About
Professor Jyoti Nanda is a national expert on youth justice, focusing on the intersection of criminal law and social hierarchies shaped by race, age, gender, and other factors. Her groundbreaking research, including her 2012 article on the adultification of girls of color, has shaped national discussions on juvenile justice reform. Nanda serves as a tenured professor of law at Southwestern Law School, is the co-founder of the Youth Justice Navigator Project, and has been appointed as a principal investigator on the Girls/Gender Non-Confirming Youth Research Project. A former Skadden Fellow and civil rights lawyer, Professor Nanda continues to impact policy through her research, writing, and advocacy.
Professor Nanda has taught law for over 20 years and is widely published in the country’s leading law reviews including in the UCLA Law Review, Columbia Journal of Race & Law, Nevada Law Journal, Lewis & Clark Law Review, and the Disability Law Journal. She is also a co-editor of the country’s leading textbook of youth law, Children and the Law (8th ed.) and currently drafting the National Youth Justice Legal Standards for the American Bar Association. Her research and writing have reached a broad audience through national print, TV, and radio news media.
Professor Nanda earned her B.A. from U.C. Berkeley and J.D. from Northwestern Law School. She is a proud immigrant, and the daughter of parents who were refugees and immigrants from Pakistan/India and Kenya.
Teaching
Professor Nanda is currently a tenured Professor of Law at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles where she teaches Criminal Law, Youth & Justice, and Constitutional Criminal Procedure. Her teaching integrates practical experience and scholarship to prepare students for impactful legal advocacy and leadership.
During a teaching career that spanned 21 years, Professor Nanda taught thousands of students. She has trained over 500 of those students to work in the public interest. Many now impact the world as lawyers and leaders at every type of non-profit, government agency, or firm in the country. Professor Nanda is deeply committed to mentoring students pursuing careers in public interest/social justice and racial justice law.
Prior to joining Southwestern in June 2024, Professor Nanda taught for five years at GGU School of Law and for sixteen years at UCLA School of Law. In addition, she has taught as a Visiting Professor at UC Law, San Francisco, UC Davis School of Law, and USC Gould School of Law; she taught Comparative Racial and Social Justice Law at the Paris Nanterré University in France in the summer of 2023.
Courses
- Criminal Law
- Constitutional Criminal Procedure
- Ethics
- Youth & Justice
- Critical Race Theory
- Race, Racism & U.S. Law
- Rebellious Lawyering
- Problem Solving in Public Interest Law