María Pabón López Professor of Law Dean's Fellow Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis Lawrence W. Inlow Hall, Room 316 530 W. New York Street Indianapolis, IN 46202-3225 Phone: (317) 278-8440 Fax: (317) 278-3326 E-Mail: malopez@iupui.edu

Education

B.A., 1985, Princeton University
J.D., 1989, University of Pennsylvania Law School

Courses

Immigration law, family law, professional responsibility, seminar on the rights of non-citizens/aliens and trusts and estates, race and the law, criminal law, and women and the law

Bio

María Pabón López joined the faculty in the fall of 2002. Formerly a lecturer in advocacy and research at the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law, she also served as a staff attorney and team leader of the Family Law Group, Legal Aid of Central Texas. She was an assistant U.S. Attorney, Criminal Division, for the U.S. Department of Justice, District of Puerto Rico in San Juan, and was staff attorney and director of the Family Violence Legal Line, Women’s Advocacy Project in Austin, Texas.

Professor López was formerly an assistant to the Puerto Rico Attorney General and an associate at the law firms Pepper, Hamilton & Scheetz in Philadelphia and McConnell, Valdes in San Juan, Puerto Rico. While in law school, she served as associate editor for the University of Pennsylvania Law Review and as a legal writing instructor.

Indiana Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard named Professor Maria Pabon Lopez to the State Board of Law Examiners effective December 1, 2007. The Board "is responsible for the admission of attorneys, the certification of legal interns and the formation and renewal of professional corporations, limited liability companies and limited liability partnerships for the legal profession" in Indiana. She is the only academic in the 10 member board. See http://www.in.gov/judiciary/committees/ble.html for more information about the board.

Professor López is the recipient of the 2007 Rabb Emision Diversity Award from the Indiana State Bar Association and the 2008 Diversity Attorney in Practice Award from the Indiana Lawyer.

She was named a Dean's Fellow in recognition of scholarly excellence in 2005-2007. She also was the recipient of a Special Recognition Award from the Chair of the Second National People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference held at the George Washington University School of Law in October of 2004. Prof. López received the 2006 Trustees teaching award from the University.

She has also received awards from the Hispanic Bar Association of Pennsylvania, the Travis County Texas Women Lawyers Association (for contributions to the minority community) and from the University of Missouri Columbia School of Law, where she was a recipient of Faculty Performance Shares. The law school's Hispanic Law Society (HLS) gave Professor López their 2004 Award "in recognition to her commitment to her students and loyal support of the HLS."

Professor López is an appointed member of the Indiana Supreme Court's Court Interpreter Certification Advisory Board, a project of the Race and Gender Fairness Commission. She is also an inaugural member of the Latino Affairs Committee of the Indiana State Bar.

Professor López has participated in the Latin American Law Summer Program in La Plata, Argentina , where she facilitated several classes. She has also presented papers at international conferences in Brazil and the United Kingdom. She has taught courses to Master's degree students at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid.

Professor López has published various articles in the area of immigrants' rights and is currently working on a book about the education of immigrant children. Her other research interest is in women and the law.
She is a member of the bars of Indiana, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico and Texas.

Publications

Books and Chapters

Immigration and Nationality Law in ANNUAL DEVELOPMENTS IN ADMINISTRATIVE LAW AND REGULATORY PRACTICE 2005-2006, AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION ADMINISTRATIVE LAW SECTION.


Law Review and Journal Articles

“A Tale of Two Systems: Analyzing the Treatment of Non-Citizens Families: in State Family Law Systems and Under the Immigration Law System,”11 HARVARD LATINO L. REV. 229 (2008).

“The Future of Women in the Legal Profession: Recognizing the Challenges Ahead by Reviewing Current Trends,” 19 HASTINGS WOMEN'S L.J. 53 (2008).

"Perspectiva sobre situación precaria del trabajador indocumentado en los Estados Unidos y posibles soluciones en el derecho internacional público," 15 REV. DER. MIGRATORIO Y EXTRANJERÍA 61 (2007)

"Immigration Law Spanish Style: A Study of Spain's Regularizacion of Undocumented Workers" 21 GEO. IMM. L. J. 571(2007)

“The Intersection of Immigration Law and Civil Rights Law: Noncitizen Workers and the Human Rights Paradigm,” 44 BRAND. L. J. 611 (2006), reprinted in 29 IMMIGRATION & NATIONALITY REVIEW 279 (2007).

“Reflections on Educating Latino and Latina Undocumented Children: Beyond Plyler v. Doe.” 35 SETON HALL L.REV. 1373 (2005).

“The Place of the Undocumented Worker in the United States Legal System after Hoffman Plastics: An Assessment and Comparison with Argentina's Legal System.” 15 IND. INT’L & COMP L. J. 301 (2005).

“More Than a License to Drive: State Regulation of Driver’s License Use by Non U.S. Citizens” 29 S. ILL. U. L. J. 91 (2004).

“The Phoenix Rises from El Cenizo: A Community Creates and Affirms Its Latino/a Border Cultural Citizenship through Language and Safe Haven Ordinances,” 78 DENV. U.L. REV. 1017 (2001).


Essays and Reports

“Puerto Ricans” entry in Latinos and Latinas in U.S. History and Culture: An Encyclopedia, M.E. Sharpe. (forthcoming 2009).

“Family and Community” entry in Latinos and Latinas in U.S. History and Culture: An Encyclopedia, M.E. Sharpe. (forthcoming 2009).

"Non-citizens and the Franchise" in The Encyclopedia for American Civil Liberties, Paul Finkelman, ed., Routledge Reference, Taylor and Francis Group. (2006)

"Family Unity for Non-citizens" in The Encyclopedia for American Civil Liberties, Paul Finkelman, ed., Routledge Reference, Taylor and Francis Group. (2006)


Book Reviews

Crisis Meets Reality: Review of OPENING THE FLOODGATES: WHY AMERICA NEEDS TO RETHINK ITS BORDERS AND IMMIGRATION LAWS, by Kevin R. Johnson, 61 S.M.U. L. REV. 191 (2008) (with Karen E. Bravo)

Review of THE HUDDLED MASSES MYTH:IMMIGRATION AND CIVIL RIGHTS by Kevin R. Johnson, 32 AZTLAN 217(2007)


Other Publications

“Mediation with Different Cultures and Diversity: Conducting Mediation in a Diverse Group”in DISPUTE RESOLUTION COLLOQUIUM, Indiana Continuing Legal Education Forum (2004).

“No Hablo Español: Now What? Can You Have a Spanish-Speaking Only Client?” in REPRESENTING THE LATINO CLIENT, Indiana Continuing Legal Education Forum (2004).

“An International Law Approach to the Plight of the United States Undocumented Worker After Hoffman Plastics Compounds” HUMAN RIGHTS REVIEW (Fall 2003).

“Immigration Law Basics” in REPRESENTING NON-U.S. CITIZENS IN CRIMINAL AND FAMILY COURT, Indiana Continuing Legal Education Forum (2003).

Legislative Changes in Family Violence Law, LAWLINE (Spring 1997).

Marriage Fraud Prosecutions in Puerto Rico, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY BULLETIN (Spring 1996).

The 1990 Amendments: New Perspective on the Clean Air Act, BUSINESS PUERTO RICO (Fall 1993).


Electronic Publications/Products

“La situación precaria del trabajador indocumentado en los Estados Unidos luego de Hoffman Plastic Compounds, la perspectiva desde el derecho internacional público” in LA INTEGRACION EN AMERICA: CONFLICTOS Y ESTRATEGIAS: APORTES PARA LA INTEGRACION LATINOAMERICANA, Año X, Num. 10( June 2004)(CD-ROM).


Work in Progress

PERSISTENT INEQUALITY (Routledge, Taylor & Francis)