Faculty Directory

Elizabeth Knowles

Bio

Elizabeth Knowles joined Northeastern Law in 2021 as associate teaching professor in the Legal Skills in Social Context program. She is an immigration and human rights advocate with a decade of experience helping immigrants successfully navigate our complex immigration system. Throughout her career, Professor Knowles has assisted detained adults and children fleeing horrific persecution — experiences that fuel her desire to help bridge the access to justice gap that persists in our immigration system today. Professor Knowles has practiced in both private and nonprofit settings, previously serving as executive director of the ABA Immigration Justice Project in San Diego, California, and as director of the Immigration and Human Rights Clinic and clinical professor at the University of Akron School of Law, where she and her students represented detained non-citizens and successfully sought asylum for numerous individuals in removal proceedings.

Professor Knowles has extensive experience defending individuals from deportation in immigration courts nationwide, before the Board of Immigration Appeals and the US Courts of Appeals. She earned her BA in fine arts from San Diego State University and her JD from Thomas Jefferson School of Law. Professor Knowles serves on the board of directors for the ACLU of Ohio and is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. She is a member of the State Bar of California and the US Courts of Appeals for the Sixth and the Ninth Circuit.