Professor Gerald P. López has been selected as the recipient of the 2015 Deborah L. Rhode Award by The Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Section on Pro Bono and Public Service Opportunities. The award recognizes López’s deep engagement in community lawyering and his distinguished record of and commitment to public service.

Professor López has published many acclaimed community-focused books. He is the author of Rebellious Lawyering: One Chicano’s Vision of Progressive Law Practice, an influential book about lawyering, progressive law practice and community problem solving. He helped found the Rebellious Lawyering Institute and the Lawyering for Social Change Program at Stanford Law School. He also founded the Center for Community Problem Solving in New York City. He is currently a core faculty member of UCLA Law’s Critical Race Studies Program.

Professor López, who joined the UCLA Law faculty in 1978 and has served on the NYU, Stanford and Harvard law faculties, has been honored with many community, civil rights and teaching awards. These include Stanford Law’s Teacher of the Year Award, UCLA Law’s Rutter Award for Excellence in Teaching and UCLA’s university-wide Distinguished Teaching Award, the Eby Award for the Art of Teaching. Among the courses he teaches are a rebellious lawyering workshop and clinics on reentry and economic development.

Professor López has also litigated extensively as lead counsel in a wide variety of criminal and civil matters before trial courts, appellate courts and the U.S. Supreme Court.

He will receive the award during the AALS Section on Pro Bono and Public Service Opportunities’ program at the organization’s Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. in January 2015.

Way to Go, Jerry!

Thank you UCLA School of Law for the post about Jerry López.