Deepika Sharma is a clinical associate professor of law and the founding director of the Housing Law and Policy Clinic at the University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law. She joined USC Gould after 15 years of working on housing justice as a litigator, community lawyer and policy director. Recently, Sharma was appointed by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass as a Commissioner for the United to LA (ULA) Citizens Oversight Committee as a Commissioner tasked with overseeing the city’s largest dedicated budget and its programs aimed at addressing the ongoing housing crisis.

Prior to joining Gould, Sharma served in newly created roles as a director of housing security initiatives and policy director for the Los Angeles Mayor and for Councilmember Nithya Raman. In these roles, she drafted tenant protective legislation and strengthened initiatives aimed at ensuring that vulnerable tenants remained housed during the global pandemic.

Prior to working in policy, Sharma spent six years as senior attorney at Public Counsel (PC) where she founded and led the affirmative housing litigation unit. Notably, at PC, she led a ground-breaking multi-building Fair Housing Act case challenging the discriminatory harassment and predation against tenants rampant in gentrifying neighborhoods leading to a $2.5 million settlement. The case gained national media attention and is lauded for its novel settlement term that set aside housing for voucher holders. Prior to joining PC, she was the supervising attorney at the Eviction Defense Network (EDN) where she litigated hundreds of unlawful detainer cases and first chaired dozens of jury and bench trials.

Sharma’s distinguished legal career also includes her experience serving as an associate in the Litigation Department of Morrison & Foerster’s Los Angeles office and working abroad for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. She is well-known for litigating cases that have resulted in published decisions that broadened rights for tenants, including Martinez v. Optimus, Crasnick v. Marquez and Nivo 1 LLC v. Antunez.

A leading expert in housing law, Sharma is frequently asked to present to lawmakers, including L.A. City Council offices and the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, to inform policy decisions related to tenant protections. She is also widely cited in the news – by local, national, and international media outlets – on topics around housing challenges and policy solutions.

Sharma earned her JD from the University of California at Berkeley in 2007. While in law school, she was a clerk for the East Bay Community Law Center in the housing unit and for the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles. She earned her BA degree in mass communications from UC Berkeley in 2000, where she graduated with the highest honors.