Jack B. Clarke, Jr. is a partner in the Education Law practice group of the Riverside office of Best Best & Krieger LLP. He joined BB&K right after graduating from law school, and has made his mark on the community and the profession since then as a leader both within and outside the firm.
 
Jack handles litigation concerning education law, special education disputes, public agency litigation and other types of substantial matters. Jack has successfully defended school districts and other education clients in student disciplinary matters, civil rights and Constitutional claims and special education due process hearings.
 
Jack is the recipient of numerous honors related to both his practice and his service to the community. From the Riverside County Bar Association and California Law Business magazine to the NAACP and the American Diabetes Association, Jack’s contributions as an attorney and human and civil rights advocate are celebrated by these prestigious organizations. Jack was the first African -American to chair the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce and he also served as chair of the Mayor’s Use-of-Force Review Panel in 1999 following the high-profile police shooting death of Tyisha Miller in Riverside, California.
 
Jack is a frequent speaker on special education matters. He speaks on subjects such as manifestation determination procedures and assessment procedures for children with exceptional needs. Jack presented at the Association of California School Administrators, the Safe Schools Conference, North Coastal Consortium of Special Education, McGeorge School of Law, Trujillo & Trujillo, the Riverside County Bar Association, the Speech and Language Pathologists Committee No. 10, the Riverside County Office of Education, LRP, and several school districts and SELPAs within Southern California.
 
In law school, Jack was elected to the Order of the Barristers, a national honorary society for outstanding achievement in courtroom advocacy, and served as staff writer on the Legislative Review of the Pacific Law Journal. He also received the United States Law Week Award for Outstanding Contributions to the law school community. He is a graduate of the National Institute on Trial Advocacy. 
 
Education

• University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, J.D., with distinction
• University of California, Riverside, B.S., business

Admissions

• California