About Lucas
Lucas Guttentag is a attorney specializing in immigration law, currently serving as a Professor of the Practice of Law at Stanford Law School and as a Martin R. Flug Lecturer in Law and Senior Research Scholar at Yale Law School. He has been a member of the California State Bar since 1979. Guttentag earned his Juris Doctor cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1978 and his Bachelor of Arts with honors from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1973.
Following his graduation, he clerked for Judge William Wayne Justice in Texas. In 1985, Guttentag founded the American Civil Liberties Union's Immigrants' Rights Project (IRP) and served as its national director until 2010. Under his leadership, the IRP became a leading organization in immigrant justice litigation, successfully arguing major cases in the U.S. Supreme Court and various federal and state courts.
His government service includes roles as Senior Counselor to the Secretary of Homeland Security in 2014 and as Senior Counselor to the Deputy Attorney General in 2021. In these positions, he provided senior-level advice on immigration policy. Guttentag has been recognized with numerous honors, including being named a Human Rights Hero by the American Bar Association's Human Rights Journal in 2001 and receiving the Jack Wasserman Litigation Award from the American Immigration Lawyers Association multiple times. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.
Guttentag continues to contribute to the field through his teaching and ongoing involvement in immigration policy and litigation.
