Jayesh Rathod, Esq., is a Professor of Law at American University Washington College of Law (WCL). During his tenure at WCL, Prof. Rathod has taught clinical and doctrinal courses, providing pro bono representation to hundreds of clients on immigration law, employment and labor law, criminal-immigration intersections, civil rights, and family law. From 2018 to 2021, he served as Associate Dean for Experiential Education at WCL. Before joining the WCL faculty in 2006, Prof. Rathod was a Staff Attorney at CASA of Maryland, where he represented scores of immigrant workers on employment and immigration law matters. He also practiced as a litigation associate in the Washington, DC office of Wilmer Cutler & Pickering. Prof. Rathod’s legal experience includes trial-level and appellate advocacy before state courts, federal courts, and administrative tribunals.

Prof. Rathod’s legal publications, which include empirical, applied, and theoretical works, appear in various prominent journals. In 2018, he received the Pauline Ruyle Moore Award for outstanding scholarship in the area of public law. Throughout his career, he has also received awards for his public interest lawyering, innovative teaching, and efforts to promote the advancement of justice.

Prof. Rathod received his Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from Harvard University and his Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School. Following law school, he clerked for the late Hon. Louis F. Oberdorfer on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.