Jayashri Srikantiah
- Professor of Law
- Director, Immigrants' Rights Clinic
- Room N142, Neukom Building
Expertise
- Access to Justice
- Immigration Law
- Policy Analysis
- Public Interest Law
- Public Interest Practice
Biography
An experienced clinical teacher and litigator, Jayashri Srikantiah is the founding director of the law school’s Immigrants’ Rights Clinic. Under her direction, students in the clinic have represented scores of immigrants facing deportation, including asylum-seekers, immigrants with prior criminal convictions, immigrant survivors of crime and undocumented migrants with longstanding ties to the United States. Professor Srikantiah and clinic students have litigated cases in the immigration courts, the federal district courts, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. Professor Srikantiah’s litigation successes include challenging the federal government’s immigration detention practices, uncovering the federal government’s use of processes to deport individuals without hearings, and limiting the immigration consequences of prior criminal convictions. In recognition of her work on behalf of immigrants’ rights, California Lawyer magazine named Professor Srikantiah one of its 2014 Attorneys of the Year.
Professor Srikantiah’s research and scholarly work explores the role of administrative discretion in immigration decision-making in various areas, including human trafficking and immigration detention; and the pedagogy of law clinics that combine direct services work with impact litigation and advocacy. Her current research concentrates on developing teaching methods for clinics representing institutional clients, immigration detention and the immigration consequences of crimes.
Before joining the Stanford Law School faculty in 2004, Professor Srikantiah was the associate legal director of the ACLU of Northern California and a staff attorney at the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. Professor Srikantiah has also worked as an associate at the law firm of Howard Rice Nemerovski Canady Falk & Rabkin and was a law clerk to Judge David R. Thompson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Education
- BS University of California Berkeley 1991
- JD New York University School of Law 1996
Related Organizations
Courses
Affiliations & Honors
- Board of Directors, Equal Justice Society (2013-present)
- National Advisory Council, North American South Asian Bar Association (2011-present)
- National Council of Advisors, South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) (2006-present)
- Faculty Advisory Committee, Bechtel International Center, Stanford University (2006-present)
- Public Interest Law Committee, Haas Center for Public Service, Stanford University(2009-present)
- Member, American Immigration Lawyers Association
- Member, National Lawyers Guild, National Immigration Project (2004-present)
- Member, Clinical Legal Education Association (2004-present)
- Affiliated Faculty, Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CCSRE), Stanford University (2006-present)
- Member, Association of American Law Schools (2004-present)
- Board of Directors, Equal Rights Advocates (2005-2011)
- Board of Directors (2002-2004); Co-chair, Civil Rights Committee (2001), Asian-American Bar Association
- Selected for Lawyers of Color 50 Under 50 list recognizing minority law professors making an impact in legal education (2014)
- Recipient, California Lawyer Magazine Attorney of the Year (2014)
- Recipient, Service, Immigrant Rights & Education Network Advocate of the Year Award (awarded to Immigrants’ Rights Clinic) (2010)
- Recipient, South Asian Bar Association Community Impact Award (2010)
- Recipient, New California Media Exceptional Communicator Award (2004)
- Selected for National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Top 40 Asian-American Lawyers Under 40 (2004)
- Recipient, Asian Law Alliance Community Impact Award (2002)
- Recipient, South Asian Bar Association and Minority Bar Coalition Award for Outstanding Service to the Legal Community (2000)
- Selected for India Today's 40 Indian-American "Faces of the Future" (2000)
Professor Jayashri Srikantiah on Access to Justice for Detained Immigrants
Immigrants' Rights Clinic
In the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic (IRC), students represent immigrants in deportation proceedings before the San Francisco immigration court as well as other administrative bodies and the federal courts, including the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Students develop core litigation and trial skills by: writing and arguing complex legal motions; counseling clients; interviewing witnesses and experts; developing facts; conducting mini-trials involving direct and cross examination of witnesses; and writing and arguing appeals. IRC clients include asylum seekers fleeing persecution abroad, lawful permanent residents (green card holders), and survivors of domestic violence and torture.
View Immigrants' Rights Clinic