Professor Brooks directs the LLM Program in U.S. Law in Spanish at the USD School of Law. As the program director, he administers a national moot court program in Mexico, and coordinates the work of 35 innocence organizations in Latin America.

Prior to joining USD Law, Professor Brooks practiced as a criminal defense attorney in Washington, D.C., Michigan, Illinois, and California in both the trial and appellate courts. He was the founding Director of the California Innocence Project at Cal Western law school from 1999-2023, and under his direction the project freed 40 innocent people from prison (including former NFL player Brian Banks).

Professor Brooks is the author of the only legal casebook devoted to the topic of wrongful convictions and the author of “You Might Go to Prison, Even Though You’re Innocent,” a book that details the causes of wrongful convictions based on his experience of more than three decades as a criminal defense attorney and innocence organization director.  He is portrayed by Academy Award nominated actor Greg Kinnear in the feature film, “Brian Banks.”