Visiting Assistant Professor of Law
Octavia Carson (they/them) was born and raised in Pontiac, Mich. Octavia currently works full-time as judicial law clerk for the Board of Immigration Appeals through the Attorney General’s Honors Program. They have a passion for social justice and diversity. After graduating law school, Octavia founded the Black Bar Applicant Fund to assist Black bar applicants with bar exam expenses and help raise the percentage of Black attorneys in the U.S.
Octavia graduated from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in 2020. While in law school, Octavia served as the editor-in-chief of the Thomas Jefferson Law Review and was previously the president of the Black Law Student Association. They externed for Magistrate Judge Mitchell D. Dembin and Senior Judge John Houston in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. They interned for two law firms, WilkMazz and Higgs, Fletcher, and Mack. They mentored diverse high school students interested in pursuing law through the Crawford Legal Institute Mentorship Bond. Octavia is the first person in their immediate family to attend a four-year university, Central Michigan University, and the first to attend law school.
Education
J.D., Thomas Jefferson School of Law, San Diego
Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI
B.A.A. Magna Cum Laude, Integrative Public Relations, Minor in Public Affairs
Experience
Mitchell Hamline School of Law
Visiting Assistant Professor, July 2022–; Adjunct Professor, Jan.–June 2022
Washburn University School of Law, Multistate Legal Analysis Class, Virtual
Adjunct Grader, Feb. 2022–
Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), Department of Justice, Falls Church
Judicial Law Clerk, Oct. 2020–
United States District Court for the Southern District of California, San Diego
Extern with Senior Judge John A. Houston, Feb.–March 2020
WilkMazz, San Diego
Intern, May–July 2019
United States District Court for the Southern District of California, San Diego
Extern with Magistrate Judge Mitchell D. Dembin, Jan.–April 2019
Higgs, Fletcher, and Mack, San Diego
San Diego County Bar Association Diversity Fellow, Law Clerk, May–July 2018
Teacher of English as a Second Language
Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and China, Feb. 2012–April 2017