Mónica Ramírez Almadani, Visiting Assistant Clinical Law Professor and Co-director of Immigrant Rights Clinic at UCI Law, Named President and CEO of Public Counsel
The University of California, Irvine School of Law (UCI Law) is delighted to announce that Mónica Ramírez Almadani, Visiting Assistant Clinical Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic at UCI Law, has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer, and holder of the Helen & Morgan Chu CEO Distinguished Chair, of Public Counsel, the nation’s largest pro bono law firm. Prof. Ramírez Almadani’s appointment will begin June 2021. She succeeds Federal Judge Margaret Morrow, who currently holds the position.
“I am honored, grateful, and excited to join Public Counsel as its next CEO, but I am also going to miss UCI Law, both my students and colleagues who have inspired, supported, and taught me so much over the past two years,” said Ramírez Almadani. “It has been an opportunity of a lifetime to teach and mentor such bright, capable, and passionate students committed to social justice. I will always cherish this unique experience and amazing community.”
“We are absolutely thrilled for Prof. Ramírez Almadani and very much look forward to collaborating with Prof. Ramírez Almadani in her new role,” said Annie Lai, Co-Associate Dean for Experiential Education and Co-Director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic. “Public Counsel could not have made a better choice.”
Prof. Ramírez Almadani has practiced in the areas of immigrant rights, civil rights, and criminal law for nearly two decades. She began her career as an Equal Justice Works Fellow and Staff Attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Immigrants’ Rights Project. In 2009, Prof. Ramírez Almadani joined the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division as Counsel to Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez. She served as his primary advisor on immigrant rights issues, leading legal and policy initiatives and advising on litigation. Additionally, she served as Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Counsel to U.S. Deputy Attorney General James Cole during the first term of the Obama Administration.
After leaving DC, Prof. Ramírez Almadani prosecuted federal crimes as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. More recently, Prof. Ramírez Almadani served as a Special Assistant Attorney General in the California Department of Justice, where she advised then Attorney General and now Vice President Kamala D. Harris on immigrant rights and civil rights issues. Just prior to joining UCI Law, Prof. Ramírez Almadani was special counsel at Covington & Burling, LLP, where she maintained a vigorous pro bono practice, including as part of the senior Covington team representing the University of California in Regents of the Univ. of Cal. v. U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Sec., helping to secure an injunction against the Trump Administration’s decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
As Co-Director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic at UCI, Prof. Ramírez Almadani supervises students working on a range of matters, from deportation defense cases to immigrant workers’ rights claims to federal litigation to protect the civil and constitutional rights of immigrants. This year, she is also co-teaching a new course on COVID-19 & Civil Rights.
Prof. Ramírez Almadani is from Los Angeles, proudly having grown up in Huntington Park in southeast Los Angeles. She received her law degree from Stanford Law School and her undergraduate degree from Harvard University. She was also a law clerk to the Honorable Warren J. Ferguson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.