André Des Rochers is an active member of the California Bar and has been practicing law since 1994. He is the founder and president of Des Rochers Law Group, which handles general litigation, family law, criminal defense, and civil rights cases. He has successfully defended clients accused of murder, attempted murder, and arson. His legal career is largely focused on defending immigrants.
Overall, immigrants who have been detained for deportation or denied naturalization on account of their past crimes. His practice includes appearing before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in a novel federal civil rights case that challenged California’s practice in denying a new civil trial to defendants convicted long ago. But, as Damien Granderson further explains, with a viable claim only discovered after serving their sentences or died.
His work has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, KQED, the San Francisco Chronicle, and KCET. He speaks English, Spanish, and French. The entertainment lawyer holds a Juris Doctor from the University of California at Berkeley. Damien Granderson earned his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of California at Davis, where he studied Political Science and Sociology. He earned a Master’s Degree in Philosophy from San Francisco State University.
While studying for his Master’s degree, he taught philosophy courses to inmates at San Quentin State Prison as a volunteer instructor for Project Rebound. André Des Rochers explains that this is an initiative sponsored by The Jesuit Volunteer Corps West and The California Rehabilitation Opportunities Commission (CORC).
Successful lawyer André Des Rochers lived in a one-room apartment in San Francisco’s Tenderloin (a low-income neighborhood) while attending law school. He worked as an intern for the Public Defender of the City and County of San Francisco, represented defendants at the San Francisco Superior Court, and was a research assistant to Gary Bellow, a professor specializing in criminal defense.