Jose Garcia-Fuerte

Jose is a second-year law student at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. Currently, Jose is a judicial extern for a federal judge in Oregon aiding chambers with legal research and writing. Last summer, he was a Summer Law Clerk for Advocates for the West – a public interest environmental law organization.

On-campus, Jose volunteers with the Northwest Environmental Defense Center (“NEDC”) in the water law group and with Alaska Legal Services in the SNAP and wills drafting & estate planning divisions. He serves on the executive board of two student organizations: Vice President of the Tax Law Society and Event Coordinator for the Latinx Law Society. Jose is a member of the Oregon Hispanic Bar Association and the Hispanic National Bar Association.

Jose moved to Portland after graduating from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa in 2020 with a degree in Law, Politics, and Society (“LPS”). There, he served as student body president, student senator for equity & inclusion, member of the LPS academic department student advisory board, and on the editorial board for the Drake University Social Science Journal. While studying full-time, Jose worked as a File Clerk for Sherinian & Hasso Law Firm and was a research assistant to Dr. William Garriott studying the legalized marijuana industry in Colorado.

Having grown up in Denver, Colorado, Jose graduated from STRIVE-Prep SMART 2016, making him part of the founding class of STRIVE-Prep SMART. Jose interned for U.S. Senator Michael Bennet and the STRIVE-Prep SMART external affairs team after graduating high school.