Jose Padilla
Los Angeles, CA

• Appointed by the California Access to Justice Commission

• Current Term Extends through June 30, 2028

José R. Padilla was born and raised in the Imperial Valley; his parents came from farm worker families. He graduated from Stanford University in 1974 with a major in Psychology. Deciding that he could best serve his community through legal advocacy, Mr. Padilla attended Boalt Hall School of Law, U.C. Berkeley. After graduation in 1978, he started what became a 42 year legal career with California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) Inc., advocating for the rights of California’s farm worker and rural poverty communities. Mr. Padilla spent his first 6 years with CRLA as a staff attorney and later as Directing Attorney of CRLA’s Imperial Valley, El Centro office. In El Centro, his work focused on immigration, civil rights and education law. In 1984 Mr. Padilla was selected to serve as the Executive Director of CRLA. As Director he oversaw the administration of what is considered one of the premier and most respected legal services programs in the country. Through its Migrant component, CRLA’s legal work emphasizes assistance to the special needs of the farm worker community with cases focusing on pesticide exposure, housing, labor, rural education, civil rights, immigration and environmental justice. Annually, CRLA assists more than 40,000 rural residents with legal and other services." Jose retired from CRLA in 2022.