Brooks was named one of the Top 100 Lawyers in California by the Los Angeles Daily Journal and one of the top defense attorneys by The Daily Transcript. Along with his work with the California Innocence Project, the professor is also the director for the Institute for Criminal Advocacy and California Western's LL.M. He also teaches at the California Western School of Law at San Diego.
Some of those classes he leads include Comparative and International Criminal Procedure, LL.M., Federal Criminal Practice, LL.M., Federal Sentencing, Criminal Procedure and Criminal Law. As if his plate weren't full enough, Professor Brooks also hosts Wrongful Convictions Seminars too.
Brooks didn't begin his career in California. Instead, he was a successful criminal defense attorney in Washington DC, Michigan, and Illinois. His specialty was representing clients who were facing the death penalty. He has traveled the world over in the role of guest professor at such prominent institutions as the Interamerican University at Puerto Rico and the University of Sheffield, which is located in the U.K.
Brooks is also an accomplished author with pieces printed in many publications. Some of those include ''How Can We Sleep While the Beds are Burning'', published in the Syracuse Law Review in 1996 and ''Justice for Sale: Is a Death Row Inmate Entitled to Discovery After the Judge who Presided at Trial is Convicted of Taking Bribes to Fix Cases?'', published in Preview of United States Supreme Court Cases in 1997.
Perhaps, though, the one cause closest to his heart is his work with the California Innocence Project. As mentioned, he and his colleagues worked for more than three years to free Reggie Deshawn Cole from a California prison. Their efforts paid off and one more man has reclaimed his freedom, courtesy of a compassionate group of legal minds who simply can't stand by when justice is not served. Not surprisingly, Cole's first stop after being released from prison was the Innocence Project's offices, located on the School of Law campus. Brooks is quoted in the media as saying, ''He wanted to meet a lot of the students who had worked on his case''.
So what's next for this accomplished legal mind? It's likely he will continue with his many projects, including teaching law, making media appearances, and of course his efforts to free those who are serving prison sentences but who should not be.
For more information on Professor Justin P. Brooks, visit the university's website at CWSL.edu. While there, you can access his many published writings, visit his class webpages and even listen to his podcasts hosted by the college.
