PUBLISHED:September 13, 2021

Lau '09 named deputy director of Center for Criminal Justice and Professional Responsibility

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The clinical professor was previously supervising attorney for the center, which is devoted to the promotion of justice in criminal cases and to teaching and training students, lawyers, prosecutors, judges, and the general public to identify, remedy, and prevent the wrongful conviction of innocent people.

Clinical Professor Jamie Lau Clinical Professor Jamie Lau

Clinical Professor Jamie Lau ’09 has been named deputy director of Duke Law’s Center for Criminal Justice and Professional Responsibility.

Lau was previously supervising attorney for the center, which is devoted to the promotion of justice in criminal cases and to teaching and training students, lawyers, prosecutors, judges, and the general public to identify, remedy, and prevent the wrongful conviction of innocent people. He is also the supervising attorney in the Wrongful Convictions Clinic and faculty adviser to the student-led Innocence Project.

“I am excited about Jamie’s expanded role and enjoy working with him,” said John S. Bradway Professor of the Practice James Coleman, Jr., the center’s director. “He is a valuable member of our community, and his contributions are always outstanding.”

Lau’s work on behalf of the center has included securing grant funding to advance its work and forming partnerships between with other criminal justice stakeholders to advocate for policy reforms. He is currently working with members of North Carolina’s General Assembly to promote reforms to the state’s compensation process for exonerees, an effort that has bipartisan support.

In 2019, Lau helped start a pro bono clemency project to request sentence commutations on behalf of incarcerated North Carolinians who have demonstrated rehabilitation. While no sentence has been commuted, three men have been released as a result of the project’s advocacy. Lau was also the lead attorney for the Wrongful Convictions Clinic’s recent exonerations of Ronnie Long and Willie Shaw

Lau has become a leading voice in North Carolina on the issues of wrongful incarceration and clemency. He received the 2021 Kellie Crabtree Award from the North Carolina Advocates for Justice and was recently elected to the Innocence Network’s Executive Board. The clinic also received honorable mention from the Clinical Legal Education Association for its work in the Ronnie Long case.