Metta Girma

Professor Metta Girma is a Junior Supervising Attorney with Inner City Law Center’s Tenant Defense Project. She trains first-year attorneys in settlement negotiations, motion practice, and trial advocacy. She began her career at ICLC as a Housing Justice Fellow, gaining hands-on experience advocating for tenants facing eviction. In her current role, she continues to represent tenants at trial and through settlement, fighting to preserve housing stability for low-income communities.

 

Professor Girma graduated from the University of Washington School of Law, where she was a recipient of the Gates Public Service Law Scholarship. While in law school, she participated in the Race & Justice Clinic, representing clients who had been sentenced as minors and addressing issues related to juvenile justice. She also interned with Columbia Legal Services’ Ending Mass Incarceration Unit. In addition, Professor Girma worked directly on asylum cases, representing clients fleeing persecution and advocating on behalf of unaccompanied minors.

 

Prior to law school, Professor Girma worked at the Civil Rights Justice Center, where she assisted with litigation involving excessive force and civil rights claims by incarcerated individuals alleging violations of their Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment.