EmmaElizabeth Gonzalez

In her role as directing attorney for the Consumer Unit at the Public Law Center, EmmaElizabeth Gonzalez focuses on areas of consumer and elder law, and directs three of PLC’s courthouse-based self-help clinics. She oversees PLC’s Federal Pro Se, Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and Bankruptcy Reaffirmation clinics for unrepresented individuals. Through her consumer work, Gonzalez litigates debt collection defense cases, student loan matters, elder financial abuse matters and various civil matters involving unfair business practices and fraud. Through her bankruptcy work, she prepares and files Chapter 7 bankruptcies for low-income debtors, and worked with pro bono counsel to litigate and obtain a published decision in Rivera v. Orange Cnty. Prob. Dep’t ((In re Rivera) (9th Cir. 2016) 832 F.3d 1103, 1104), which held that a debt arising out of the involuntary incarceration of a debtor’s minor child was not a domestic support obligation and thus was not excepted from discharge.

Prior to joining PLC, Gonzalez practiced labor and employment litigation at Loeb & Loeb LLP for three years. While at Loeb & Loeb, Gonzalez was a member of the team that was awarded the State Bar of California’s 2011 President’s Pro Bono Service Award for their work securing asylum for several clients.

Gonzalez graduated from the USC Gould School of Law in 2009, and was involved with PILF, LAAB, LLSA, and the Immigration Clinic while attending Gould. Since graduating, Gonzalez has been involved with PILF and Gould’s C. David Molina First Generation Professionals Program.

Before attending law school, Gonzalez spent five years working in development at the ACLU of Southern California and Manhattan Theatre Club, and two years working as a community organizer with Cornerstone Theater Company. Gonzalez completed her undergraduate degrees in philosophy and theater from the University of Southern California, where she was a member of the USC Trojan Marching Band and a McNair Scholar.  

FACULTY IN THE NEWS

Religion News Service
October 19, 2020
Re: Nomi Stolzenberg

Nomi Stolzenberg wrote an expert analysis about the history of the intersection between religion and the U.S. Supreme Court. "As a scholar who has studied the intersection of faith and law, I know that religion has always played a strong role in shaping the composition of the United States Supreme Court," she wrote. "The specific nature of that influence, however, has changed over time." The expert analysis also appeared in Church Leaders and Yahoo! Sports. It originally appeared in The Conversation.

RECENT SCHOLARSHIP

Jody David Armour
August, 2020

N*gga Theory: Race, Language, Unequal Justice, and the Law. Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles Review of Books, 2020.

Clare Pastore
August, 2020

Clare Pastore wrote an op-ed, "An Answer for an Expected Tsunami of Evictions" posted to Cal Matters on August 10, 2020. 

Clare Pastore
August, 2020

Poverty Law: Practice, and Policy (with Juliet Brodie, Ezra Rosser, and Jeffrey Selbin). 2nd ed, Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer Aspen Casebook Series, 2020.