EUGENIO MOLLO, JR. JOINS FULL-TIME FACULTY
by Margaret Beccavin | August 1, 2022
Eugenio Mollo, Jr. joined the College of Law in 2016 as an Adjunct Professor of Law to teach Immigration Law courses. Mollo joins the Legal Clinic as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Law in August 2022. He will continue to teach Immigration Law as well as launch and direct the Immigrant Justice Clinic.
The Clinic will introduce substantive immigration law and the theory and practice of core lawyering skills, including interviewing; counseling; listening; investigating facts; researching and analyzing relevant law; creative problem-solving; critical lawyering (lawyering conscious of power, bias, and justice issues); administrative agency and courtroom practicing; and legal writing, including affidavits and advocacy-focused briefs. Students will represent clients on family and humanitarian immigration cases, including people seeking family reunification and safety from domestic violence, persecution, torture, and human trafficking.
Mollo’s passion for immigration law stems from his experiences as a child of immigrant parents. Growing up, his neighbors came from different parts of the globe, and they were knit together by their common immigrant experience. He came to learn that race, immigration status, English-language skills, and other factors play a significant role in allowing or hindering a family’s ability to achieve the American Dream.
“I’m humbled by this opportunity to join the full-time faculty and launch the College’s Immigrant Justice Clinic. I look forward to teaching law students the skills necessary to represent and advance the rights of our immigrant clients, and actively engaging within the university and community to further promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
Prior to joining the full-time faculty, Mollo began his legal career at Advocates for Basic Legal Equality (ABLE) in Toledo, a nonprofit law firm that represents low-income individuals and groups to achieve equal justice and opportunity. He served as the managing attorney of the Agricultural Worker and Immigrant Rights practice group. He led and oversaw projects that provided legal assistance to migrant farmworkers, people in removal proceedings, unaccompanied children, refugee survivors of torture, and other vulnerable immigrant populations. Mollo’s practice focused on immigration and related civil rights matters.
In the community, Mollo is a steering committee member of Welcome Toledo-Lucas County (Welcome TLC), the region’s immigrant-friendly initiative. Mollo has served on the board of directors for the Toledo-Lucas County Library Legacy Foundation, ProMedica Metro Hospitals Foundation, and Equality Toledo. He is a recipient of Northwest Ohio’s 20 Under 40 Leadership Recognition Award, and he currently serves as a member of the selection committee for the award. Mollo also received the Part-Time Professor of the Year Award from the College of Law in 2017 and 2022.
Mollo is admitted to practice law in Ohio, U.S. District Court for the Northern and Southern Districts of Ohio, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth and Second Circuits. Mollo is a member of the state and federal chapters of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and of the Toledo Bar Association, where he serves on the Grievance Committee.
Mollo earned his B.A. in History from the University of Illinois and his J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law, where he was the editor-in-chief of “The Journal of Gender, Race & Justice.”