Experiencing Both Sides of the Law: An Evening with Ruben Piñuelas
As a first-generation, non-traditional, and justice-impacted student of color from a low socioeconomic upbringing, Ruben Piñuelas uses his academic success as advocacy to reframe how institutions view and treat individuals with similar backgrounds. A widely requested speaker, Piñuelas has given talks at law schools, universities, and conferences, sharing his lived experiences with the criminal justice system's most complex failures in hopes that it can shed light on solutions that are even harder to identify. He plans to continue advocating for change in the legal system and the courtroom as a trial attorney, a civil rights litigator, and one day sitting on the bench as a judge.
Piñuelas currently serves as an Associate Editor of the Michigan Law Review and was named as an SEO Law Fellow & Catalyst Scholar, California ChangeLawyers Next Gen 1L Scholar, JD Advising Scholar, UCLA Law Fellow, White & Case SEO Mentee, and Legal Education Access Pipeline (LEAP) Fellow. He is an Executive Board Member of the National Justice Impact Bar Association and a member of Exonerated Nation and the National Organization of Exonerees. Piñuelas regularly works with Loyola Law School’s Project for the Innocent, the Michigan Innocence Clinic, and other Innocence Project organizations across the country. He is a recipient of the Anjan Choudhury Memorial Scholarship and numerous other generous scholarships that have fully funded his legal education.
Photo credit: Ian Poveda