Director

Director Katherine Pérez

Katherine Pérez

Katherine Pérez is the Director of The Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy, and Innovation starting as the inaugural director of the center in 2018.  She graduated from the UCLA School of Law (2013) and has a PhD in Disability Studies from the University of Illinois at Chicago (2024). 

Dr. Pérez's dissertation "Disability Law Stories: A Disability Studies and Critical Race (Dis/Crit) Legal Analysis" introduces a Disability Studies and Critical Race (Dis/Crit) Legal Analysis framework.  Utilizing Dis/Crit Legal Analysis, Dr. Pérez unearths how race and disability play a role in Burger Supreme Court (1969-1986) cases related to competency to stand trial, insanity as a criminal defense, and competency to be executed.  Using “storytelling” as methodology, Dr. Pérez contextualizes the Supreme Court cases by delving into the historical trajectories of the respective areas of law, the petitioners' backgrounds, and the social and political milieu.  Dr. Pérez explores the disconnect between theory and practice, the contingency and role of racism and ableism in America law, and the strategies employed to assist disabled clients caught in the criminal legal system whether or not they reinforce a broken system. 

Dr. Pérez engages in academic and coalitional work on Disability and Immigration law and policy.  Her article, "A Critical Race and Disability Legal Studies Approach to Immigration Law and Policy" advocates for an intersectional approach to understanding immigration that considers disability as well as a multidisciplinary approach that combines grassroots activism with legal work. 

As a Visiting Professor of Law since 2018, Dr. Pérez teaches a Disability Rights Law course at Loyola Law School.  Through the Coelho Law Fellowship Program, Dr. Pérez also teaches her Disability Rights Law syllabus to college students and recent graduates with disabilities during the fellowship's summer intensive course.  Dr. Pérez has written about how her experience as a disabled law student informs the way she approaches her work as a professor in "Full Circle: From Disabled Law Student to Law Professor."

Katherine's sense of disability justice formed at a young age as she grew up with psychiatric disabilities and is a sister to an Autistic woman with intellectual disability.  Katherine has dedicated her life toward advocating for people with disabilities on local, national, and international levels.  She worked for Congresswoman Linda Sanchez as a Legislative Fellow from 2006-2007 as a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Fellow.  From 2008-2010, Katherine lived in La Libertad, Peru working with a local disability rights organization as a Peace Corps volunteer.  From 2015-2019, she helped launch and led The National Coalition for Latinxs with Disabilities (CNLD), an intersectional organization that advocates and provides a positive space for the disabled Latinx community.  As a queer, disabled woman of color, and granddaughter of Mexican immigrants, Katherine's lived experienced informs her approach to intersectional justice. 

The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) honored Katherine in 2017 with the prestigious Paul G. Hearne Award for her work as a CNLD co-founder.  Katherine has served on a number of boards, advisory boards, committees and councils, including: 

• Disability Rights California (DRC) Board of Directors
• Mental Health Advocacy Services (MHAS) Board of Directors
• Triage Legal Advisory Council
• The Arc Legal Advocacy Committee
• LMU's Intercultural Advisory Committee
• Council for Diversity in Educational Pipeline of the American Bar Association (as a Disability Rights Liaison)