Jessica L. Lopez

Jessica Liat Lopez is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Legal Studies at Quinnipiac University. She is an attorney with 10 years of practice experience in the fields of criminal law, eviction defense, community lawyering, employment discrimination, and commercial litigation. She specializes in trial advocacy, motion practice, and community based legal workshops. Most recently, Jessica practiced at Youth Represent, a nonprofit organization with a mission of using legal services, policy advocacy, peer education, and other tools to build power and opportunity for Black, Latiné, and other youth of color who the criminal legal system and other systems of oppression harm the most. There, she represented clients in criminal, family, employment discrimination, benefits, records, and housing cases and co-taught Brooklyn Law School's Youth Defense & Re-Entry Legal Services Clinic. As a Public Defender in Union County, New Jersey, she represented clients charged with felony offenses in all stages of litigation including at trial, obtaining multiple acquittals. While practicing as a staff attorney at Brooklyn Legal Services, she defended residents of Brooklyn from being evicted from their homes and sued landlords for housing repairs. She is admitted to practice in New York and New Jersey. In 2019 she received Cornell Law School's “Rising Star Award” for her achievements in the field of public interest law.