Nathanael Player

Biography

Nathanael Player is an Assistant Professor of Professional Practice in the Department of Social Work and a Faculty Fellow of the Transforming Communities Institute (TCI) at Utah State University, where he teaches social workers and other helping professionals how to practice law as Community Justice Advocates. He holds a Juris Doctor from Northeastern University School of Law and a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Utah. He previously served as the director of the Utah State Courts' Self-Help Center and Law Library. In that role he increased open hours for the Self-Help Center, oversaw the drafting and approval of dozens of court forms, and advanced a rule change to make Spanish and English bilingual summonses mandatory statewide; the final summons included a QR code linking recipients to friendly and accessible self-help materials. Before that, Nathanael represented low-income tenants facing eviction in San Francisco and Washington, D.C. In San Francisco he oversaw the litigation of hundreds of eviction cases, managed eleven attorneys, and helped to establish a trial program, filling a gap in the city's legal services. He also supervised the drafting of two data-driven reports on the state of evictions in San Francisco, which were instrumental in passing amendments to buttress the city's tenant protections. He loves to cook and explore new places with his husband.