Clinic Director Jessica Rofé Receives Prestigious National Award for Emerging Clinicians

Rutgers Law Constitutional Rights Clinic Director Jessica Rofé received this year’s Shanara Gilbert Award from the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). The honor is given to an emerging clinician who has demonstrated a commitment to teaching and achieving social justice and a passion for providing legal services and access to justice to those most in need. Professor Rofé accepted the award on May 3 at the annual AALS Conference on Clinical Legal Education in Portland, Oregon. 

“I feel so grateful to collaborate with students, clients and communities on pressing constitutional issues, and to do so in such a supportive community,” she said. “It is a privilege and a gift.” 

Professor Rofé’s litigation, research, and teaching focuses on the intersection of criminal and immigration law, deportation, detention, and the rights of individuals incarcerated across systems. She was instrumental in helping to obtain a presidential pardon in 2025 for her longtime client Ravi Ragbir. He is a nationally recognized leader in the immigrant rights movement who had been fighting deportation for nearly two decades. 

Rutgers Law Dean Johanna Bond said, “I am so proud to have Jessica as a colleague, and this well-deserved recognition reflects her unwavering commitment to her clients and her students. Her impactful work epitomizes the values of the Shanara Gilbert Award.” 

Professor Randi Mandelbaum, Associate Dean for Clinical Education in Newark, added, “It is so wonderful to see Jessica’s outstanding work, dedication to her clients and students, and her incredible passion and commitment to social justice being recognized on the national stage. We, at Rutgers, couldn’t be prouder of her and are so thrilled that she is our colleague. She is a true inspiration!”

The Constitutional Rights Clinic engages in federal litigation in the federal district courts and the courts of appeals, largely on detention issues. In addition, in cooperation with the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, the Constitutional Rights Clinic regularly files amicus curiae briefs in the New Jersey Supreme Court or Appellate Division on a variety of civil liberties cases. The Clinic also engages in other non-litigation projects, such as drafting proposed civil rights legislation, coordinating voter registration programs, writing detailed reports on constitutional violations, and commenting on proposed administrative regulations and governmental programs to the extent they implicate civil liberties, civil rights, and equal social justice concerns.

Prior to leading the Clinic at Rutgers Law, Professor Rofé was Deputy Director and Supervising Attorney at the NYU School of Law Immigrant Rights Clinic, where she and clinic students represented immigrants and community organizations in litigation at the agency, federal court, and Supreme Court level, and supported immigrant rights campaigns locally and nationally. She was also an Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow at Brooklyn Defender Services and an associate at Cleary Gottlieb in the firm’s Latin America practice.

She received her J.D. from NYU School of Law where she was an Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Liberties Fellow. Prior to her law career, Jessica taught high school social studies in New York City public schools and received a master’s degree in teaching from Fordham University.

*Rutgers Law is a pioneer in clinical education with more than 20 clinics across our Newark and Camden campuses. The clinical program is ranked #11 in the 2026 US News & World Report of Best Law Schools.