Gina Amato Lough (she/ella) is the Directing Attorney of Public Counsel’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. She leads a 30-member team of attorneys, paralegals, administrative staff, and social workers who serve asylum seekers, immigrants in detention, survivors of violent crime, unaccompanied children, and victims of notario fraud. Her team works toward a world where all (im)migrants live with dignity, power, and opportunity.
Gina has been a public interest attorney and community leader for over twenty years. She joined Public Counsel in 2008, and for 14 years, she led the Immigrants’ Rights Project’s Survivor Team. The Survivor Team provides holistic services to immigrant survivors from a trauma-informed, client-centered perspective. In addition, Gina has engaged in widespread policy advocacy to protect the rights of immigrant survivors, and has worked in partnership with governmental and non-profit organizations to launch a campaign to combat notario fraud – a type of legal services fraud that is devastating to immigrant communities.
Gina was an Adjunct Professor in the Loyola Immigrant Justice Clinic (LIJC) for six years, where she taught law students the practice of humanitarian immigration law and engaged them in advocacy to promote the rights of immigrants. Prior to joining Public Counsel and LIJC, Gina represented tenants in eviction matters and plaintiffs in civil rights, human rights, and employment lawsuits. She was also an Associate Director of Admissions at Berkeley Law, where she worked to create more equitable and inclusive admissions policies and practices.
As the daughter of a Mexican immigrant, Gina’s work is deeply personal to her and she demonstrates an enduring commitment to uplifting the rights of immigrants, mentoring the next generation of public interest attorneys, and building more sustainability in the practice of humanitarian immigration law.
Gina graduated from U.C. Berkeley in 2001 with a Juris Doctor (J.D.) and Master’s Degree in Public Policy (MPP). Outside of her work, she loves to dance, make art, and spend time with her family.
