Area of Expertise

Clinical Legal Education, Immigration Law, Employment and Discrimination Law, Law and Government

Additional Information

Jayesh Rathod is Associate Dean for Experiential Education, Professor of Law, and Director of the Immigrant Justice Clinic at American University Washington College of Law. His areas of expertise and scholarly interests include immigration law, labor and employment law, and clinical legal education. As Associate Dean, Rathod oversees the law school’s clinical, externship, and trial advocacy programs, and fosters the development of new experiential offerings. Professor Rathod has been recognized for his innovative teaching, including the use of technology and the promotion of bilingual education within U.S. law schools. His body of scholarship includes empirical, applied and theoretical work, and covers topics relating to immigration law, labor & employment law, and legal pedagogy. Professor Rathod’s research appears in a variety of prominent journals, including the Arizona Law Review, Houston Law Review, Michigan Journal of Law Reform, and U.C. Irvine Law Review. In 2018, he received the Pauline Ruyle Moore Award for outstanding scholarship in the area of public law. Professor Rathod has worked on cutting-edge cases and projects relating to immigration detention, removal defense (including criminal-immigration intersections), humanitarian relief, immigrant workers’ rights, language access, and more. He has been invited to speak on immigration and workplace law topics at institutions across the United States, and has served as a commentator in local, national, and international media (including CNN, NBC News, and National Public Radio). In 2016, Professor Rathod was a Fulbright Scholar at two universities in Brazil, where he taught courses on U.S. immigration law and comparative migration policy, and conducted research relating to the Brazilian immigration system. He is fluent in Spanish and proficient in Portuguese. Over the course of his career, Professor Rathod has worked with numerous non-governmental organizations to advance the civil and human rights of communities in the United States and abroad. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Ayuda, a non-profit organization based in the Washington, DC area.