LaShanta Harris was born and raised in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Ms. Harris attended Holy Family elementary school and then LaReine High School in Suitland, Maryland. In 1993, Ms. Harris was in the very first class of women to graduate from Bishop McNamara High School. Ms. Harris then attended the University of Pennsylvania to obtain her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology. After her college graduation, Ms. Harris worked as a corporate legal assistant at the law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell in their New York office. She then relocated to their office in London, England where she worked as a legal assistant for two years.
Ms. Harris then attended Howard University School of Law on a full merit scholarship. After graduating from law school, Ms. Harris worked as a Trial Attorney for the United States Securities and Exchange Commission where she held companies accountable when they took advantage of company investors. She then moved to Gainesville, Florida where she spent two years working as a federal judicial law clerk in the United States District Court in the Northern District of Florida. Ms. Harris was then hired by now-United States Senator Glenn Ivey when he was the head of the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office. As an Assistant State’s Attorney, Ms. Harris prosecuted gun crimes, robberies, carjackings, burglaries and kidnappings. She also helped to organize the Women Moving Forward Conference: A Collaborative Re-entry Program for Women at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women in Jessup, Maryland.
In 2019, Ms. Harris joined the United States Department of Labor. There, she protected the rights of workers by enforcing overtime and minimum wage regulations, defending the rights of immigrants who came to the United States through various work visa programs and she protected miners from unsafe coal mining practices. In August 2022, Ms. Harris returned to her criminal law roots at the United States Department of Justice, accepting an opportunity to continue to serve her country as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Maryland. In that position, Ms. Harris prosecuted four federal jury trials within two years. Continuing her commitment to the cause of justice, on March 23, 2026, Ms. Harris was sworn in to be the Chief of the District Court Unit of the Prince George’s County Office of the State’s Attorney.
In her private time, Ms. Harris is a staunch advocate for community service in the greater Washington area community. Within the last five years, Ms. Harris has served on the Board of Directors of Bishop McNamara High School and the Prince George’s County Bar Association. In 2024, Ms. Harris was appointed to the Board of Governors of the Maryland State Bar Association and was selected to serve on the Board of Directors of the Maryland Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. Lastly, in May of 2026, Ms. Harris was elected to serve as the President of the University of Pennsylvania Alumni Club of Washington, DC.
