Luz Herrera, social justice lawyer and UCLA law professor, was born in Tijuana to Mexican parents and grew up in the Latino neighborhoods of Los Angeles. After graduating from Harvard Law, she ran a solo law practice in working class Compton for years. She was the only full-time Spanish speaking lawyer in a city of over 50,000 Latino residents. She says she learned to think like a lawyer at Harvard but learned how to be a lawyer in Compton. After seven years of practice in Compton she became a law school professor full-time. Her academic work is focused on connecting law students with low income people and communities and helping prepare law students to be independent community lawyers. She also established and continues to help guide Community Lawyers, Inc., a non-profit organization providing low cost legal help for poor and working people in Compton.
Luz Herrera graduated Harvard Law School in 1999 and is the Assistant Dean for Clinical Education, Experiential Learning, and Public Service at UCLA.
Filed in: Alumni Profiles
Contact Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs
Website:
hls.harvard.edu/clinics
Email:
clinical@law.harvard.edu