Wayne State University Law Professor Jamila Jefferson-Jones has been honored with the 2021 Jefferson B. Fordham Award for Advocacy. The award is one of several that are presented annually by the ABA Section of State and Local Government in honor of Jefferson Fordham, who was the first chair of the section in 1949. The Advocacy award recognizes legal professionals who focus their practice on promoting justice for local and regional governments.
After graduating from Harvard Law, where she edited the Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review and spoke at commencement, Professor Jefferson-Jones engaged in public and private practice in New Orleans and Washington, D.C. She has taught law at a variety of institutions since 2009, most recently the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, her professional home when she received the award. Her teaching and scholarship explores the effects of property law on communities that are marginalized by mainstream society.