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Alexa Perez

Assistant Professor of Law

alexa.perez@drake.edu

Expertise: Civil Procedure, Evidence, Federal Criminal Law

Education

JD, University of Chicago Law School
BA, University of Florida, summa cum laude

Experience

  • Drake Law School professor since 2023
  • Special Assistant United States Attorney, United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa 
  • Managing Associate, Sidley Austin, LLP, Chicago, Illinois
  • Federal Law Clerk, Hon. Edmond Chang, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
  • PILI Fellow, Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights

Selected Publications

Selected Presentations and Workshops

  • Presenter, Vanderbilt University Law School, 2026 Evidence Summer Workshop, A Hallow Safeguard: Rule 403 and Sexual Propensity Evidence, May 4, 2026
  • Presenter, University of Minnesota Law School, 2026 Women-in-Law Teaching Workshop, A Hallow Safeguard: Rule 403 and Sexual Propensity Evidence, July 7, 2026
  • Presenter, University of Kentucky Law School, 2025 Developing Ideas Conference, Cross-Enforcing the Plain Smell Doctrine, May 13, 2025
  • Presenter, Vanderbilt University Law School, 2024 Evidence Summer Workshop, Critical Analysis of Rap Shield Laws, May 16, 2024
  • Presenter, University of Minnesota Law School, 2024 Women-in-Law Teaching Workshop, A Critical Analysis of Rap Shield Laws, June 11, 2024
  • CLE Presenter, Iowa State Bar Association Annual Meeting, December 2024 Updates to the Federal Rules of Evidence, June 2025
  • CLE Presenter, Federal Criminal Practice Seminar, December 2024 Updates to the Federal Rules of Evidence, June 2025
  • CLE Presenter, Iowa Juvenile Court Delinquency Education Day, Rules of Evidence in Delinquency Adjudication Trials, June 2025
  • CLE Presenter, C. Edwin Moore Inn of Court, A Critical Analysis of Rap Shield Laws, November 19, 2024

Selected Media

Significant Accomplishments

  • Federal Bar Association’s Award for Excellence in Pro Bono Service
  • C. Edwin Moore Inn of Court, Master
  • Board Member for the Iowa Board of Corrections
  • Member of the Polk County Bar Association
  • Phi Beta Kappa

Biography

Alexa Perez is an Assistant Professor of Law at Drake Law School. Professor Perez’s teaching and research interests include Civil Procedure, Evidence, and Federal Criminal Law. Her scholarship examines how evidentiary doctrine and criminal procedure shape credibility, power, and constitutional protections in contemporary criminal adjudication. Her scholarship has been published or is forthcoming in the Cornell Law Review and Washington Law Review, and she has presented her research at various institutions, including Vanderbilt University Law School, University of Minnesota Law School, and University of Kentucky Law School

Prior to joining Drake Law School, Professor Perez served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa, where she prosecuted and tried dozens of federal criminal offenses, including organized crime, racketeering, money laundering, drug, and gun-related offenses. While at the United States Attorney’s Office, she also argued several times before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Prior to that, she was a managing associate at Sidley Austin LLP in Chicago, where she represented Fortune 500 companies in complex litigation and a wide range of legal proceedings, including securities fraud class actions, commercial disputes, and DOJ and SEC investigations and enforcement actions. While at Sidley Austin, Professor Perez maintained an active pro bono practice, including representing indigent individuals in civil rights lawsuits and asylum proceedings. She was recognized by the Federal Bar Association for her pro bono practice and received an Award for Excellence in Pro Bono Services for her work successfully securing one of the largest settlements in a federal civil rights action against the City of Chicago. Professor Perez clerked for the Honorable Edmond Chang on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Prior to that, she was a Public Interest Law Initiative Fellow with the Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights.

She earned her JD from the University of Chicago Law School, and her BA from the University of Florida, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa.

SSRN     Curriculum Vitae