Andrew Canter
Civil rights, governmental and private misconduct
Joseph A. (“Andrew”) Canter seeks justice for persons wronged by governmental and private misconduct. He joined the firm after more than a decade researching and writing legal opinions for federal judges.
As the career law clerk to the Honorable Carlton W. Reeves, U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Mississippi and Chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, Mr. Canter wrote hundreds of opinions in civil and criminal matters. In the busiest year of that clerkship, the court commenced 13 trials. Mr. Canter devoted substantial time to civil rights claims, qualified immunity, the fallout from Mississippi’s largest-ever Ponzi scheme, Second Amendment challenges, marriage equality, reproductive rights, and the resolution of a circuit split (see 571 U.S. 161). Prior to his service with Judge Reeves, Mr. Canter researched and drafted opinions as a law clerk to the Honorable Leslie H. Southwick on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Mr. Canter started his career on the Gulf Coast representing persons working to recover after Hurricane Katrina. He later practiced law with the Southern Poverty Law Center, where he represented children in psychiatric residential treatment facilities, LGBTQ+ Mississippians challenging discrimination, and persons seeking parole eligibility.
Mr. Canter received a JD from Stanford Law School, where he served as an Articles Editor on the Stanford Law Review; a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government (jointly with Stanford Law); and a BA from the University of Maryland.
In the news
- Mississippi Free Press UM faculty, First Amendment law firm file briefs supporting Lauren Stokes’ lawsuit appeal (opens in new tab),
- The Emory Wheel Professors sue Emory over April 25 encampment arrests (opens in new tab),
- MSGF LLP MSGF files free-speech lawsuit against Emory University on behalf of three professors,
Representative matters
Filed on behalf of three University of Mississippi faculty members, supporting the appeal of a university employee fired over a social media post. The brief sets out the university’s own history of suppressing speech on matters of public concern, and argues that history is the lens through which its stated reason for the firing should be read.
Read more about Stokes v. Boyce — pending, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit→Filed with the Center for Reproductive Rights and Covington & Burling LLP on behalf of three midwives, challenging Georgia laws that bar direct-entry midwives from practicing at all and require nurse-midwives to hold a paid written agreement with a physician. The complaint invokes the Georgia Constitution’s guarantees of the right to pursue a chosen profession, equal protection, and limits on delegating governmental power to private actors.
Read more about Amani v. State of Georgia — pending, Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia→Filed with Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan on behalf of five Georgia medical providers, in an appeal over a state law that bars all hormone therapy for incarcerated adults diagnosed with gender dysphoria. The brief explains the standard of care and argues that a blanket ban replaces individual medical judgment with a categorical rule the Eighth Amendment does not permit.
Read more about Benjamin v. Oliver — pending, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit→Education
- J.D., Stanford Law School, 2008
- Master of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, 2008
- B.A., Government & Politics, University of Maryland, College Park, 2003
Bar admissions & recognition
- Georgia (2025)
- Mississippi (2008)
- New York (2020)
- All U.S. District Courts in Georgia
- All U.S. District Courts in Mississippi
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- U.S. Supreme Court
- Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Scholarship
- Pavela Prize, University of Maryland
- Phi Beta Kappa
Professional experience
- Career Law Clerk, Hon. Carlton W. Reeves, U.S. District Judge, Southern District of Mississippi, and Chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission — 2014–2025
- Staff Attorney, Southern Poverty Law Center — 2013–2014
- Law Clerk, Hon. Carlton W. Reeves, U.S. District Judge, Southern District of Mississippi — 2011–2013
- Law Clerk, Hon. Leslie H. Southwick, U.S. Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit — 2010–2011
- Equal Justice Works Fellow & Staff Attorney, Mississippi Center for Justice — 2008–2010
- Legal Intern, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law — 2007
- Legal Intern, U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Fraud Section — 2007
- Legal Intern, Mississippi Center for Justice — 2006
- Legal Intern, Office of the Attorney General, State of New York, Public Integrity Unit — 2006
Publications
- Op-eds, notes, comments, and articles in the Stanford Law Review, Environmental Law Reporter, BYU Education & Law Journal, ABA Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Development Law, ABA Administrative and Regulatory Law News, and the Baltimore Sun