James Rodriguez - Alameda County Assistant Public Defender
Manage episode 363550439 series 2795277
A transcript of this podcast is available at lovethylawyer.com.
James Rodriguez
Born in Los Angeles – grew up between Sacramento suburbs and LA
UCLA undergrad - 1989 – started with an NROTC scholarship, dropped that, then studied film, then ended with History major, Studied at University of Guadalajara for a summer
In college worked at the American Film Institute, CARECEN - Central American Refugee Center and fry cook
After graduation worked for two years as a teachers assistant with learning handicapped students, summers with severely disabled students (now called Resource Program)
Applied to the four UC law schools after that – accepted at Boalt (Berkeley Law now of course)
Was granted a summer fellowship to work at MALDEF – Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund – during 1L summer
Worked at the Berkeley Community Law Center during school, helping mothers recently paroled from prison who had passed aids to their children obtain SSI
Interned with David Coleman at Contra costa defender’s during school
2L summer worked at civil law firm in Sacramento
After graduation received fellowship to work at the California Appellate Project in San Francisco, working with team on death penalty appeals
Then worked two years in San Diego Public Defender’s office
Moved back to San Francisco, worked two years in the Office of Citizen Complaints - SF police oversight agency (now defunct, the responsibilities of the OCC was split into two separate agencies) - with Mary Dunlap
Found my way to Alameda defender’s in 2000, been there ever since.
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Louis Goodman
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https://www.lovethylawyer.com/
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200 episodes