Alexa Perez is an Assistant Professor of Law at Drake Law School. Professor Perez’s teaching and research interests include Civil Procedure, Evidence, and Federal Criminal Law. Her scholarship examines how evidentiary doctrine and criminal procedure shape credibility, power, and constitutional protections in contemporary criminal adjudication. Her scholarship has been published or is forthcoming in the Cornell Law ReviewandWashington Law Review, and she has presented her research at various institutions, including Vanderbilt University Law School, University of Minnesota Law School, and University of Kentucky Law School
Prior to joining Drake Law School, Professor Perez served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa, where she prosecuted and tried dozens of federal criminal offenses, including organized crime, racketeering, money laundering, drug, and gun-related offenses. While at the United States Attorney’s Office, she also argued several times before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Prior to that, she was a managing associate at Sidley Austin LLP in Chicago, where she represented Fortune 500 companies in complex litigation and a wide range of legal proceedings, including securities fraud class actions, commercial disputes, and DOJ and SEC investigations and enforcement actions. While at Sidley Austin, Professor Perez maintained an active pro bono practice, including representing indigent individuals in civil rights lawsuits and asylum proceedings. She was recognized by the Federal Bar Association for her pro bono practice and received an Award for Excellence in Pro Bono Services for her work successfully securing one of the largest settlements in a federal civil rights action against the City of Chicago. Professor Perez clerked for the Honorable Edmond Chang on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Prior to that, she was a Public Interest Law Initiative Fellow with the Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights.
She earned her JD from the University of Chicago Law School, and her BA from the University of Florida,summa cum laudeand Phi Beta Kappa.
