Former Obama Administration Official Joins Statewide Education Law Practice
CERRITOS, Calif. —Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo (AALRR) is pleased to announce that Gabriel Sandoval, former senior counsel in the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights and senior advisor and director of policy for the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, has joined the firm as a partner in its Education Law Group.
Sandoval will provide legal counsel and strategic advice to public and private universities, community college and school districts, and charter schools on all aspects of education, employment, and labor law, as well as civil rights laws.
“Gabriel brings an exceptional breadth and depth of legal and policymaking experience in the public, private, and non-profit sectors, which will prove invaluable to our education clients across California,” says Managing Partner James C. Romo. “We are thrilled to have him join us.”
Through his work on the White House Initiative, Sandoval helped to expand and improve educational opportunities and outcomes for Latinos through public policy development and implementation, civil rights compliance, interagency collaboration, public-private partnerships, and civic engagement with community leaders and stakeholders across the nation.
During his tenure with the Office for Civil Rights, Sandoval assisted with the issuance of national policy guidance and managed complex, statewide complaints and compliance reviews, which benefited thousands of students across the country.
Previously, Sandoval served as deputy legal counsel to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, special assistant city attorney for the City of Los Angeles, and special counsel to the California Secretary of Legal Affairs. Sandoval was also an employment and labor associate at O’Melveny & Myers, LLP, and law clerk to the Honorable Carlos R. Moreno, then-U.S. District Judge for the Central District of California.
He also has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the American Marshall Memorial Fellowship of the German Marshall Fund of the United States and Regional President of the Year of the Hispanic National Bar Association. Sandoval has also served on state and local boards, including the State Bar of California Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation, and Partnerships to Uplift Communities, a non-profit charter management organization serving students in northeast Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.
Sandoval received a B.A. in Political Science with Departmental Honors from Stanford University, and earned a Juris Doctorate from Columbia University School of Law, where he served on the editorial board of the Columbia Human Rights Law Review.
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