September 2026 MCLE Luncheon with Amy Kimpel

Please attend this week’s lunchtime MCLE, on Thursday, September 10th at 12:00 pm, at the Living Room Coffeehouse & Bistro, 1205 Prospect Street in La Jolla. Zoom participation will also be available for those unable to attend this presentation in-person, but requires prior registration.

We are very pleased to have as our MCLE presenter, Professor Amy Kimpel, who is Associate Dean of Experiential Education, and Professor of Law, at California Western School of Law; and the Executive Director of the California Western Innocence and Justice Clinic. Professor Kimpel will present to our members on “Wrongful Convictions: Harms, Leading Causes, and Pathways to Reform,” and will address the important work of the law school’s Innocence and Justice Clinic in obtaining relief for those denied justice in criminal proceedings.

California Western’s innocence clinic was founded as the California Innocence Project in 1999, making it the oldest innocence organization in the state and just the sixth innocence organization in the country. The clinic is committed to a dual-purpose mission—fighting to free innocent people from prison while training the next generation of attorneys to be aggressive advocates for justice; and the clinic has been involved in the release or exoneration of 50 individuals who were either wrongfully convicted or subject to excessive sentences.

This presentation will provide 1.0 hr MCLE credit to participants.

Some Information About Our Speaker:

Amy Kimpel — Associate Dean of Experiential Education Executive Director of the Innocence and Justice Clinic Professor of Law California Western School of Law

Email:    Akimpel@cwsl.edu
Phone:   (619) 525-1697

Professor Amy Kimpel is Associate Dean of Experiential Education, Professor of Law, and the Executive Director of the California Western Innocence and Justice Clinic. Prior to joining California Western School of Law, she was the Director of the Criminal Defense Clinic at the University of Alabama School of Law where she supervised students working on trial, expungement, and post-conviction cases.  Earlier in her career, Professor Kimpel worked at the Judicial Council of California in its Criminal Justice Services Office, and as a public defender for both the Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc. and the Santa Clara County Office of the Public Defender in San Jose. At the Judicial Council, she spearheaded implementation of AB 1810, a mental health diversion bill. As a public defender, Professor Kimpel tried twenty-five cases in federal and state court and argued before the Ninth Circuit twice. She also was lead counsel in United States v. Minero-Rojas, a case where her advocacy resulted in significant improvements to address systemic delays in presentment in the Southern District of California.

She earned her J.D., magna cum laude, from New York University School of Law where she was a Hays Fellow and Vanderbilt Medal recipient. She also holds a B.A. in English, magna cum laude, from Columbia University and a M.A. in Education from Teachers College, where she was part of the first cohort of Columbia Urban Educator fellows. Professor Kimpel’s scholarship focuses on criminal law and the intersection of criminal and immigration law. Her work has been published in Florida Law Review, The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, NYU Review of Law & Social Change, and Georgia State University Law Review.

For additional information about Professor Kimpel, please see her CWSL Faculty Directory listing: Amy Kimpel