David DeJute

Biography

David A. DeJute is the Director of Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law's Disaster Relief Clinic and Adjunct Professor of Law. He is Of Counsel to Michelman Robinson, a Los Angeles-based law firm with offices in Chicago, Dallas, New York and London, where he practices as a member of the Complex Litigation Group.

Mr. DeJute graduated with a B.A. summa cum laude and phi beta kappa from the University of Notre Dame in the Great Books Program, where he was presented with the Willis B. Nutting Award, given to the student who most contributed to the education of his classmates and professors. He then served as a student attorney and member of the board of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, the nation's oldest student-run pro bono legal aid clinic. Upon graduating from Harvard Law School with a J.D. cum laude, he clerked for William J. Rea, U.S. District Judge.

After four trials and numerous arbitrations in private practice, Mr. DeJute transitioned in-house, working for Sony Pictures as the Vice President of Litigation, handling all manner of lawsuits affecting this entertainment company. He then joined the U.S. Attorney's Office, where he tried more than a dozen cases and represented, among other federal agencies and officers, the FBI, NASA and the President of the United States, Barack Obama.

From his time at the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau to the present, he has always represented individuals pro bono. As Mr. DeJute tells his students, whatever good he does for others and our community -- by prosecuting or defending for free a meritorious case, which otherwise would not have legal representation -- Mr. DeJute receives more. There is nothing finer than delivering to a deserving client a win which he or she could not have achieved on their own. Students at the Disaster Relief Clinic can experience the joy in providing pro bono legal help to those affected by the recent wildfires.