Alissa Gomez
Clinical Associate Professor
Lawyering Skills and Strategies & Pro Bono Facilitator
Professor Alissa Rubin Gomez teaches Lawyering Skills & Strategies and Evidence at the University of Houston Law Center, and serves at the Law Center’s facilitator for pro bono projects and opportunities.
Prior to joining the Law Center faculty in 2017, Professor Gomez served for six years as the Executive Director of Houston Volunteer Lawyers, the non-profit legal aid arm of the Houston Bar Association. Under her leadership, Houston Volunteer Lawyers achieved a pro bono case placement rate of 98 percent, grew to a full-time staff of 30 including 14 staff attorneys, and launched innovative programming such as the Texas Children's Medical-Legal Partnership. Houston Volunteer Lawyers received the State Bar's Pro Bono Award in 2014.
From 2002 to 2011, Professor Gomez was a commercial litigation associate and then partner in the Houston office of King & Spalding LLP. In private practice, Professor Gomez focused on matters involving trade secrets, employee non-competes and employment discrimination, breach of contract and commercial torts, oil and gas, healthcare, and franchise/distributor relationships. Texas Monthly named her a “Rising Star” in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010. In 2017, the Houston Association of Women Attorneys honored Professor Gomez with its Premier Women in Law award.
Professor Gomez's scholarship focuses on legal writing, pro bono, and civil justice reform. Her recent works include:
-Demand-Side Justice, 28 Geo. J. on Poverty L. & Pol'y 411 (2021)
-The Mismeasure of Success, 94 St. John’s L. Rev. 927 (2021)
-The Power of Words, micro-essay, AALS LWRR Newsletter (Summer 2020)
-Learning to Love Pro Bono: A Recipe for Engaging Law Students, The Second Draft (Fall 2019)
