Phone: (206) 685-6806
Email: kambrose@uw.edu
B.A. 1984, J.D. 1989, University of Washington
Juvenile Law
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Kimberly Ambrose is a Teaching Professor and directs the Tools for Social Change: Race and Justice Clinic, a clinic she founded in 2011 focusing on racial disparities in the juvenile justice system. She joined the clinic faculty part time in 2001 and full time in 2005, as supervising attorney for the Children and Youth Advocacy Clinic. Professor Ambrose also created and taught the Legislative Advocacy Clinic.
Before joining the faculty, she was a public defender representing indigent adults and juveniles in both child welfare and criminal proceedings and worked as a resource attorney for the Washington Defender Association, providing training, technical assistance, and resources to public defense attorneys around Washington state. After she graduated from law school, Professor Ambrose clerked for U.S. District Judge David Ezra in the District of Hawaii.
In 2009, Professor Ambrose was a Resident Fellow for the Open Society Justice Institute in Beijing, China, working on developing criminal defense clinics in several universities across China. She has also worked extensively with newly-established clinics in Indonesia, in partnership with the UW Asian Law Center.
In 2012, Professor Ambrose received the Shanara Gilbert Emerging Clinician Award from the Association of American Law Schools Section on Clinical Legal Education.
She serves on the Washington Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights and the Juvenile Justice Subcommittee of the Washington State Minority and Justice Commission.
When UW law professor Kim Ambrose and a group of her students arrived at the Patricia H. Clark Children & Family Justice Center last month to lead a legal rights workshop, they were turned away.
In recent weeks, multiple teens have been charged in adult court in King County due either to the seriousness of the alleged offenses or their criminal histories, requiring them to be charged as adults according to state guidelines. Kim Ambrose, teaching professor of law at the UW, is quoted.
Two years ago, as protests spurred by the murder of George Floyd gripped the nation, the state Supreme Court went out of its way to call on lawyers, judges and courts across the state to do more to address longstanding institutional racism. In the two years since their letter, the court has made efforts large and small, symbolic and concrete, trying to move toward a more just legal system. Kim Ambrose, teaching professor of law at the UW, is quoted.
WA - The Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys (WAPA) recommended its members not file new juvenile cases, pleadings, or documents starting May 3. This comes after the Supreme Court approved a rule change on how juvenile court records are filed, which took effect Tuesday. Prof. Ambrose is quoted.
Legally and ethically, prosecutors are required to turn over evidence — even when it could hurt their case. Those who don’t, however, face few consequences. Kimberly Ambrose, teaching professor of law at the UW, is quoted.
Spokane Public Schools is one of many districts across the country that reviewed and revised its policies in response to racial justice protests and complaints from parents of children with disabilities. Kim Ambrose, teaching professor of law at the UW, is quoted.
"As Seattle residents who have worked, taught and advocated in the legal community for decades, we care deeply about promoting public safety through systems that actually work. The current City Attorney’s race is bringing the question of what furthers public safety to the forefront of many voters' minds," write the UW's Kimberly Ambrose, teaching professor of law, and Angélica Cházaro, assistant professor of law.
Two long-time faculty members, Kimberly Ambrose, J.D. ‘89, and John Clynch, J.D. ‘89 and LL.M. ‘08, will retire by this summer from the University of Washington School of Law. They recently reflected on their careers, colleagues and students, and shared their plans for the future.
What does justice look like for children caught in the gun violence epidemic? And why do courts struggle to treat kids like kids when sentencing them for serious crimes?
Students in the Race and Justice Clinic work to reduce a de facto life sentence by advocating for the mitigating factors of their client’s youthfulness.
Young detainees report concerns with drinking-water quality, long periods without visitors, lack of substance-abuse treatment and staffing shortages. Professor Kim Ambrose, director of the Race and Justice Clinic, is quoted. (Source: Cascade PBS)
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Law students celebrate a Washington Supreme Court ruling that is putting judges and attorneys on notice.
