John Iino named chair of USC Gould School of Law’s Board of Councilors

Iino will assume the position July 1

-By Gilien Silsby

John Iino (JD 1987), one of the nation’s most respected global attorneys, and a steadfast champion of diversity and inclusion in the legal academy, is taking the helm of USC Gould School of Law’s Board of Councilors in July.

Dean Andrew Guzman with 2018 BOC Chair John Iino

Iino is the first Asian-American USC Gould alumnus appointed chair of USC Gould’s Board of Councilors. He is a partner at Reed Smith, serving as the firm’s Chief Diversity Officer and global co-chair of the firm’s Japan Business Team.

“John is a well-known leader in our legal community,” said Andrew Guzman, dean of USC Gould. “We are thrilled he will serve as chair, and look forward to working with him to continue to offer a world-class legal education.”

Iino succeeds Richard Chernick (JD 1970), who will continue to serve as a member of the Board of Councilors. “We are grateful to Rich, and look forward to continuing to work with him,” said Guzman.

Iino, a member of Reed Smith’s Global Leadership Team, was named “One of the Nation’s Most Influential Minority Attorneys” for two consecutive years (2014-2015) by Lawyers of Color, received the “Lifetime Achievement Award” at the Los Angeles Business Journal’s Asian Business Awards (2016) and received the President’s Award from the USC Alumni Association (2017) and the Leadership Award from the USC Asian Pacific Alumni Association (2017).

“I am honored to work with Dean Guzman and the Board of Councilors to develop strategies and confront changes in the legal community,” Iino said. “This is an exciting time in legal education and USC Gould has proven to be an innovator among law schools as well as the industry as a whole.”

Iino was a law clerk to Hon. J. Spencer Letts, U.S. District Court – Central District of California. He received his JD (Order of the Coif) from Gould in 1987, where he also served as the Managing Editor of the Southern California Law Review. The Los Angeles native earned a BA in economics from Pomona College in 1984.