Hilary Gerzhoy is a partner at HWG where she serves as Vice Chair of the firm’s Legal Ethics and Malpractice Group. She focuses her practice on legal ethics, white collar defense, and complex civil litigation. Professor Gerzhoy serves on the D.C. Bar Rules of Professional Conduct Review Committee and the Advisory Committee on Admissions and Grievances for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In 2020, she worked as part of the Ethics and Compliance Team for the Biden-Harris Presidential transition.

Legal Ethics and Malpractice

Professor Gerzhoy represents lawyers and law firms in disciplinary investigations, prosecutions, and malpractice matters. She has handled matters before numerous state bars, as well as matters before the Office of Enrollment and Discipline for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia’s Committee on Grievances, and the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland’s Disciplinary and Admissions Committee. She represents lawyers and law firms in high stakes arbitrations related to partner departures, and regularly counsels lawyers and firms regarding partner admissions and law firm dissolutions. Professor Gerzhoy writes frequently on developments in legal ethics and her work has been published by Bloomberg Law, Law360, and Jurist.

Complex Civil Litigation and White-Collar Criminal Defense

Professor Gerzhoy represents plaintiffs and defendants in civil and criminal litigation matters from the initial complaint through trial and appeal in state and federal courts. She regularly represents companies responding to federal regulatory investigations and enforcement actions, as well as individuals in a range of white-collar criminal investigations.

Professor Gerzhoy dedicates substantial time to representing victims of domestic violence and low-income tenants in matters before the D.C. Superior Court. She currently serves on the Membership Committee of the District of Columbia’s Women’s Bar Association and has served on the Junior Board of the D.C. Volunteer Lawyers Project. She is a Barrister at the William B. Bryant Inn of Court.

Before entering private practice, Hilary clerked for the Honorable Kermit V. Lipez of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. She received her J.D. from the University of California Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall), where she served as Online Editor of the California Law Review and a teaching assistant for the Legal Research and Writing Program, and where she received the Prosser Award for Written and Oral Advocacy. She received her B.A. from the University of Chicago, graduating Phi Beta Kappa.