Links
- The Juvenile Justice Clinic
Education
- BA, University of California, Davis
- JD, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles
Background
Roshell Amezcua ’14 is the director of Juvenile Justice Clinic (JJC), in which students represent juvenile clients facing criminal charges in Los Angeles County courts. In her role, Amezcua supervises clinical students performing client service in trial court and on appeal. Her work includes collaborating with other CJLP clinics, such as the Youth Justice Education Clinic and Juvenile Innocence & Fair Sentencing Clinic.
“It is a dream come true be appointed to lead the clinic that was so transformative in my legal education,” said Amezcua, who participated in the JJC as a student advocate from 2012-14. “There is nothing more fulfilling than providing youth in Los Angeles with zealous and holistic representation while helping guide students who want to provide the best possible representation to underserved communities.”
Prior to joining the JJC as director, Amezcua was a supervising attorney at The Bronx Defenders, a public defender nonprofit that annually represents about 30,000 low-income Bronx residents in criminal, civil, child welfare, and immigration cases. Her role included supervision of incoming law students awaiting results of the New York State Bar Exam, as well as experienced attorneys in collaborative training and preparation for all appearances, case conferencing, client management, and caseload management. Previously, she served at the organization as family defense attorney – representing parents charged with abuse or neglect – and also served as a family defense supervisor and the family defense and immigration counsel, and as a mentor for interns and attorneys of color.
“We are thrilled that Roshell has returned to lead the CJLP, where we are proud to have once called her a student advocate,” said Sean Kennedy ‘89, Kaplan & Feldman Executive Director of the CJLP. “Roshell brings back to us years of experience helping clients just like ours who don’t have the proper resources to navigate the criminal justice system.”
Prior to The Bronx Defenders, Amezcua held a variety of roles at the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office and Orange County Public Defender’s Office. Outside of the courtroom, Amezcua has shared her expertise as a speaker at Loyola’s Journalist Law School, the ABA National Conference on Parent Representation, the National Legal Aid and Defender Association and PLI’s Children’s Law Institute.
“We love when we see clinic students return to our programs as attorneys because it is evidence that we are accomplishing our mission: training the next generation of social-justice advocates,” said Liz Bluestein, Executive Director of the Loyola Social Justice Law Clinic, the umbrella group that includes the law school’s 20-plus live-client clinics.