PJLC and UCI Law Partner to Provide Legal Services

The Peace and Justice Law Center (PJLC) has partnered with the Criminal Justice Clinic at the University of California, Irvine School of Law to expand access to free legal services for people targeted by gang suppression and related policing practices. The collaboration strengthens PJLC’s capacity at a critical early stage of its work and connects law students directly to community-centered advocacy.

A key element of the partnership is PJLC’s Executive Director, Sean Garcia-Leys, being appointed a visiting scholar at UCI Law. Visiting scholar appointments at UC Irvine are academic designations granted to individuals with advanced qualifications who are invited by a campus department to pursue research and collaborate with faculty or students — often without teaching duties — and serve an academic purpose for the hosting unit. These appointments enrich intellectual exchange and research across the university.

At UC Irvine School of Law, the visiting scholar program brings an extraordinary range of international and scholarly voices to campus. Each year the law school hosts visiting scholars from across the globe, including judges, legal practitioners, and academic researchers through programs such as the Korea Law Center visiting scholars initiative. These individuals contribute to cutting-edge research and cross-jurisdictional dialogue on pressing legal issues, bolstering the school’s commitment to global engagement and legal innovation.

Garcia-Leys’s appointment enables PJLC to tap into UCI’s research resources, professional liability coverage, and an academic network while law students gain hands-on experience delivering direct legal services under supervision. Through PJLC’s work with the Criminal Justice Clinic, UCI Law students support clients who are leaving gangs or who have been wrongly accused of gang affiliation, bridging academic learning with impactful legal advocacy.

The partnership reflects PJLC’s fundamental approach: pairing rigorous legal work with deep community engagement. By embedding its work within an academic environment known for fostering scholarly collaboration, PJLC was able to scale its impact early on and help train a new generation of lawyers in movement-oriented, client-centered practice.

As PJLC continues to grow, collaborations with institutions like UCI Law — which regularly welcomes scholars and practitioners from around the world — remain essential to building sustainable legal support structures for communities most affected by criminalization and systemic bias.