Portia Pedro is an Associate Professor of Law and a Peter Paul Career Development Professor at Boston University School of Law. Her research is in the areas of civil procedure, remedies, federal courts, and critical race theory. She currently teaches civil procedure, remedies, and critical civil procedure.
Professor Pedro is a former public interest litigation fellow who also worked as a litigation associate at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. During her two years as a litigation associate at Debevoise in New York, Professor Pedro conducted motions practice, second-seated a trial, prepared witnesses for federal investigations, and litigated class action claims. She also practiced law for two years as a John J. Gibbons Fellow in Public Interest and Constitutional Law at Gibbons PC in Newark, New Jersey, where she litigated civil rights claims, negotiated attorneys’ fees, and filed amicus briefs. Professor Pedro co-authored briefs that secured marriage equality for same-sex couples in New Jersey, and she successfully opposed a motion to dismiss the equal protection claims of Muslim plaintiffs in New Jersey who were surveilled by the New York Police Department for their religious beliefs.
Professor Pedro is completing her Ph.D. in Law at Yale Law School with a research focus on civil procedure. Prior to her doctoral studies, Pedro served as a clerk to the Honorable Joseph A. Greenaway, Jr., of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She holds a JD from Harvard Law School and a B.A. in International Development Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles. At Harvard, she served as Treasurer and Vice President of the Harvard Law Review, as an editor of the BlackLetter Law Journal and Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review.