Each month, the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee (DEIC) will be highlighting diverse attorneys from within our community on the DEIC web page to recognize their achievements and contributions. In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct. 15), which celebrates Hispanic and Latino history and culture, the DEIC is proud to shine a light on Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, the executive director of Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) in Boston.
Iván Espinoza-Madrigal is the executive director of Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) in Boston, an organization founded at the request of President John F. Kennedy in the 1960s at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. LCR is one of the largest and oldest organizations in New England working on legal and policy issues at the intersection of racial justice, immigration, public health and entrepreneurship.
Best known for his work on immigration, education, housing, voting, LGBTQ+ rights, public health and entrepreneurship, Espinoza-Madrigal has 18 years of experience in complex federal and appellate litigation. He has represented a wide range of clients as both plaintiffs and defendants in the corporate and nonprofit sectors.
Espinoza-Madrigal is an expert in legal protections for people of color and immigrants. He has filed and won dozens of life-changing and law-changing cases across the country. He advises federal, state and local policymakers on the legal needs of marginalized communities. His work is regularly featured in publications such as the New York Times.
A sought-after thought leader, Espinoza-Madrigal speaks nationally on racial justice, immigration, and small business issues. He often focuses on the legal needs of people who identify across intersecting lines of race, sexual orientation, gender identity and immigration status.
Early in his career, Espinoza-Madrigal worked as an associate at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, where he focused on securities litigation for corporate clients in New York. He also served as a Fried Frank Fellow with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), where he focused on a wide range of civil rights cases in San Antonio, Texas.
At a pivotal time in the movement for LGBTQ+ equality, Espinoza-Madrigal joined Lambda Legal to work on marriage equality cases and with LGBTQ+ people of color. He also served as the legal director of the Center for HIV Law and Policy, focusing on the legal needs of people living with HIV.
A summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, he received a Juris Doctor from NYU School of Law, where he was a Root-Tilden-Kern Scholar. Espinoza-Madrigal clerked for Judge Ronald Ellis in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and Judge Eric Clay in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Detroit, Michigan.
Espinoza-Madrigal currently serves on the Board of Ambassadors of Eastern Bank, and the Board of Directors of the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA). He was recently appointed to the Governing Council of the Mass Cultural Council, the state agency fostering a rich cultural life and promoting excellence and inclusion in the arts. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of Crossroads, a youth empowerment summer camp.