Derrick Alexander Pope

Derrick Alexander Pope teaches Legislative Drafting and Race, Ethnicity, and the Law. In a prior stint with the College of Law, Professor Pope taught Probate Practice and Procedure.

A self-described "composer and conductor of ideas," Pope is the founder and managing director of The Arc of Justice Foundation, Inc. and host of its critically acclaimed podcast, "Hidden Legal Figures."

Pope is an Atlanta native and has enjoyed a distinguished legal career in the public, private and academic sectors. He is also a published author, who has provided counsel to the legislative and executive branches of government at the federal, state, and county level, having most recently served as executive counsel and chief of staff in the Office of the Chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners. Pope is a former assistant legislative counsel to the Georgia General Assembly and former legislative and general counsel to the Medical Association of Georgia. During the Obama administration, Pope was a member of the White House Data Driven Justice Initiative and the My Brother's Keeper Taskforce. In private practice, he has helped protect the inheritance rights of more than 500 families throughout Georgia.

In 2012, teaming with his daughter, he released a spoken word CD titled "The Race Track," composing the original music to four tracks and writing the script for the project.

Pope is a 1987 graduate of Morris Brown College and a 1992 graduate of Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans, Louisiana, earning top honors in the Loyola Law Clinic. He is a member of the State Bar of Georgia where he serves on three standing committees: vice-chair of the Communications Committee;  a member of the Advisory Committee on Legislation; a member of the Editorial Board, Georgia Bar Journal, and past co-chair of the Committee to Promote Inclusion in the Profession. In addition, he is a member of the Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity, the United States Supreme Court Historical Society, and the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.

In addition to his teaching at the COL, Pope is an adjunct lecturer in law and legal studies at the Stetson School of Business and College of Professional Advancement at Mercer University, where he teaches business law, health law, and workplace law.