Rudy Monterrosa
Adjunct Professor of Law
Email: rmonterr@nd.edu
Rodolfo “Rudy” Monterrosa has practiced criminal, immigration, and family law in South Bend, Indiana since 2001. He is the founding attorney of the Monterrosa Law Group, LLC. He served as the first Latino deputy public defender for St. Joseph County, serving in the misdemeanor and felony courts for over 17 years. He has represented clients with misdemeanor and felony cases at both the State and Federal level as well as clients with immigration cases in all stages of proceedings throughout the country.
Rudy serves as an adjunct professor at the Notre Dame Law School where he teaches a course on immigration and nationality law and co-teaches the Public Defender Externship course with his wife, a fellow Domer, Prof. Cecilia Monterrosa. In 2018 and 2019, both professors gathered a group of law students and community members from South Bend to represent detained mothers and children in the Dilley Detention Center in Dilley, Texas. In 2009, the Hispanic Law Students Association at the Notre Dame Law School honored him with the prestigious Graciela Olivarez Award. Two years later, he was chosen as part of the Michiana Chamber of Commerce 40 under 40 class of 2011. In 2021, the national civil rights organization Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund honored him with their Excellence in Community Service Award. In 2023, he received the 2023 Latino Legacy Award from the Indiana Latino Institute.
Since moving to South Bend in 1998, Rudy has been actively engaged in service and leadership within the community. His leadership in South Bend began when he was elected to serve on the Law School's Student Bar Association as SBA President. He has served on the Hispanic Alumni of Notre Dame and the Diversity Council of Notre Dame, the Inland Empire Future Leaders program, and was President of the Board of La Casa de Amistad, a nonprofit Latino organization. He also previously served as a commissioner on the Indiana Supreme Court’s Commission on Race & Gender Fairness in the Courts, as well as on the American Bar Association’s Commission on Hispanic Rights & Responsibilities. He currently serves as a Commissioner with the ABA's Commission on Immigration and as the Hispanic Alumni Representative with the Notre Dame Law Association.
From 2017 to 2020, Rudy became the third Latino to serve on the South Bend Community School Corporation Board of Trustees. In 2022, he made history as the first Latino elected to township office in St. Joseph County and currently serves as Chair of the German Township Advisory Board. In addition, he is Chair of the Board of the St. Joseph Regional Medical Center and he is President of the Indiana Latino Bar Association.
Professor Monterrosa has a B.A. in Psychology from Stanford University and a J.D. from the Notre Dame Law School. He continues to maintain a strong sense of service to the community throughout his professional career. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling and spending time with his wife, Cecilia Monterrosa, a South Bend lawyer, and their two dogs, Oso and Fancy.
Courses Taught
- LAW70301 - Immigration Law
- LAW70733 - Public Defender Externship