Faculty

Neil Makhija

Lecturer in Law

Neil Makhija is Lecturer in Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. As a consumer protection attorney, Mr. Makhija's law practice has focused on issues of public health and addiction. He has represented public clients against opioid painkiller manufacturers, and, most recently, parents and children in a class action against JUUL Labs, Inc. for the unlawful marketing of e-cigarettes to children.
 
Mr. Makhija's commentary on law, politics, and policy has been featured in the New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, POLITICO, and other media outlets across the country. In the 2020 election cycle, he serves as an advisor to several candidiates and campaigns on issues concerning consumer protection, workers' rights, and Pennsylvania.
 
In 2016, Mr. Makhija was the Democratic Nominee for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 122nd House District, where he outperformed the national Democratic ticket by 14 points in the general election. During his candidacy, Mr. Makhija won the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court case, In Re: Makhija (2016), which protected the rights of students and recent graduates to run for office in their home state under the Pennsylvania Constitution.
 
Mr. Makhija earned his J.D. at Harvard Law School on the Horace DeYoung Lentz Scholarship, which was endowed by a 19th century Pennsylvania coal magnate. While at Harvard, he founded the HLS Homelessness Coalition and was a Senior Policy Editor on the Harvard Law & Policy Review. He received his B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College, where he studied neuroscience and served as co-president of his class and commencement speaker.
 
As the son of immigrants and a native of Carbon County, Pennsylvania, Mr. Makhija is passionate about enfranchising underrepresented communities and engaging young people in state and local politics.

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