Jeffery Robinson

Jeffery Robinson is the founder of The Who We Are Project and the creator of “Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America” – the documentary, lecture, podcast, and more. Additionally, Jeffery is a deputy legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) national office and the Director of the ACLU’s Trone Center for Justice and Equality, which houses the organization’s work on criminal and racial justice issues. Since graduating from Harvard Law School in 1981, Jeffery has almost four decades of experience working on these issues. For seven years, he represented indigent clients in state court at The Defender Association and then in federal court at the Federal Public Defender’s Office, both in Seattle. In 1988, Jeffery began a 27-year private practice at the Seattle firm of Schroeter, Goldmark & Bender, where he represented a broad range of clients in local, state, and federal courts on charges ranging from shoplifting to securities fraud and first degree murder. He has tried over 200 criminal cases to verdict and has tried more than a dozen civil cases representing plaintiffs suing corporate and government entities. Jeffery was one of the original members of the John Adams Project and worked on the behalf of one of five men held at Guantanamo Bay charged with carrying out the 9/11 attacks. In 2015, Jeffery joined the ACLU in his current role. In addition to being a nationally recognized trial attorney, Jeffery is also a respected teacher of trial advocacy and the history of racism in America. He is a faculty member of the National Criminal Defense College and has lectured on trial skills all over the United States. He speaks to diverse audiences across the nation on the role of race in the criminal justice system and the history of racism in this country. In particular, one of Jeffery’s presentations forms the basis of the feature-length documentary entitled “Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America.” The film will further the work of The Who We Are Project. He is past president and life member of the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and a past member of the board of directors of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Jeffery is also an elected fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.