Jamaal received his J.D. from Brooklyn Law School. Prior to law school, he worked as a Youth Advocate and Program Coordinator at South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation (SoBRO). During law school Jamaal was an active member of the Black Law Student Association, and the Vice President of Brooklyn Law Students for Sensible Drug Policy. During his 2L summer he interned at the Criminal Defense Practice of The Bronx Defenders. Jamaal also interned with New York State’s first charitable bail agency, The Bronx Freedom Fund, and performed clinical work with The Exoneration Initiative, an agency dedicated to providing free legal assistance to wrongfully convicted people in New York. Jamaal also externed in Brooklyn with the Criminal Defense Trial Office of The Legal Aid Society, and worked for a Professor at Brooklyn Law School as a Research Assistant on the constitutional requirement of voluntariness in plea bargains. Jamaal received his B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from the City College of New York, where he graduated magna cum laude as division valedictorian.