Erwin Chemerinsky is the founding dean and distinguished professor of law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, with a joint appointment in Political Science.  Previously, he taught at Duke Law School for four years, during which he won the Duke University Scholar-Teacher of the Year Award in 2006. Before that he taught for 21 years at the University of Southern California School of Law, and served for four years as director of the Center for Communications Law and Policy. Chemerinsky has also taught at UCLA School of Law and DePaul University College of Law.  His areas of expertise are constitutional law, federal practice, civil rights and civil liberties, and appellate litigation. He is the author of seven books, most recently, The Conservative Assault on the Constitution (October 2010, Simon & Schuster), and nearly 200 articles in top law reviews. He frequently argues cases before the nation’s highest courts, and also serves as a commentator on legal issues for national and local media.  Chemerinsky holds a law degree from Harvard Law School and a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University.

Lorna A. De Bono is an Associate with Haight Law Group, PLC.  A graduate of UCLA School of Law, she is admitted to practice law in the state of California and has been practicing business-related immigration law since 1999.  Ms. De Bono practices solely in the areas of Immigration and Naturalization law, representing employers in administrative petitions and applications to the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Departments of Labor and State, state employment agencies and U.S. Embassies and Consulates.  Her key professional accomplishments include successful representation of companies and individuals in varied industries, including information technology, video game, finance, industrial, sports, and entertainment.  In addition to her work with ICWC, she serves on the Boards of the Southern California Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the Women Lawyers of Los Angeles Foundation.

The Honorable Bruce J. Einhorn served as a United States Immigration Judge in Los Angeles from July 29, 1990 through January 31, 2007 where he presided over prosecutions initiated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security against non-citizens in the United States whose lawful presence here has been placed into question by counsel for the government based on the circumstances of their entry into the country and/or their conduct (including alleged terrorist and criminal conduct).  Judge Einhorn also adjudicated claims for relief, including applications for asylum and relief under the United Nations Convention against Torture. As an Immigration Judge, he issued major decisions on the granting of asylum to a diverse range of persecuted peoples. He was the first Immigration Judge to grant asylum to HIV-positive individuals and disabled children who faced socially based persecution and the denial of available medical treatment in their native countries. Before serving as an Immigration Judge, Bruce Einhorn served as a Special Federal prosecutor and later as Chief of Litigation for the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Special Investigations (“OSI”) in Washington, D.C. from October 1979 through June 1990.  While with the U.S. Department of Justice, he also assisted in drafting the Refugee Relief Act, which for the first time in U.S. history gave non-citizens the right to apply for asylum in the United States.

Judge Einhorn has served as a Professor of International, Immigration, Asylum and Refugee Law at Pepperdine University since 1991 where he founded and serves as Director of the law school’s Asylum and Refugee Clinic.  He also presently acts as Of Counsel to the highly rated immigration boutique firm Wolfsdorf Immigration Law Group.

In addition to his active participation and affiliation with community-based social justice groups and civil rights organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League, Judge Einhorn frequently lectures on complex topics ranging from international humanitarian law to federal immigration and criminal law, and has conducted countless continuing legal education seminars.  He has appeared on a variety of TV and radio shows including ABC television, Fox News, National Public Radio and CNN to discuss immigration reform, and national security issues, and has written op-ed pieces for The Los Angeles Times, The Los Angeles Daily Journal, and other newspapers.  Judge Einhorn has received numerous prestigious awards and accolades for his judicial work and many professional accomplishments.

John Leguizamo is a prominent actor, writer and producer. John was born in Columbia, but raised in New York, after immigrating to the United States at age four. John studied acting at New York University. John’s credits include Moulin Rouge, Son of Sam, Romeo and Juliet, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar and Carlito’s Way. He was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance in To Wong Foo and for a Tony award for his one man show, Freak.

Judy London is the Directing Attorney of Public Counsel’s Immigrants’ Rights Project.  From 1996 to 2000, she was the Legal Director of the Central American Resource Center (“CARECEN”) in Los Angeles.  While at CARECEN, Ms. London was instrumental in securing the enactment of the Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (“NACARA”).  She also focused on advocacy for undocumented children, and in 2000, she succeeded in obtaining legislation granting permanent residency to Tony Lara, a twenty-year old Salvadoran national who had been raised in Los Angeles.  But for inadequate immigration advice, Mr. Lara would have been eligible for special immigrant juvenile status (“SIJS”).  At Public Counsel, Ms. London has expanded the agency’s SIJS work, developed a detention project serving immigrant detainees in Santa Ana, California, and continued to increase pro bono representation for asylum-seekers and crime victims seeking relief under the Violence Against Women Act (“VAWA”) and the Victims of Trafficking and Violent Crime Prevention Act (“VTVPA”). She is an Adjunct Professor at UCLA School of law where she teachers a clinical course on immigration law, focusing on the representation of asylum-seekers.  She received her law degree from UCLA in 1990 and her undergraduate degree from Stanford University in 1985.