Claudia Quintero
Director
Claudia joined Central West Justice Center in 2017, right out of law school, and in 2025, she was promoted to Director. In her role she oversees a staff of lawyers, paralegals, and case managers who assist low-income and elderly clients with immigration, housing and employment benefits in the five counties of Central and Western Massachusetts. Attorney Quintero practices in the areas of immigration, family, and employment law, supervises the Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Project, and continues to engage in legislative advocacy for farmworkers.
Prior to becoming Director, Attorney Quintero was a staff attorney leading the Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Project representing farmworkers across the Commonwealth in legal in matters related to immigration, wage and hour claims, housing, family, and benefits. She provided community education and know-your-rights trainings to community members and organizations. Attorney Quintero also co-leads the Fairness for Farmworkers Coalition, and co-drafted the Fairness for Farmworkers Act, a bill which would entitle farmworkers to overtime pay and minimum wage.
From 2022 – 2025, Attorney Quintero was a full-time Assistant Professor Law at Western New England University School of Law where she taught Legal Research and Writing. Attorney Quintero continues to teach at WNE Law as an adjunct professor, teaching an anti-racism focused course titled, Law and Social Change.
Attorney Quintero was selected for the Businesswest 2021 40 under 40 class for her professional contributions. In the past couple of years, she’s been selected as a Hispanic Massachusetts Emerging Leader by MassLive, a Social Justice Impact Finalist by New England Legal Awards, and recognized by Food Research and Action Center as one of 12 national leaders leading the charge to end hunger and poverty. In 2017, Attorney Quintero was awarded the Adams Pro Bono Publico Award by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services, in recognition of her distinguished service and outstanding commitment to providing pro bono legal services to those in need as a law student, that same year she was awarded the Student of the Year award by the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. She was also chosen as one of 16 lawyers across the country for the American Bar Association (ABA) Young Lawyers Division (YLD) Scholar Program and led the Minorities in the Profession Committee for the ABA YLD. Attorney Quintero has previously served on the boards of the Pioneer Valley Workers Center, the Rosenberg Fund for Children, the coordinating committee of the ACLU of Mass. Immigrant Protection Project, the board of the Massachusetts Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, and on the editorial board of ABA YLD The Young Lawyer. In 2023, she was appointed to the City of Springfield Labor and Workforce Development Working Group.
Attorney Quintero is a proud native of Los Angeles, where she attended California State University Los Angeles and received a B.A. in Comm. Studies, she received her M.S. in Rhetoric from University of Utah and graduated cum laude from Western New England University School of Law in 2017, where she was a Public Interest Scholar and a member of the Western New England University Law Review. During her time at the law school, she led the National Lawyers Guild student chapter and founded the Latino/a Law Student Association.