MEET THE COACHES
OLU ORANGE
Olu K. Orange is the Director of the USC Dornsife Trial Advocacy Program. He has thrice been selected as a recipient of the California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) Award -- first in 2015, again in 2017, and yet -- again in 2021. All three CLAY awards honored Orange for his civil rights work, which is the primary focus of his legal practice at Orange Law Offices. In 2016, Orange was selected as one of the Daily Journal's Top 100 lawyers in California in recognition of his entertainment law practice. Orange is also consistently selected by Thomson Reuters as a 'Super Lawyer' in the Civil Rights and First Amendment category. Orange's practice of law in California began as a Deputy Public Defender in Orange County.
Since 2006, Orange has been a teaching team member for Harvard Law School's (HLS) Winter Trial Advocacy Workshop (TAW), a full-credit HLS clinical course. Orange also serves as a National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA) faculty member for trial advocacy and deposition skills programs held for attorneys at various private firms, public organizations and state and federal government law offices nationwide. Orange is an alumnus of the Howard University School of Law and of Howard University.
For more about Professor Orange, click here
HOOMAN KAZEMI
Hooman Kazemi is the Assistant Program Director of the USC Dornsife Trial Advocacy Program. By day, Kazemi serves as a Trainer with the Los Angeles County Office of the Public Defender training new hires in advanced trial advocacy principles and mentoring them during their first jury trials. Previously, he handled felony cases with sentencing exposure ranging to lifetime imprisonment. He has tried over 75 cases to judges and juries at the felony, juvenile, and misdemeanor level, with exceptional results.
Kazemi has been and continues to be well-respected by the bench and bar throughout Southern California. In 2010 he was named Trial Lawyer of the Year in recognition of his exceptional trial record by The Private Defenders (TPD), a state-wide criminal defense bar association comprised of both Private Criminal Defense practitioners and Public Defenders. He is currently a member of the Faculty of Law at TPD as well as an Executive Board Member.
For more about Professor Kazemi, click here
KIRSTIN EGGERS
Kirstin Eggers is a faculty member at the USC School of Dramatic Arts. She has been a working actor and writer for over 15 years, with extensive commercial, guest and recurring television appearances including as a series regular on the ABC sitcom Work It, for which Entertainment Weekly called her "phenomenal."
With a focus on comedy off-camera, she has performed sketch and improv at the Groundlings, UCB, and Comedy Central Stage, and accepted invitations to appear at comedy festivals nationwide, including SketchfestNYC, Chicago Sketchfest, and the storied HBO U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen (winning the Best Sketch Comedy award with troupe Summer of Tears). A bona fide Trojan, Eggers holds a BFA in Acting from USC, where she won both the Jack Nicholson Award and Ava Greenwald Award for Outstanding Actor while an undergraduate, and was a member of USC's premier comedy troupe Commedus Interruptus. In addition to her work at USC, she has created curricula and taught acting and comedy for various organizations including Universal Studios Japan, 24th Street Theatre, Brentwood School, LAUSD, Gabriella Foundation, Arizona Bar Association, and National High School Mock Trial champions, to name a few.
For more about Professor Eggers click here
TROY RAYDER
Troy Rayder is a coach for the USC Dornsife Trial Advocacy Program. He practices law as a public defender in Los Angeles County. Rayder currently represents youth accused of serious crimes, including murder and sex offenses. Rayder has tried numerous cases to verdict in both juvenile and criminal court to great success.
Rayder graduated cum laude from Boston University School of Law on a full scholarship as a Public Interest Scholar. Rayder was a member of the USC Trial Advocacy Team from 2013 to 2016 where he competed at the National Championship Tournament twice and won numerous individual awards as an outstanding attorney and witness.
For more about Professor Rayder click here
YVETTE LOPEZ
Yvette Lopez is an attorney at the Los Angeles Public Defender's Office and former member of the USC Trial Advocacy Program. While at USC, Lopez received the Samuel S. Leibowitz Award for Excellence in Trial Advocacy as well as The Order of Troy. She then attended Howard University School of Law as an inaugural J.L. Greene Public Service Scholar.
At Howard, Lopez continued to compete in trial advocacy tournaments, where she became a regional champion of the National Trial Competition at American University's Washington College of Law, and later a national semi-finalist at the National Trial Competition at Bexar County Courthouse.
Lopez now serves as a Deputy Public Defender with the Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office, where she represents clients in criminal defense matters. Drawing on the courtroom skills she developed through years of trial advocacy training, Lopez continues her commitment to protecting vulnerable communities and ensuring that every client has a strong voice in the justice system.
For more about Professor Lopez click here
