Eli Northrup

Eli Clemans Northrup (born December 14, 1984) is an American criminal defense attorney, songwriter, and rapper. Northrup grew up in Bethesda, Maryland, and attended Cornell University. Northrup graduated from New York University School of Law. While at NYU Law, he became involved in indigent criminal defense, and also became known as a rapper.

After law school, Northrup worked as a judicial law clerk for U.S. District Judge Robert Porter Patterson Jr. of the Southern District of New York and went on to clerk for Julio M. Fuentes on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. After his clerkship, he worked as an E. Barrett Prettyman Fellow at Georgetown University Law Center. Northrup currently works as a criminal defense attorney with The Bronx Defenders in Bronx, New York.

Early life & education

Northrup was born in Washington D.C. and grew up in Bethesda, MD. From 1999-2003, he attended Walt Whitman High School where he played on the football team.

After high school, Northrup attended Cornell University. While at Cornell, he played Sprint Football. As a varsity athlete at Cornell, Northrup was able to maintain a 4.0 GPA during the Fall 2005 semester and became a member of Cornell's 400 Club. In 2006, he started a rap/hip-hop band—Pants Velour—with two Cornell undergraduate classmates. In 2007, Northrup earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a concentration in Law & Society from Cornell.

In 2008, Northrup began studies in the Juris Doctor program at New York University School of Law. At NYU Law, Northrup was an Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Liberties Fellow and Review of Law & Social Change staff development editor. He taught legal research classes to prison inmates with the Prisoners' Rights and Education Project, and served as a student advocate with the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem as a member of the NYU Criminal and Community Defense Clinic. He also interned at the Legal Aid Society in the Bronx, the Orleans Public Defenders, the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Northrup was a NYU Law captain in the annual Deans' Cup basketball fundraiser game against Columbia University Law School. In 2011, Northrup graduated cum laude from NYU School of Law and was awarded the Ann Petluck Poses Memorial Prize for outstanding work in a clinical course.

In 2012, the Washington Post photographed Northrup holding a Robert Griffin III ‘Hope’ poster at the 2012 NFL draft. Northrup then appeared in ESPN the Magazine, Sports Illustrated, and The Washington Post holding the same sign, during the Redskins v. Seahawks playoff game in 2013.

Legal career

After law school, Northrup worked as a judicial law clerk for U.S. District Judge Robert Porter Patterson Jr. of the Southern District of New York. He then went on to clerk for Julio M. Fuentes on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. After his clerkship, Northrup became an E. Barrett Prettyman Fellow in the Criminal Defense and Prisoner Advocacy Clinic at Georgetown University Law Center. The E. Barrett Prettyman and Stuart Stiller Fellowship Program combines instruction in the Law Center's graduate school with representation of indigent clients in the local courts of the District of Columbia. Northrup handles criminal cases in New York.

Music career

In 2006, Northrup, Nellie Thompson, Sam Coe, and Josh Raff formed Pants Velour while undergraduate students at Cornell University. After graduating in 2007, the members reunited in New York City in 2008. Northrup is a rapper in the group and has also been considered a "Hypeman" who pumps up the crowd.

While a student at NYU, Pants Velour—featuring Northrup—made a rap video entitled, "Charlie Sheen: Always Winning," that became popular on YouTube. The song was inspired by Sheen's interview on ABC television. Above the Law (blog) ran a blurb on the story, and it became a story in the legal community. Am Law Daily's Careerist blog called it “fast and saucy—especially amazing coming from a serious law student.” While in law school, Northrup regularly performed with Pants Velour.

In 2015, Northrup and Pants Velour made a mashup featuring Bernie Sanders and Hypnotize (The Notorious B.I.G. song).

Writings

• Emerging Perspectives on Adolescents and Young Adults With High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders, Violence, and Criminal Law