Hakeem Jeffries

Hakeem Sekou Jeffries (born August 4, 1970) is an American lawyer and Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing New York's 8th congressional district in Brooklyn and Queens. Prior to taking office in 2013, he was a corporate lawyer for Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, then Viacom and CBS, before running for and serving in the New York State Assembly from 2007 to 2012, representing the 57th Assembly district. Since 2019, Jeffries also serves as head of the House Democratic Caucus. 2Early life and education Jeffries was born in Brooklyn Hospital to Laneda Jeffries, a social worker, and Marland Jeffries, a state substance-abuse counselor. Jeffries grew up in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. He graduated from Midwood High School and received a B.A. degree in political science from Binghamton University with honors. He is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. He received a J.D. degree from New York University School of Law and obtained a Master of Public Policy degree from Georgetown University. 2Law career Jeffries served as a clerk for Judge Harold Baer, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, then worked in the litigation department of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison before becoming assistant litigator for Viacom and CBS, where he worked on litigation stemming from the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controvers