Criminal Law Career Perspectives
The EABA hosted a panel session on March 25, 2023 with Lula Hagos, Visiting Professor and Director of the Criminal Defense and Justice Clinic at George Washington University Law School, Leah Abraham, Deputy District Attorney at Alameda County District Attorney’s Office and Andom Gerezghihir, Deputy Staff Judge Advocate for the United States Marine Corps Forces Cyber/Space. The panelists shared their diverse perspectives on criminal law practice, ethical issues they have faced in their careers and their unique perspectives on justice that is rooted in their Eritrean heritage. The discussion was moderated by Saron Tesfai, Deputy District Attorney.
To connect with any of these attorneys, please visit our LinkedIn group.
Learn more about our distinguished panelists:
Leah Abraham, Deputy District Attorney at Alameda County District Attorney’s Office
As a strategic trial attorney and fierce advocate for social justice and criminal justice reform, Leah is on a mission to utilize her years of experience working in the criminal justice system to reform the system as we know it. With experience as both a public defender and progressive prosecutor, she brings a unique perspective and insight from having worked on both sides of the court and criminal justice system.
Leah graduated from UC Hastings in 2013, obtaining a law degree with concentrations in Social Justice Lawyering and Criminal Practice and Theory. She joined the Alameda County Public Defender's Office after graduation and worked there for over six years as a Deputy Public Defender. Leah subsequently joined the San Francisco District Attorney's Office, and worked as a Deputy District Attorney for 2.5 years. Leah currently works at the Alameda County District Attorney's Office as a Deputy District Attorney, serving under the Pamela Price administration.
Lula Hagos, Visiting Professor and Director of the Criminal Defense and Justice Clinic at George Washington University Law School
Lula Hagos is a Visiting Associate Professor and the founding Director of the Criminal Defense and Justice Clinic at George Washington University Law School. Prior to joining the faculty at GW Law, she worked as an Assistant Federal Public Defender with the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Eastern District of Virginia, where she represented indigent clients in a wide range of cases, including complex fraud and terrorism-related offenses. Lula was also a trial attorney with the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia (PDS) for seven years. While there, she advocated for adults and juveniles facing the most serious offenses and conducted trainings for new practitioners on trial skills and various criminal law topics. Before joining PDS, Lula was an E. Barrett Prettyman Fellow at Georgetown University Law Center. In that role, she taught and supervised third-year law students in their representation of youth involved in the delinquency system in D.C., while also maintaining her own caseload and representing clients at trial. She also previously served as an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown Law, co-teaching a course on criminal trial advocacy. Lula holds a J.D. and LL.M. from Georgetown Law and B.A. from the University of Virginia.
Andom Gherezghiher, Deputy Staff Judge Advocate for the United States Marine Corps Forces Cyber/Space
Major Andom Gherezghiher attended the University of Missouri and graduated with a B.S. in Finance and Banking. In 2009, he earned his J.D. from the University of Missouri, specializing in Alternative Dispute Resolution. After law school, Majo Gherezghiher served as an Assistant Attorney General, investigating and prosecuting matters for the State of Missouri. Following commissioning in 2012, he began his service as a federal prosecutor at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, CA. In this role, he handled a wide variety of investigations and prosecutions ranging from sexual/gender-based violence (SGBV) to organized crime.
After several tours in the fleet and multiple deployments, Major Gherezghiher returned to the courtroom in 2018 as the Senior Defense Counsel for Marine Forces Africa/Europe, Marine Forces Reserve and the National Capital Region. In this billet, he led a diverse staff in the representation of clients in all manners of administrative and criminal law matters. Major Gherezghiher followed that assignment with a 1-year tour as the Regional Victim’s Legal Counsel for the same region representing victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. In 2019, Major Gherezghiher earned an LL.M in Cyber, National Security, and Intelligence Law from the Scalia School of Law at George Mason University where he was elected class leader and commencement speaker. He currently practices in a variety of areas as a "general counsel" for Marine Forces Cyber/Space.
Moderator: Saron Tesfai, Deputy District Attorney