Alexis Hoag-Fordjour (born 1982) is an assistant professor of law and co-director of the Center for Criminal Justice at

Brooklyn Law School Brooklyn Law School (BLS) is a private law school in New York City. Founded in 1901, it has approximately 1,100 students. Brooklyn Law School's faculty includes 60 full-time faculty, 15 emeriti faculty, and a number of adjunct faculty. Brookly ...

. Born in Southern California, Hoag-Fordjour is a first-generation Tanzanian-American (

Chagga The Chaga or Chagga (Swahili language: WaChaga) are Bantu-speaking indigenous Africans and the third-largest ethnic group in Tanzania. They traditionally live on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and eastern Mount Meru in both Kilimanjaro Regi ...

). She received a bachelor's degree from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree from

NYU School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...

, after which she spent more than a decade working as a civil rights and capital defense attorney at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., and the Office of the Federal Public Defender. Hoag-Fordjour was the inaugural practitioner-in-residence at the Eric H. Holder Jr. Initiative for Civil & Political Rights at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and a lecturer at

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

. She served as a law clerk to the late Honorable John T. Nixon of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. Hoag-Fordjour was elected a member of the

American Law Institute The American Law Institute (ALI) is a research and advocacy group of judges, lawyers, and legal scholars established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of United States common law and its adaptation to changing social needs. ...

in 2021.

References

1982 births Living people 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century African-American lawyers 21st-century African-American women 21st-century American academics 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American women lawyers African-American legal scholars American legal scholars American women legal scholars American people of Tanzanian descent Brooklyn Law School faculty California lawyers Members of the American Law Institute New York University School of Law alumni People associated with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Yale University alumni {{US-legal-academic-bio-stub