined the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State in 1989. Over the course of his ten year career at the Department, he worked on arms control agreements with the then Soviet Union, advised the Department on regional issues relating to the Middle East, and helped the Department guide foreign policy legislation through the U.S. Congress, including legislation reorganizing the foreign affairs agencies. In 1999, Professor Abramowitz joined the staff of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, serving as Democratic Chief Counsel from 1999 to 2006 and as Chief Counsel from 2007 to 2009, where, in addition to helping move forward the Committee’s legislative agenda, he worked on issues of global human rights, international war crimes tribunal, and the International Criminal Court. He was deeply involved in such legislation as Victims of Trafficking and Violence Act of 2000 and the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008. During his time at the House Financial Services Committee, Professor Abramowitz was involved in enacting economic relief for U.S. nationals affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic, the first reform of U.S. money laundering laws in over a decade, and new laws on human trafficking legislation and the financial sector. Professor Abramowitz graduated from Kalamazoo College with a B.A. and from the University of Michigan Law School with a J.D. He is the author of several articles and testified frequently before Congress after he left government. Professor Abramowitz has also been an adjunct professor at George Washington University School of Law.