Celesq® Presenters

Justin Brooks is a Professor of Practice at University of San Diego School of Law. He was the Founding Director of the California Innocence Project from 1999-2023, and under his direction the project freed 40 innocent people from prison (including former NFL player Brian Banks). He has been recognized several times by the Los Angeles Daily Journal as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in California, and in 2010 and 2012, California Lawyer Magazine honored him with the “Lawyer of the Year” award. He was named “International Lawyer of the Year” by the California Bar International Section in 2020, and in the same year was named “Champion of Justice” by the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys. In 2024, he was awarded the Ohtli for his work freeing innocent Latinos and developing innocence work in Latin America.  The Ohtli award is the highest award given by the Mexican government to foreigners.  

Professor Brooks is the author of the only legal casebook devoted to the topic of wrongful convictions and the author of “You Might Go to Prison, Even Though You’re Innocent,” a book that details the causes of wrongful convictions based on his experience of more than three decades as a criminal defense attorney and innocence organization director.  He is portrayed by Academy Award nominated actor Greg Kinnear in the feature film, “Brian Banks.”