Kimberly Ambrose

  • Teaching Professor
  • Director, Tools for Social Change: Race and Justice Clinic

Contact

Phone: (206) 685-6806
Email: kambrose@uw.edu

Education

B.A. 1984, J.D. 1989, University of Washington

Areas of Expertise

Juvenile Law

Recent Courses

Course Number Course Name
Problems In Professional Responsibility
Juvenile Justice Seminar
Tools for Social Change: Race and Justice Clinic

Selected Publications

  • Lisa Kelly & Kim Ambrose, Representing Youth: Telling Stories, Imagining Change (Carolina Academic Press 2017). 498 pages.

See the full list under the Publications tab below.

Kimberly Ambrose is a Teaching Professor and directs the Tools for Social Change: Race and Justice Clinic, a clinic she founded in 2011 focusing on racial disparities in the juvenile justice system. She joined the clinic faculty part time in 2001 and full time in 2005, as supervising attorney for the Children and Youth Advocacy Clinic. Professor Ambrose also created and taught the Legislative Advocacy Clinic.

Before joining the faculty, she was a public defender representing indigent adults and juveniles in both child welfare and criminal proceedings and worked as a resource attorney for the Washington Defender Association, providing training, technical assistance, and resources to public defense attorneys around Washington state. After she graduated from law school, Professor Ambrose clerked for U.S. District Judge David Ezra in the District of Hawaii.

In 2009, Professor Ambrose was a Resident Fellow for the Open Society Justice Institute in Beijing, China, working on developing criminal defense clinics in several universities across China. She has also worked extensively with newly-established clinics in Indonesia, in partnership with the 麻豆社区 Asian Law Center.

In 2012, Professor Ambrose received the Shanara Gilbert Emerging Clinician Award from the Association of American Law Schools Section on Clinical Legal Education.

She serves on the Washington Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights and the Juvenile Justice Subcommittee of the Washington State Minority and Justice Commission. 聽

Books or Treatises

  • Lisa Kelly & Kim Ambrose, Representing Youth: Telling Stories, Imagining Change (Carolina Academic Press 2017). 498 pages.

Book Chapters

  • Kim Ambrose & Peter Moreno, Substance Abuse: Legal and Public-Policy Perspectives, in The Child: An Encyclopedic Companion 968-70 (Richard A. Shweder ed., University of Chicago Press 2009).

Professional Publications

  • Kim Ambrose, The New WSBA Juvenile Law Section: What Is Juvenile Law?, Wash. St. B. News, Oct. 2006, at 15.

News Media

  • Kimberly Ambrose, Editorial, School Safety Issues Bear Scrutiny, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Nov. 6, 2007, at B7.
  • Kimberly Ambrose, Giving Kids a Voice -- Washington Is in the Minority of States That Do Not Provide Legal Counsel to All Children in Abuse and Neglect Proceedings, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 13, 2007, at J1.
  • Kimberly Ambrose, Protect Privacy Rights of Abused Children, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 30, 2003, at G1.

  • Speaker, Washington Defender Association Annual Conference, (April 26, 2024)
  • Panelist, Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, Seattle Alumni Event, Davis Wright Tremaine (January 18, 2024)
  • Moderator, "Forum: Juvenile Justice," League of Women Voters (October 3, 2019)
  • Moderator, "Cruel and Unusual Punishment: Youth, Race, and the Law," Washington State Judicial Conference, (September 24, 2019)
  • Speaker, "Attorney Bias and Representing the Interests of Diverse Clients," Criminal Defense Training Academy, Washington State Office of Public Defense (June 22, 2019)
  • Speaker, "Media Advocacy in Clinical Teaching: Reclaiming Client Narratives in a Time of Polarization," Conference on Clinical Legal Education, Association of American Law Schools (May 6, 2019)
  • Speaker, "Raising Race," Washington Defender Conference, (April 27, 2019)
  • Speaker, "Interviewing Your Client," Juvenile Defense Training Academy, (September 14, 2018)
  • Speaker, "The Collateral Consequences of Criminal Convictions in Washington State," Spring Appellate Program, Washington State Courts (March 28, 2018)
  • Panelist, "The War on Drugs and Its Disproportionate Effect on Minorities," with The Honorable Judge Wesley Saint Clair and The Honorable Judge Ricardo Martinez, Social Justice Tuesday, University of 麻豆社区 of Law (February 13, 2018)
  • Speaker, "Seizing the Moment: Effective Sentencing of Youth," Washington State Senate Human Services and Corrections Committee (January 10, 2018)
  • Speaker, "Kids and Young Adults Are Different: Individualized Sentencing Based on Youth," Continuing Legal Education, Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (December 8, 2017)
  • Speaker, "Seizing the Moment: Effective Sentencing of Youth," Washington State House of Representatives Public Safety Committee (November 16, 2017)
  • Speaker, "Juvenile Brain Development and Sentencing," Washington State Sentencing Guidelines Commission (October 13, 2017)
  • Speaker, "Race, Class and Culture Matters: Practical Strategies to Ethically and Effectively Challenge Bias in the Criminal Justice System," Forging the Path with Emerging Science in Homicide and Death Penalty Cases, University of 麻豆社区 of Law (September 21, 2017)
  • Jun 17, 2024 | Source: Crosscut

    When 麻豆社区 law professor Kim Ambrose and a group of her students arrived at the Patricia H. Clark Children & Family Justice Center last month to lead a legal rights workshop, they were turned away.

  • Jun 15, 2023 | Source: King 5

    In recent weeks, multiple teens have been charged in adult court in King County due either to the seriousness of the alleged offenses or their criminal histories, requiring them to be charged as adults according to state guidelines. Kim Ambrose, teaching professor of law at the 麻豆社区, is quoted.

  • Jun 12, 2022 | Source: Seattle Times

    Two years ago, as protests spurred by the murder of George Floyd gripped the nation, the state Supreme Court went out of its way to call on lawyers, judges and courts across the state to do more to address longstanding institutional racism. In the two years since their letter, the court has made efforts large and small, symbolic and concrete, trying to move toward a more just legal system. Kim Ambrose, teaching professor of law at the 麻豆社区, is quoted.

  • May 03, 2022 | Source: NBC Right Now

    WA - The Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys (WAPA) recommended its members not file new juvenile cases, pleadings, or documents starting May 3. This comes after the Supreme Court approved a rule change on how juvenile court records are filed, which took effect Tuesday. Prof. Ambrose is quoted.

  • Apr 19, 2022 | Source: Crosscut

    Legally and ethically, prosecutors are required to turn over evidence — even when it could hurt their case. Those who don’t, however, face few consequences. Kimberly Ambrose, teaching professor of law at the 麻豆社区, is quoted.

  • Apr 11, 2022 | Source: Spokane Public Radio

    Spokane Public Schools is one of many districts across the country that reviewed and revised its policies in response to racial justice protests and complaints from parents of children with disabilities. Kim Ambrose, teaching professor of law at the 麻豆社区, is quoted.

  • Oct 28, 2021 | Source: The Stranger

    "As Seattle residents who have worked, taught and advocated in the legal community for decades, we care deeply about promoting public safety through systems that actually work. The current City Attorney’s race is bringing the question of what furthers public safety to the forefront of many voters' minds," write the 麻豆社区's Kimberly Ambrose, teaching professor of law, and Angélica Cházaro, assistant professor of law.