Sarah Beydoun (’23) has recently been hired to serve as the inaugural Legal Empowerment Attorney with the University of California, Irvine School of Law (UCI Law), through a partnership with El Centro Cultural de México (El Centro), in a position that will help deepen the relationship between UCI Law’s acclaimed clinical program and the Orange County community.
In her new role, Beydoun will be based at El Centro’s offices in downtown Santa Ana. Founded in 1994, El Centro is a volunteer-led alternative space in Santa Ana focusing on local and transnational projects that link the arts, culture, and social justice. It has been the site of vibrant community organizing by domestic workers, tenants, immigrants, and others. The UCI Law Clinics have long collaborated with El Centro and other groups that meet in the space and have had a physical presence at El Centro since 2021.
Beydoun will engage in several projects, including offering holistic legal representation and pro se counseling to community members, particularly in the areas of housing, workers’ rights, and immigration. She will also collaborate closely with community organizers at El Centro to support policy campaigns and contribute to program design and development. Finally, Beydoun will serve as a key liaison with the UCI Law clinics and help to develop an effective intake and referral process for prospective clinic clients.
“We are thrilled to welcome Sarah as the inaugural Legal Empowerment Attorney,” said Annie Lai, Clinical Professor of Law and Co-Associate Dean for Experiential Education. “Her prior experiences, including as a student in our Community and Economic Development (CED) Clinic, made her an ideal candidate for this role. She is already grappling with some the most crucial questions confronting lawyers who seek to work alongside grassroots partners for transformative social change. I look forward to seeing all that she will do.”
Beydoun brings a rich background in public service to the position. Prior to this role, Beydoun served as a Stay Housed Fellow at Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County, where she counseled clients on unlawful detainer actions. She also interned at the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, clerked at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights in San Francisco, and externed at the Elder Law and Disability Rights Center. She received a J.D. from UCI Law in 2023 and a B.A. in Rhetoric with a concentration in Public Discourse, magna cum laude, from the University of California, Berkeley in 2017.
Beydoun’s appointment as the inaugural Legal Empowerment Attorney underscores UCI Law’s mission to integrate experiential learning with community service, ensuring that students and faculty are actively engaged in the community through legal advocacy for underserved populations. Learn more about UCI Law’s dynamic experiential education program.
Original source can be found here.