An admissions Q&A panel will take place from 10:10 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., followed by the law fair. See a list of participating schools below.

Support for this event is provided by an LSAC Outreach Grant

Boston College Law School

Brigham Young University School of Law

California Western School of Law

Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law

City University of NY School of Law

George Washington University School of Law

Gonzaga University School of Law

Lewis & Clark Law School

LMU Loyola Law School, L.A.

New York Law School

Pepperdine Caruso School of Law

Santa Clara University School of Law

Seattle University School of Law

Southwestern Law School

University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law

UC Davis School of Law

UC Irvine School of Law

UC Law San Francisco

UCLA School of Law

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

University of Hawai'i William S. Richardson School of Law

University of Idaho College of Law

University of Minnesota Law School

University of Nevada Las Vegas William S. Boyd School of Law

University of Oregon School of Law

University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law

University of San Diego School of Law

University of San Francisco School of Law

University of Southern California Gould School of Law

University of Texas School of Law

University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law

University of Washington School of Law

Western State College of Law

Willamette University School of Law

Getting to Seattle University School of Law

Seattle University is conveniently located in Capitol Hill and easily accessibly by public transportation. Street parking is readily available or explore our visitor parking page for parking options on campus. Find Sullivan Hall using our interactive campus map.

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In June 2025, the Washington Supreme Court issued an order adopting a set of caseload standards for public defenders, with a 10-year implementation period to begin on January 1, 2026, and a three-year progress report to be prepared by the Office of Public Defense.

At present there are four separate lawsuits addressing the adequacy of public defense in Washington. Counties have sued the state arguing that the state's failure to properly fund local jurisdictions hinders the effectiveness of the system. The ACLU of Washington has sued Yakima County for failing to timely appoint counsel. The Washington Appellate project has sued the state Office of Public Defense arguing that proposed changes to its funding structure will render it impossible for their lawyers to carry out their ethical duties to clients and vindicate their clients' constitutional rights. Seattle University School of Law's Defender Initiative addressed these workload standards in its annual conference in June.

Rapping's visit is thus extremely well-timed. Washington is going to need to be creative and dynamic if we are to develop a system of public defense that guarantees to everyone across the state the quality of representation to which they are entitled. As one of the nation's leaders in recruiting, developing, and sustaining public defenders, Rapping's message should be of great interest to students, faculty, the legal community, and, truly, anyone concerned about justice.

Date: October 8, 2026

Time: 4:00 to 5:00 p.m.

Location: Pigott Auditorium

Free to attend and open to all; registration required

Street parking is readily available or explore our visitor parking page for parking options

This event is a collaboration between Seattle University School of Law and Seattle University's College of Arts & Sciences. The law school's Defender Initiative and Defender Clinic are partnering sponsors.

About Jonathan Rapping

Jonathan Rapping is a nationally renowned criminal justice innovator and the Founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Gideon’s Promise, a nonprofit public defender organization whose mission is to transform the criminal justice system by building a movement of public defenders who provide equal justice for marginalized communities.

Since its inception in 2007, Gideon’s Promise has grown from a single training program for sixteen attorneys in two public defender offices in Georgia and Louisiana to a national enterprise with over 1,000 participants in 40 offices across 27 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The organization’s initial three-year program for new public defenders has expanded into the only comprehensive model that supports defenders at all levels of their careers, with programming for new lawyers, supervisors, chief defenders, trainers, law students, and the clinical instructors who teach them.

From 2022 to 2024, Rapping served as the Chief Executive Officer of Gideon’s Promise. In 2024, he stepped down as CEO to join the organization’s Board of Directors, where he continues to advance its mission and vision for justice-centered public defense reform.

Rapping is the Professor of Law and Director of the Criminal Justice Certificate Program at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School (AJMLS) and visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. He also serves as the Faculty Director of the Center for Criminal Justice Innovation (CCJI). Through the CCJI, Rapping and his colleagues aim to develop future lawyers with exceptional legal skills and justice-centered values, while connecting them with a robust network of mentors and professionals. Students will be guided to forge a professional identity aligned with their purpose for coming to law school.

Rapping is a frequent contributor to national conversations on criminal justice reform and has been featured by media outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, HuffPost, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Mother Jones, Essence, and NPR stations nationwide. He has spoken at TEDx Atlanta, regularly presents to public defender and criminal defense organizations across the country, and frequently lectures at law schools nationwide. His work with public defenders was the inspiration for the award-winning HBO documentary Gideon’s Army.

Rapping is the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions, including the MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Grant, the American College of Trial Lawyers Emil Gumpert Award, the Harvard Law School Wasserstein Public Interest Fellowship, the Cardozo Law School Inspire Award, and the George Soros Open Society Fellowship. He and Gideon’s Promise have also received the National Alliance of Sentencing Advocates and Mitigation Specialists Sentencing Project Award, the Southern Center for Human Rights Gideon’s Promise Award, and the Emory University Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award.

He is the author of Gideon’s Promise: A Public Defender Movement to Transform Criminal Justice (Beacon Press, 2020), which explores a cutting-edge vision for public defenders in the effort to transform the criminal justice system.

Rapping earned his J.D. from George Washington University School of Law, his M.P.A. from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, and his B.A. from the University of Chicago.

About the Dean's Luminaries in Law Lecture and Conversation Series

The Dean's Luminaries in Law Lecture and Conversation Series brings to Seattle University School of Law nationally and internationally preeminent leaders from law practice, the judiciary, government, and the corporate world, to share their bold ideas about the future of law and the legal profession.

About Seattle University School of Law's Defender Initiative

The Defender Initiative is part of the Center for Civil Rights and Critical Justice, whose mission is to advance justice and equality through a unified vision that combines research, advocacy, and education. The project works to effect systemic improvement in the provision of public defense services in Washington and nationally.

About the Defender Clinic

Seattle University's highly ranked Ronald A. Peterson Law Clinic provides students with the opportunity to work on real cases, helping real clients, under close faculty supervision. Students in the Defender Clinic represent both juvenile and adult clients with respect to criminal legal system involvement.

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Join Seattle University School of Law for a live information session on how our Master of Laws (LLM) program can help you advance your legal career and move toward U.S. practice.

Tuesday, October 20, 2026

5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Sullivan Hall, Seattle University School of Law

Hors d'oeuvres and refreshments provided

Free to attend; registration required

See the event page for details on what you'll learn.

Getting to Seattle University School of Law

Seattle University is conveniently located in Capitol Hill and easily accessibly by public transportation. Street parking is readily available or explore our visitor parking page for parking options on campus.

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Every eight to 10 years, legal scholars from across the United States and beyond gather for one of the nation's premier conferences dedicated to scholarship on race, law, justice, and public policy. In 2027, Seattle University School of Law is honored to host the Fifth National People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference (#NPOC27), bringing together hundreds of legal scholars, educators, practitioners, and aspiring academics for four days of intellectual exchange, collaboration, and community.

Centered on the theme Justice by Design: Interdisciplinary and Intersectional Responses to Race, Law, and Innovation, the conference will explore how legal scholarship can respond to today's rapidly evolving social, political, and technological landscape. Through keynote conversations, scholarly panels, works-in-progress workshops, mentoring opportunities, and networking events, participants will examine how law can advance justice while addressing the challenges and opportunities created by emerging technologies and changing democratic institutions.

Whether you are an established scholar, junior faculty member, law professor, practitioner, law student, or aspiring legal academic, NPOC27 offers an unparalleled opportunity to present research, build lasting collaborations, and help shape the future of legal scholarship.

Our call for papers and panels is ongoing until October 1, 2026.

Registration

🎟️ Early Bird Registration $250

Available through December 31, 2026

🎟️ Standard Registration $350

Available beginning January 1, 2027

Register early and save $100. Early Bird pricing is available through December 31, 2026. Standard registration pricing takes effect January 1, 2027.

Prices listed do not include applicable registration processing fees.

Planning your trip? View the conference agenda and other NPOC details on the conference website. Questions? Contact NPOC27@seattleu.edu.

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