Sarah Anker

Deputy County Counsel, Marin County California Counsel

Sarah Anker is a Deputy County Counsel for the County of Marin, and currently practices on the Litigation, Employment/Labor, and Public Protection team. She has six years of experience in civil litigation and is also a member of the office's first affirmative litigation team.

Melanie Ash

Senior Counsel, New York City Law Department

Melanie Ash is Senior Counsel in the Affirmative Litigation Division of the NYC Law Department, where she represents the City of New York as a plaintiff in commercial, administrative, constitutional, and policy-related disputes of all types. She is also Chair of the Law Department’s Women’s Committee. In 2018, she was awarded the Law Department’s Edith J. Spivack Special Recognition Award for dedicated legal service and superior achievement. Melanie co-chairs the Board of the Fifth Avenue Committee, a non-profit Community Development Corporation working to advance social and economic justice in Brooklyn. Melanie has a B.A. (Hons) from Carleton University, an LLB from the University of British Columbia, and an LLM from Columbia Law School. She clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada and is admitted to the bar in British Columbia and New York.

Andrew Braver

Deputy City Attorney, Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office

Andrew Braver graduated from Yale Law School in 2013. After law school, he served as a clerk for Judge Jack B. Weinstein of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York and then as a fellow at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. From 2015 to 2018, he was an attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice. In 2019, he joined the Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office as a Deputy City Attorney in the Public Rights Division.

Richard Coglianese 

Solicitor General, Columbus City Attorney’s Office 

Rich Coglianese currently serves as Solicitor General for the City of Columbus. He has been a lawyer in public service for 24 years. During the first 22 years, he worked for the Ohio Attorney General in a variety of roles, including elections litigation. He then went to work for Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein in his labor and employment group. Rich heads the affirmative litigation group and also serves as Solicitor General.

Erica Faaborg

Chief Counsel, Assistant City Solicitor, Cincinnati City ATTORNEY'S Office

Erica Faaborg has been engaged in public interest work throughout her legal career. Her first legal job was as an associate in a Chicago-based civil rights firm focusing on police misconduct issues. From there, she went on to clerk for a federal magistrate for four years. She applies the skills and tools she learned from those two experiences to her work in the City of Cincinnati's Quality of Life/Affirmative Litigation division. She supervises a team of talented and dedicated attorneys focused on nuisance abatement and code enforcement litigation in the residential housing context.

Nailah Freeman

Assistant Corporation Counsel, Boston City Law Department

Nailah Freeman is an Assistant Corporation Counsel in the Government Services Section of the City of Boston’s Law Department. She provides legal guidance to various city agencies and commissions and defends city agencies during appeals of administrative decisions. Prior to joining the City, Nailah worked in private practice at an employment law firm, focusing on civil litigation matters. Nailah earned her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School in 2015. During law school, she concentrated in Business Law and served as the President of Suffolk’s Black Law Students Association. She received her B.A. in Economics from Boston College in 2011, where she minored in Faith, Peace, and Justice.

Lydia Furst

Deputy City Solicitor, Philadelphia City Law Department

Lydia Furst is a Deputy City Solicitor with the Philadelphia Law Department in the Affirmative and Special Litigation Unit. Her practice is focused on affirmative litigation and a wide range of general commercial litigation. Prior to joining the Law Department, Lydia spent over eight years in private practice at a large law firm in Philadelphia. A native of Seattle, Lydia is a devoted runner and obsessive cook.

Rose Carmen Goldberg

Deputy Attorney General, California Department of Justice

Rose Carmen Goldberg is a Deputy Attorney General in the Office of the California Attorney General, in the Public Rights Division, Consumer Protection Section. She litigates complex affirmative cases to protect consumers in her native California. Her work focuses primarily on student loans, service members, and veterans. Previously, Rose represented homeless and low-income veterans and military sexual assault survivors as a Skadden Fellow. Following law school, she clerked for the Honorable Theodore A. McKee, former Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Rose is a graduate of Yale Law School (J.D.), Columbia University (MPA), and St. John’s College’s great books program in New Mexico (B.A.).

Rebecca Hirsch 

Assistant Corporation Counsel, Chicago City Department of Law 

Rebecca Hirsch joined the City of Chicago's Affirmative Litigation Division as an inaugural member in 2018. She works to push back on federal laws and policies harmful to City residents and protects the rights of residents through enforcement of local housing, consumer, environmental, and other code provisions. Before joining the Affirmative Litigation Division, she spent 10 years working in the City's Constitutional and Commercial Division, where she gained extensive experience in First Amendment, Second Amendment, and civil rights law. She is a 1995 cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law. After graduation, she clerked in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas, and then spent ten years as a litigation associate at two national law firms.

Jake Hudnut

Chief Prosecutor, City of Jersey CitY

Jake Hudnut was sworn in as Jersey City's chief municipal prosecutor in July 2018. His office litigates all criminal misdemeanors and quality-of-life code violations in Jersey City. Since his appointment, Jake issued the first-in-the-state policy decriminalizing marijuana possession, created a diversionary program for Veterans, and launched in-court service referrals for domestic violence victims. He also chairs the Mayor's Quality-of-Life Taskforce, under which seven code enforcement agencies and four police units together concentrate efforts against quality-of-life offenders. The Taskforce has successfully prosecuted absentee landlords, local polluters, negligent businesses, and other public nuisances. Prior to being nominated as prosecutor, he was a successful criminal defense attorney practicing in New York City and across Northern New Jersey.

Meryum Khan 

Assistant Attorney General, Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office 

Meryum Khan is an Assistant Attorney General in the Fair Labor Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. Her primary work includes enforcement of laws that enhance the economic security of vulnerable workers, including minimum wage, timely payment of wages, overtime, and child labor laws. Having spent most of her career in public service, Meryum is dedicated to community engagement and advocacy. Meryum is a 2011 graduate of Suffolk University Law School and a 2008 graduate of Syracuse University.

Harpreet Khera

Deputy Chief of the Special Litigation Bureau, Illinois Attorney General’s Office

Harpreet Khera is the Deputy Chief of the Special Litigation Bureau in the Illinois Attorney General's Office. Harpreet has spent her career in public service and helps manage a team of attorneys focused primarily on advancing affirmative civil litigation in the areas of financial fraud, consumer protection, civil rights, ethics, and workplace rights. Harpreet received her B.A. from Washington University in Saint Louis and her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.

Jillian Lazar 

Director of Investor Protection, Delaware Department of Justice 

Jill Lazar joined the Delaware Department of Justice as a Deputy Attorney General in the Consumer Protection Unit in 2012, where she worked largely on investigations and litigation involving residential mortgage-backed securities in the wake of the financial crisis. In 2018, Jill was appointed as the Director of the Investor Protection Unit. She serves on the North American Securities Administrators Association (“NASAA”) committee on Cybersecurity and chairs the NASAA Fintech committee. While at Fordham University School of Law, Jill was a summer clerk for the Honorable Kevin Thomas Duffy, Senior Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. 

Jane Lewis

Assistant City Solicitor, Baltimore City Law Department

Jane Lewis is an Assistant City Solicitor with the Baltimore City Law Department in the Affirmative Litigation Division. She has been working in public service for the past eight years. She began working for Baltimore City as a Citistat Analyst in 2012, then moved to an attorney position with Housing Code Enforcement. She left Baltimore for two years to work as a litigator in the D.C. Office of the Attorney General, but left after the birth of her first child to work in her current position in the Baltimore City Law Department. Jane graduated from Yale Law School (class of 2010), where she was a member of the Worker and Immigrants’ Rights Clinic and the Yale Law and Policy Journal. She enjoys gardening, exploring Baltimore by bike, and hopes to be able to see live music again someday soon.

Luisanne Liz

Agency Attorney, NYC Commission Human Rights

Luisanne Liz is an Agency Attorney at the New York City Commission on Human Rights. At the Commission, Luisanne investigates and prosecutes discrimination cases against employers, housing providers, and places of public accommodation under the New York City Human Rights Law. Prior to joining the Commission, Luisanne represented refugees facing deportation and seeking asylum, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, and other immigration relief. Luisanne earned a Bachelor of Arts from Fordham University and J.D. from Cornell Law School. As a law student, Luisanne served as an editor of the Cornell International Law Journal and interned at the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Luisanne is a first-generation Hispanic-American from New York. She is the proud mother of a ten-month-old baby. In her spare time, Luisanne enjoys spending time with her family, reading, and meditating.

Daniel N. Lopez 

Litigation Counsel, Cameron County Commission Court 

Daniel N. Lopez graduated from Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University in May 2014. Upon graduation he joined the Cameron County District Attorney's Office where he worked for over three and a half years trying a wide range of cases from capital murder to traffic citations. Two years ago, Daniel joined the Cameron County Commissioners Court - Civil Legal Division as the Litigation Counsel. He primarily works on employment, civil rights, and administrative law but has worked in several other areas, including most recently COVID response.

Jennie Lusk 

Civil Right Bureau Chief, New Mexico Attorney General’s Office 

Jennie Lusk is the Civil Rights Division Director for New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas. Under Attorney General Hector Baldera, she has served as director of the Consumer and Family Advocacy, in the Open Government Division, and as communications counsel. Her advocacy history includes ten years at ACLU-NM, serving as vice-president of the Albuquerque Police Oversight Board, organizing volunteers and donors for the United Nations Children's Fund, and visiting North Korea with a National Lawyers Guild delegation. Outside of work, she fundraises for the county Democratic Party and the Emerge program that trains progressive women for elective office.

Caitlin Micko 

Assistant Attorney General, Minnesota Attorney General’s Office 

Caitlin Micko is an Assistant Attorney General at the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office. Her work focuses on enforcement of the state’s consumer protection laws. Prior to joining the office, Caitlin worked as a civil rights attorney in employment law. Caitlin received her undergraduate degree from Gonzaga University and her law degree from William Mitchell College of Law.

Jeremiah Miller

Assistant City Attorney, Seattle City Attorney’s Office

Jeremiah Miller has engaged in litigation on behalf of working people since he became a lawyer in 2008. He has prosecuted anti-discrimination, wage and hour, workplace safety and health, and anti-retaliation cases in administrative and federal courts to ensure fair, equitable and safe employment conditions. Jeremiah is currently with the Seattle City Attorney's Office in the Regulatory Enforcement and Economic Justice unit.

Kenny Minaya

Chief of Staff, New York City Department of Consumer Affairs

Kenny Minaya is the Chief of Staff at the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP), a position he has held since August 2016. He oversees the agency's intergovernmental affairs division and advises the Commissioner on policy and operational matters. Prior to DCWP, Kenny worked as the Program Coordinator for Catholic Migrations Services' Immigrant Tenant Advocacy Program. In that role, Kenny supervised the program's tenant organizing activities, and litigated matters on behalf of tenant associations and individuals against their landlords. Kenny graduated from the CUNY School of Law in 2012.

Danielle Newsome 

Assistant District Attorney & Labor Liaison, Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office 

Danielle Newsome joined the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office in September 2019 as an Assistant District Attorney and as the office’s first Labor Liaison. In her new role within the Economic Crimes Unit, she investigates and prosecutes wage theft, labor trafficking, and a number of other crimes against workers. Prior to joining the Philadelphia DAO Danielle practiced labor and employment law, and represented labor unions and individual workers. Between earning her bachelor’s degree in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University and her J.D. from Temple University School of Law, Danielle worked as a union organizer and began teaching workshops and courses for worker advocates and activists.

David Pai

Deputy Attorney General, California Department of Justice

David Pai is a Deputy Attorney General in the California Department of Justice's Public Rights Division. His work focuses on land use, conservation enforcement, and ensuring the public trust for all Californians. Previously, he litigated public employment and public safety concerns. In totality, his practice mirrors the breadth of the State's interests—from defending pre-hiring physical requirements for public safety-related jobs to helping state agencies balance housing production needs with environmental stewardship, to ensuring public access to shorelines and beaches. David earned his J.D. from University of California, Hastings College of the Law and his B.A. from Boston University.

Shareese Pryor 

Bureau Chief of the Civil Rights Bureau, Illinois Attorney General’s Office 

Shareese Pryor is the Chief of the Civil Rights Bureau of the Office of the Illinois Attorney General, where she is in charge of overseeing investigations, litigation, and legislation to address patterns and practices of discrimination in Illinois. Shareese previously served as an Assistant Attorney General for the Office and worked on legislation to improve Illinois higher education institutions’ responses to campus sexual assault. She also worked on litigation involving a company engaging in national origin discrimination of its employees. Before joining the OAG, Shareese worked at Legal Aid – Chicago (formerly LAF). Shareese obtained a B.A. from Barnard College and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.

Sara Schaefer 

Assistant City Attorney, Austin City Law Department 

Sara Schaefer currently works as an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Austin in Austin, Texas. She is a litigator who handles personal injury cases, employment law cases, public health litigation, and civil rights litigation for the City. Prior to her time with the City of Austin, Sara practiced criminal law as a public defender with the Colorado State Public Defender in Colorado Springs. Sara attended The University of Texas School of Law and earned her J.D. in 2014. Her undergraduate degree is from the University of California, Berkeley.

Jason Searle 

Litigation Unit Attorney, Navajo Nation Department of Justice 

Jason Searle works for the Navajo Nation Department of Justice (NNDOJ) Litigation Unit. His unit brings affirmative litigation, primarily in federal court, and also defense work in both federal, state, and Navajo judicial and administrative tribunals. His current defense work primarily involves employment matters, but also touches on the assertion of Navajo judicial and regulatory jurisdiction and defense of the Indian Child Welfare Act. His current affirmative litigation is primarily against the federal government Two of the most prominent cases are the Bears Ears litigation, challenging Trump's purported abrogation of the Bears Ears National Monument, and the CARES Act litigation, challenging the U.S. Department of the Treasury's attempt to divert COVID-19 relief funds for tribal government to corporations. Jason is originally from Utah and Idaho. He graduated from the University of Michigan Law School and started his career with NNDOJ. He is licensed with the New Mexico and Navajo Bar Associations.

Ryan B. Smith 

Deputy Attorney General, Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office 

Ryan B. Smith was selected as an inaugural Honors Fellow at the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. At the conclusion of his fellowship, Ryan was hired as a permanent attorney in the Fair Labor Section where he protects workers’ rights, engages with stakeholders, and assists the Impact Litigation Section on national matters. Before joining the Office, Ryan clerked for New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Faustino Fernandez-Vina. He graduated from Michigan State University and Penn Law. At Penn, he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Law and Social Change and received the Benjamin R. Jones Award for outstanding contribution to the public interest.

Emma Sokoloff-Rubin 

Clinical Fellow & Visiting Lecturer in Law, San Francisco Affirmative Litigation Project Fellow (SFAlP) 

Emma Sokoloff-Rubin is a Lecturer in Law and San Francisco Affirmative Litigation Project (SFALP) Fellow at Yale Law School. SFALP partners students with lawyers in the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office to conceive, develop, and litigate public interest lawsuits. Emma earned her J.D. from Yale Law School, where she was a member of the Clinical Student Board. She went on to clerk for Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer of the District of Connecticut. Prior to law school, Emma worked as a journalist covering public schools in New York City. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, The Nation, Chalkbeat New York, and the Yale Historical Review, among other publications. She is the co-author of Sustaining Activism, a book about a women’s movement in southern Brazil.

Dan Sutton 

Deputy Chief of Policy, Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office 

Dan Sutton is the Deputy Chief of Policy for the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office. Prior to this role, he served as Senior Policy Counsel to Rhode Island’s first Secretary of Commerce, Senior Policy Advisor to the Emergency Manager of the City of Detroit during the city’s bankruptcy, and the assistant to the President's advisor on the national security budget at the White House Office of Management and Budget during the Obama Administration. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School and Georgetown University.

Michelle D. Thomas 

Chief of Civil Rights Section, District of Columbia Attorney General’s Office 

Michelle D. Thomas is the Chief of the Civil Rights Section at the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia (OAG). Prior to joining OAG, she served in various senior-level management and legal positions in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. She holds a B.S. in Finance from California State University Fresno, an M.B.A. in Management from U.C. Berkeley and a J.D. from Howard University School of Law.

Kaitlin Toyama 

Staff Counsel, California Department of Fair Employment and Housing 

Kaitlin Toyama is a staff attorney with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), where she handles a wide variety of cases involving discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations. Her primary practice focuses on sexual harassment and gender pay equity. Kaitlin joined the DFEH as a Civil Rights Fellow in 2017 before being hired on as Staff Counsel. Prior to law school, Kaitlin worked in the environmental justice sector with the Community Water Center. Kaitlin earned her J.D. from UC Hastings College of the Law and B.A. in Urban and Environmental Policy from Occidental College.

Jed Untereker 

Senior Division Chief of the Civil Division, El Paso County Attorney's Office 

Jed Untereker is the head of the civil division for the El Paso County Attorney's Office, where he’s worked for the past five years. Prior to that, he worked for ten years with non-profits in Chicago and El Paso focusing on low-wage worker rights and civil rights.

Danielle Vappie 

Deputy Counsel, LOS ANGELES COUNTY COUNSEL

Danielle Vappie has been a Deputy Counsel with the Los Angeles County Counsel's office for two years. Prior to joining LA County Counsel, Danielle was the Law Firm Director for Los Angeles Dependency Lawyers (LADL), the largest non-profit in the country representing parents and guardians in the dependency system. Danielle spent 12 years at LADL where she took part in legislative advocacy and two amicus briefs. She started at LADL as a staff attorney and handled writs and trainings. Danielle has been practicing law for 16 years. She is married with two kids, Joelle (11) and Jiselle (9).

Eve Weissman 

Deputy Attorney General, New Jersey Attorney General’s Office 

Eve Weissman is a Deputy Attorney General in the newly formed Affirmative Civil Rights and Labor Enforcement section of the NJ Division of Law. Prior to joining the Division of Law, Eve worked at New Economy Project, where she brought impact litigation to curtail discriminatory and abusive financial practices. She also provided legal assistance to low-income people on a variety of financial justice and consumer rights issues. Eve previously worked in the Homeowner Defense Unit of Staten Island Legal Services and served as a law clerk to the Honorable Cheryl L. Pollak in the Eastern District of New York. Eve obtained her law degree from the University of California, Berkeley and her bachelors from Vassar College.

Alvar Ayala

He/Him

Alvar Ayala is the Chief of the Workplace Rights Bureau in the Illinois Attorney General's Office. Alvar has spent his legal career advocating for low wage workers through class action litigation and legislative initiatives. Alvar believes that collaboration between stakeholders such as organizers, community organizations and enforcement agencies is key to protecting and advancing workers' rights. Prior to joining the Illinois Attorney General's Office, Alvar was a partner at Workers' Law Office PC, a small firm in Chicago litigating exclusively on behalf of low wage workers. Alvar also worked for various not for profit organizations including Chicago Legal Aid and Working Hands Legal Clinic (now known as Raise the Floor Alliance). Alvar is a native of Torreon, Coahuila, Mexico.

What does Equitable Enforcement mean to you?

Equitable enforcement means that the enforcement strategy incorporates the experiences, wants, and input of the community that will benefit from enforcement.

Jessica Berger

She/Her

Jessica Berger is an Assistant Attorney General in the Elder Justice Section of the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia. She litigates civil enforcement cases regarding financial exploitation of older adults and persons with disabilities. Prior to joining D.C.’s Office of Attorney General, she worked as a legal services attorney for six years. Most recently, Jessie worked at Bay Area Legal Aid representing low-income individuals in domestic violence, public benefits, and disability cases.

What does Equitable Enforcement mean to you?

Equitable enforcement means using the power of the state to advocate for historically vulnerable and marginalized residents. It means using government resources to enforce the rights of individuals to live free from discrimination, predatory lending, and financial exploitation, and the right to reside in safe and accessible conditions. It also means focusing enforcement on matters that will make our communities more inclusive and welcoming for all residents.

Tiffany S. Bingham

She/her

Tiffany S. Bingham is Managing Counsel of the Affirmative Litigation, Compliance & Environmental Divisions of the Harris County Attorney’s Office, where she represents Harris County as a plaintiff in high-stakes constitutional, commercial, election, and policy-related disputes that impact the community at large. Prior to the County, Tiffany was a Senior Assistant City Attorney for the City of Houston, where she also had the opportunity to serve as a Deputy Chief of Commercial Litigation Department. In this role, she represented City client departments in high-profile, complex civil litigation matters. Tiffany was a also a partner at Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP, where she helped open the Houston office with a litigation practice group from Porter Hedges LLP. At Vorys, she represented major companies in general civil litigation matters, and served as national coordinating counsel overseeing litigation in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Arkansas and Oklahoma. In addition to trial work, Tiffany has appellate experience and has argued cases in multiple Texas Courts of Appeal and the Fifth Circuit. Tiffany was identified as a Texas Super Lawyer—Rising Star over several years, and was an inaugural fellow with the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity. Tiffany is a graduate of Xavier University in New Orleans and Harvard Law School. She was selected as an Earl Warren Scholar by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. She clerked for the Honorable Eric T. Washington in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. She is admitted to the bar in Texas, and admitted to practice in the Southern and Western Districts of Texas, as well as the Fifth Circuit and United States Supreme Court.

What does Equitable Enforcement mean to you?

Equitable enforcement means ensuring compliance with local laws and regulations while also empowering local communities and marginalized persons.

Iris Bromberg

She/her

Iris Bromberg (she/her) is a Legal Specialist in New Jersey Division on Civil Rights’ (DCR) Strategic Initiatives and Enforcement Unit (SIE), where she works on proactive initiatives aimed at advancing civil rights and preventing discrimination. She leads SIE’s fair housing and fair chance in housing work, and co-leads SIE’s gender equity and LGBTQ rights work. Prior to joining DCR, Iris served as a senior staff attorney at Legal Services NYC’s LGBTQ and HIV Advocacy Unit, where she provided direct representation and advice in a wide range of civil practice areas including fair housing, disability rights, public benefits, eviction defense, asylum maters, and name changes. Previously, Iris served as an open government attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey. There, she primarily focused on strengthening open government through impact litigation, amicus support, legislative advocacy, and public education. In 2020, the National LGBT Bar Association recognized Iris as one of the best LGBTQ+ Lawyers Under 40.

What does Equitable Enforcement mean to you?

An equitable approach to enforcement requires working directly with the communities most impacted by systemic violence to ensure our efforts respect human dignity and reflect actual needs. It also requires thinking critically about the intersectional implications of all of our agency decisions, from the language on our website to the strategic focus of our enforcement efforts.

Scott Brown

he/him

Scott Brown is a Deputy Corporation Counsel for Milwaukee County. He has a broad practice that include transactional matters, advisory work, as well as some litigation. He came to Milwaukee County from private practice and prior to that he was an Assistant Defender at the Defender Association of Philadelphia for many years.

What does Equitable Enforcement mean to you?

It is the application of law and public policy in a manner that recognizes systemic inequity and seeks to alleviate rather than compound that inequity.

Kate Burroughs

she/her

Kate Burroughs currently serves as a Senior Assistant City Solicitor for the City of Cincinnati in the Quality of Life/Affirmative Litigation division. She has been a lawyer in public service and private practice for 25 years. For the first 15 years of her career, she served as a prosecutor for Hamilton County, Ohio, litigating in the felony trial division. With a desire to change outcomes in the community on the front end, she switched gears and became the CEO of a local nonprofit, Adopt A Class, working with businesses and civic groups to connect them to PreK-8th grade students from underserved communities. After transitioning back to law through private practice, she returned to public service where her head and heart were. At the City, she focuses on nuisance abatement and code enforcement litigation in the residential housing context with an eye on equity and helping home owners.

What does Equitable Enforcement mean to you?

An equitable enforcement approach ensures compliance with laws and policy while considering the outcomes and impact on the individual. In essence, it is adding a "personal touch" to enforcement.

Lisa Eisenberg

she/her

Lisa Eisenberg is a Deputy Attorney General in the Fair Labor Section of the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. Her work with the Office has focused primarily on theft of prevailing wages and construction workplace misclassification. Prior to joining the Office of Attorney General, Lisa clerked for the Office of Administrative Law Judges of the U.S. Department of Labor and Philadelphia Orphan’s Court Judge John W. Herron. She graduated from the Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law in 2017. Her undergraduate degree is from Temple University.

What does Equitable Enforcement mean to you?

I have the unique benefit of being able to consider equitable enforcement in both criminal and civil contexts. In the criminal enforcement context, equitable enforcement means centering fairness, proportionality, and proper resource allocation in law enforcement decision making. Through adopting equitable enforcement practices, I believe criminal law enforcers can build greater public trust and achieve better outcomes. In the civil context, equitable enforcement means amplifying the voices of people who often go unheard, and focusing resources on assisting vulnerable people and communities. By addressing the issues underserved communities face, civil enforcers can affirm the communities’ dignity and improve their material conditions.

Amy Fitzpatrick

She/Her

Amy Fitzpatrick is the First Assistant County Solicitor for Bucks County, responsible for managing the County’s in-house legal department of ten attorneys and supervising outside counsel to provide legal services the County Commissioners and their administration. In addition to leading the County’s affirmative litigation efforts, she provides strategic risk assessments, develops new policies, oversees the County’s election work, and conducts internal investigations. Prior to joining the County, Amy spent over seven years as a litigation associate at two national law firms, representing clients in antitrust, intellectual property, and complex commercial disputes as well as assisting with compliance investigations. Amy received her B.A. from Connecticut College and her J.D. from U.C. Hastings College of the Law. She is licensed in California, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

What does Equitable Enforcement mean to you?

Equitable enforcement involves a multi-faceted approach to defining justice. It includes consideration of historical practices and taking active steps to minimize harms to marginalized communities in shaping agency strategy and pursuing individual actions.

Sara Gross

She/her

Sara Gross is the Chief of the Affirmative Litigation Division of the Baltimore City Department of Law. After graduating from the University of Maryland School of Law in 2004, Sara clerked for a trial court judge in Baltimore City. After spending seven years as a prosecutor in Baltimore, she switched to civil practice, handling complex defense litigation for the City Law Department. In 2020, she was named head of the affirmative litigation practice group. In 2015, the Bar Association for Baltimore City named her the Government and Public Interest Lawyer of the Year and in 2017 The Daily Record named her to the Very Important Professionals list. In 2021, Business Insider named Sara as one of the top nine lawyers in the country taking on energy companies.

What does Equitable Enforcement mean to you?

Enforcing laws, regulations, and policies in a manner that achieves an equitable outcome rather than an equitable application, by taking into account systemic issues and inequities.

Micah Ince

she/her

Micah Ince is Executive Assistant District Attorney at the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office. Prior to this role she served as Legislative Director with the New Orleans City Council, where she worked on a number of justice reform and quality of life initiatives. Having spent over half of her career in public service, she is committed to helping government agencies build public trust and deliver positive change in the community. Micah received her MPA from Ball State University and her Juris Doctorate from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law.

What does Equitable Enforcement mean to you?

A conscientious approach that centers on accountability and avoids perpetuating cycles of suffering.

Brandon Livengood

he/him

Brandon Livengood is a Assistant City Attorney for the City of Austin, Texas, and currently practices in the Litigation division of the City’s Law Department. His practice is equally split between affirmative and defensive litigation for various City Departments.

Erin McGowan

she/her

Erin McGowan is an associate city counselor at the City of St. Louis and is a member of the office’s Affirmative Litigation Unit. She handles all aspects of civil litigation filed on behalf of the City of St. Louis to address public health concerns, predatory business practices, and civil rights matters and to address direct harms to the City itself. She joined the City Counselor’s Office in 2012, and prior to transitioning to the new Affirmative Litigation Unit, defended civil claims on behalf of the City and City employees. She earned her law degree from Saint Louis University School of Law and her undergraduate degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

What does Equitable Enforcement mean to you?

Equitable enforcement involves deploying government resources and enforcing laws in a way that actually makes sense for the community.

Marina Pantchenko

she/her

Marina Pantchenko is a Deputy County Counsel for the County of Monterey, she currently practices in the Litigation and General Government divisions. She has nine years of litigation experience, currently advises a variety of county departments on matters involving public health and works on individual impact litigation assignments. Marina is a former Equal Justice Works fellow whose fellowship focused on expanding health access to refugee communities. Marina obtained her B.A. from the University of California, Santa Cruz and J.D. from Golden Gate University School of Law.

What does Equitable Enforcement mean to you?

Equitable enforcement means meaningful access and opportunity to all in our communities. A person's health outcomes and access to jobs and education should not be defined by their zip code, race, religion, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, or immigration status.

Cesar J. del Peral

he/him

Cesar J. del Peral has been a Senior Deputy Counsel with the Los Angeles County Counsel's office for two years. Before joining LA County Counsel, Cesar was a Trial Attorney with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, where he helped enforce the federal statutes prohibiting discrimination in the workplace for nine and a half years. Cesar has been practicing law for 17 and a half years. He is married with two kids, Aixa (11) and Alma (10).

What does Equitable Enforcement mean to you?

It means the application and enforcement of existing laws in a way that furthers the goal of achieving an equitable society; that is, protecting those who need protection and holding to account those who wield disproportionate power and influence and use it to prevent equitable opportunity in our society.

Sarah Petrie

she/her

Sarah is an Assistant Attorney General in the Consumer Protection Division at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. She has practiced there for nine years. Prior to joining the Attorney General’s Office, she completed legal internships with the Honorable Susan Dlott of the United States District Court, Southern District of Ohio in Cincinnati, Ohio; the Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Consumer Protection in Washington, D.C.; Greater Boston Legal Services, Consumer Rights Unit, in Boston, MA. She is a graduate of Northeastern University School of Law and Brown University.

What does Equitable Enforcement mean to you?

Equitable Enforcement means that public agencies charged with enforcing laws actively work to protect the most vulnerable populations and bring cases with an eye toward remedying systemic injustices

Zarah Rahman

she/her

Zarah Rahman is a Housing Justice Attorney with the Oakland City Attorney’s Office. She previously served as an attorney in the Oakland City Attorney’s Neighborhood Law Corps, which focuses on difficult issues facing neighborhoods including human trafficking, substandard housing, and public safety. Before joining the City Attorney’s Office, Ms. Rahman worked in the Housing Program at Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto and served as a judicial law clerk for Judge Berzon of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Ms. Rahman graduated from UC Berkeley Law School and received her B.A. from Brown University.

What does Equitable Enforcement mean to you?

Equitable enforcement in the context of the housing justice work that I currently do means prioritizing enforcement to benefit historically and currently marginalized groups, including low-income communities and communities of color. Equitable enforcement also requires seeking outcomes through litigation and other enforcement actions with the most wide-reaching and sustainable impact. To me, it also means considering the equity and racial justice impacts of the choice of enforcement targets.

A. Mercedes Restucha-Klem

she/her

Mercedes Restucha-Klem is an Assistant Attorney General with the Public Protection Section of the North Carolina Department of Justice. She serves as Outreach and Policy Counsel for the Department and works on various civil rights and public safety policy initiatives, including adult abuse, consumer protection and criminal justice reform. Prior to this role, her work included representing the North Carolina Division of Child Development and Early Education, advocating for the employment, access, and voting rights of people with disabilities, and practicing criminal and immigration law. She currently serves on the board of El Pueblo, Inc. and on the NC State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Mercedes has a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ('04) and a Juris Doctorate from North Carolina Central University School of Law ('09).

What does Equitable Enforcement mean to you?

Equitable enforcement means every individual has the resources and the ability to redress violations of their rights. It means legal actors have the proper tools and clear jurisdiction, and they use them to pull the arc towards justice.

Lee Sherman

he/him

Lee Sherman has practiced law for 13 years and currently serves as a Deputy City Attorney with the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office, Affirmative Litigation Division, where he prosecutes consumer protection actions on behalf of the People of the State of California. Before joining the City Attorney's Office in September 2021, Lee was a Deputy Attorney General in the Civil Rights Enforcement Section of the California Attorney General's Office for six years. There, he led numerous litigations challenging the Trump Administration's immigration policies and led and participated in civil rights investigations of public entities. For his work, Lee was awarded the Sustained Superior Accomplishment Attorney General Award in 2021 and two of the litigation teams he led were awarded with Attorney General Team Awards in 2020 and 2021. Lee earned his J.D. from Boston College Law School and earned his undergraduate degree in Political Science and Theater from the University of Southern California.

What does Equitable Enforcement mean to you?

Equitable enforcement means filling in the gaps where there has been limited enforcement to ensure that the interests and rights of vulnerable populations are protected. It also means taking bold action, not tinkering around the edges of an issue, and finding creative and pragmatic ways to address the urgency of a particular problem that had previously not been sufficiently addressed.

Melissa G Walker

she/her

Mel Walker is a Legal Specialist for the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights in the Strategic Initiatives and Enforcement Unit. Her unit proactively enforces the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination by conducting investigations, amending and creating regulations, and more. She leads issues in race and disability, and co-leads health equity. Mel received her B.A. in Anthropology from Herbert Lehman College and her J.D. from Seton Hall Law.

What does Equitable Enforcement mean to you?

Equitable enforcement means providing a solution to the disease of injustice and not the symptoms. It means understating in inequalities and disparities that persist in society, and working towards eliminating them. I grew up in a low-income BIPOC area where the symptoms of injustice manifested as high asthma rates, lead poisoning, and more. The high asthma rates lead to young students having many absences from schools, which prevents them from keeping up with their peers. Childhood lead exposure has been tied to harmful effects, including neurological damage and anti-social behavior. These health inequalities are one of the many ways people are forced into poverty and crime, at no fault of their own. Equitable enforcement would address those issues and see humans experiencing injustice.

Sean McGrath

he/him

Sean McGrath is a Deputy City Solicitor in the Special & Affirmative Litigation Unit in the Philadelphia Law Department. His Unit brings affirmative impact and public policy litigation on behalf of the City of Philadelphia as well as handling the defense of complex commercial litigation, class-actions, election litigation, property cases, and other novel or complex matters.

What does Equitable Enforcement mean to you?

Equitable enforcement means that decisions allocating enforcement attention and resources are informed by those communities the enforcement entity serves, with careful attention and voice given to those communities who have been subject to historic and systemic racial oppression.

Nathan Arrowsmith

he/him

Nathan Arrowsmith works as Senior Litigation Counsel in the Special Litigation and Government Accountability section of the Solicitor General’s Office within the Arizona Attorney General’s Office where he focuses on constitutional litigation. Prior to joining the Attorney General’s Office, Nathan worked in private practice at both a small and mid-size firm. Nathan has been a long-time advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community. In private practice, Nathan regularly advised corporations, educational institutions, and private fraternal organizations on issues around LGBTQIA+ inclusion. He also represented LGBTQIA+ clients in a variety of settings including assisted reproduction, estate planning, employment discrimination, and discrimination in places of public accommodation. Additionally, Nathan worked with a local non-profit to host quarterly name change clinics for transgender and non-binary youth and young adults.

Bernardo Rafael Cruz

He/Him

Bernardo Rafael Cruz is the first Affirmative Litigation Attorney at the El Paso County Attorney’s Office. Bernardo has spent his legal career advocating for the basic human and civil rights of all persons through impact litigation, amicus support, legislative advocacy, and public education. Prior to joining the El Paso County Attorney’s Office, Bernardo worked for five years as an attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas representing immigrants in their struggle for humane treatment and the protection of their civil rights. Bernardo also worked for two years at the Columbia Legal Services office in Yakima, Washington, representing immigrants and farmworkers in their civil rights and employment law cases. Bernardo obtained his B.A. from the University of Texas at El Paso and J.D. from Seattle University School of Law.

Andrew Cutillo

He/Him

Andrew Cutillo is the Deputy Solicitor of the City of Scranton. Andrew’s work primarily focuses on housing, including regulating rental housing and spurring development of affordable, achievable housing. His portfolio also includes community development, digital transformation, government ethics, tax reform, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Outside the office, Andrew serves on the nonprofit boards of the NEPA Youth Shelter and NeighborWorks NEPA and is a member of the Truman National Security Project. Before arriving at Scranton City Hall, Andrew served as a Legal Honors Law Clerk at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and as a Regional Voter Protection Director in Northeast Pennsylvania, where he grew up. Andrew received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School, where he was a Darrow Scholar, and his B.A. from the University of Rochester. Prior to law school, Andrew served for several years at the White House, including on the National Security Council staff.

What does Equitable Enforcement mean to you?

Equitable enforcement means treating all subjects of enforcement equally, including those that may be harder to hold accountable, and prioritizing enforcement that truly protects the health, safety, and welfare of the entire community.

Terrah A. Dews

She/her

Terrah A. Dews is an Associate County Attorney in Charles County, Maryland. Ms. Dews attended Morgan State University and the University of Baltimore School of Law. After completing a judicial clerkship in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County, Maryland, she practiced law in the Prince George’s County Office of Law, representing the County and its employees in various types of litigation including child abuse and neglect, premise liability, automobile negligence and excessive force cases. Ms. Dews also worked several years in the federal sector with the Medicare Program at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Currently, she provides legal advice and representation to Charles County agencies, boards and commissions. On behalf of the County, Ms. Dews works with outside counsel, pursuing affirmative litigation where corporate defendants have allegedly harmed the residents or environment of Charles County. A couple of examples include the National Opioid Settlement and the Monsanto PCB Settlement.

She also serves as counsel to the Charles County Resilience Authority, established to mitigate the effects of climate change within Charles County. Ms. Dews is a member of the Maryland Bar Character Committee that conducts investigations and interviews into the character and fitness of applicants to the Maryland Bar. Her interests include writing, traveling, and tracing her ancestry.

Jaclyn C. Grieser

She/her

Jaclyn C. Grieser is a life-long civil servant and has practiced law from the federal to local municipality levels. A native of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Jaclyn joined County's Law Department in 2022 as their Chief Litigator. As the Law Department grows, Ms. Grieser is responsible for handling a diverse portfolio of civil actions and managing the portfolios of litigators within the department, as well cases sent to out-side counsel. She manages the initiation of lawsuits brought by and defends all lawsuits brought against the County, its subdivisions, and employees. Defensive actions include matters in employment, premise liability, civil rights, Right to Know and election law. Jaclyn pursues affirmative litigation at the behest of the County Commissioners and that are focused on improving the health, welfare, and well-being of Bucks County's residents.

Ms. Grieser has tried hundreds of jury trials to verdict and is a frequent invited speaker and trainer for continuing legal education courses on both trial tactics and veteran topics. Jaclyn joined the U. S. Army's JAG Corp in 2005. After serving as Prosecutor, in Germany, Defense Counsel at West Point, and Senior Defense Counsel, in Iraq, Jaclyn was then selected as one of the Army's first Special Victim Prosecutors and assigned to Fort Stewart, GA. Ms. Grieser received her L.L.M. from the Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School in Charlottesville, VA. Before resigning her commission in 2017, Jaclyn served as Chief Prosecutor at Fort Leonard Wood, MO. Jaclyn has tried cases in over four countries and twenty-seven military installations. She has spoken before the Congressional Women's Caucus, the Joint Service Committee on Military Justice and testified before the Response Systems to Adult Sexual Assault Crimes Panel. Upon her resignation from the U. S. Army and prior to joining the County, Ms. Grieser ran her own civilian practice.

Elizabeth Jordan

She/her

Elizabeth Jordan is an attorney from Chicago’s South Side. Elizabeth is an Assistant Attorney General in the Special Litigation Bureau of the Public Interest Division of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. Her work centers on breaking down systems of oppression through litigation, primarily focusing on attacking discriminatory policing and the school-to-prison pipeline. Elizabeth is also litigating the State’s first civil hate crimes case. In 2022, Elizabeth was named as one of Chicago's 40 Gamechangers Under 40 by WVON and Ariel Investments in Illinois for her work, and she is a frequent guest lecturer at local law schools on topics involving the constitutionality of policing. Prior to joining the Attorney General’s Office, Elizabeth was a Staff Attorney in the Police Practices Project at the ACLU of Illinois. She is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis and the Georgetown University Law Center, and she served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Matthew F. Kennelly on the Northern District of Illinois.

Andrew Magida

he/him

Andrew Magida is the Managing Attorney of Policy for the City of Albuquerque. Andrew’s portfolio of projects and duties is constantly shifting, but he has worked on several initiatives related to housing policy and the unhoused. Andrew also serves as legal counsel for Albuquerque’s Mental Health Response Advisory Committee. Prior to joining the City Attorney’s office, Andrew spent the first seven years of his legal career as a criminal litigator—five of those as a public defender. Andrew was born and raised in New York, NY.

What does Equitable Enforcement mean to you?

Equitable enforcement is the use of government authority to mitigate rather than perpetuate the harms that have historically impacted marginalized communities.

Holly Mariella

she/her

Holly Mariella is a Deputy Attorney General in the Consumer Protection Section at the California Attorney General’s Office. In that role, she conducts investigations and prosecutes complex civil cases to enforce state laws that prohibit unfair or unlawful business practices and false advertising. Prior to joining the Consumer Protection Section, Holly was assigned to the Corporate Fraud Section with a focus on government contracting and securities fraud. Holly clerked on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. She is a graduate of Stanford Law School and UC Berkeley.

Joe Mellis

he/him

Joe Mellis is a Deputy County Counsel for the Los Angeles County Counsel, and has been with the office for five years. Prior to County Counsel, Joe worked for Los Angeles Dependency Lawyers as court-appointed counsel for poor and indigent parents subject to allegations of neglect or abuse of their children. At County Counsel, Joe has worked on a variety of consumer protection cases, including against the vaping company, Juul, and against Monsanto for its role in PCB contamination of the County's public water ways. He has also worked on smaller consumer protection cases, code enforcement cases, and has been focused on human trafficking as a consumer protection and public health issue since 2019.

Divya Musinipally

She/her

Divya Musinipally is a Deputy City Attorney in the Community Lawyering and Civil Rights Unit of the Affirmative Litigation Division. She works on litigation and investigations addressing economic, environmental, and racial justice impacting the people of Oakland.

Prior to joining the Oakland City Attorney's Office, Divya was an associate at the law firm of Keker, Van Nest & Peters where Divya litigated a variety of complex cases. Divya went to trial on behalf of an environmental non-profit to protect an important migratory bird habitat in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, challenged a Trump Administration regulation that limited access to reproductive and family planning services, and represented an inmate who was shot in San Quentin State Prison. Divya has litigated a variety of trade secret, patent, and contract disputes.

Before joining Keker, Van Nest & Peters, Divya clerked for Judge John Owens on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Diego. Before law school, Divya was a paralegal in the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division where Divya participated in two major criminal price-fixing trials. Divya graduated from Yale Law School and holds a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in Political Science and Rhetoric from UC Berkeley.

Katie Nichols

she/her

Katie Nichols currently serves as the Division Chief for Litigation for the Salt Lake City Attorney’s Office. She manages a team of litigators who represent the City and its officials in a broad range of civil matters in federal and state courts, including constitutional and statutory challenges, civil rights and employment litigation, real property disputes, and personal injury suits. Prior to joining Salt Lake City, Katie worked in private practice in Chicago and Salt Lake, where she represented clients in complex commercial litigation, internal investigations, and government investigations. Katie also served as a law clerk for Justices Deno Himonas and Ronald Nehring of the Utah Supreme Court. She graduated with honors from Georgetown University Law Center and serves on the board of the LGBTQ & Allied Lawyers of Utah.

What does Equitable Enforcement mean to you?

Equitable enforcement means utilizing public resources for the benefit of all residents, including by recognizing and specifically addressing the ways in which vulnerable populations have experienced systemic injustices.

Michael Pfautz

he/him

Michael Pfautz is a Deputy City Solicitor with the Affirmative and Special Litigation Unit of the City of Philadelphia Law Department. His practice includes affirmative impact and public policy litigation on behalf of the City of Philadelphia, defending City laws and programs against federal and state constitutional challenges, representing the City's Board of Elections in election matters, and general commercial and real estate litigation. Prior to joining the Law Department in 2018, he clerked for Judge Paul Gardephe of the Southern District of New York and was the 2015-2016 Corporation Counsel Honors Fellow at the New York City Law Department. He received his J.D from Columbia Law School and received his B.A. in Public Policy from the University of Chicago.

Lubna Qazi-Chowdhry

she/her

Lubna Qazi-Chowdhry is a legal specialist with the Strategic Initiatives and Enforcement Unit (SIE) Unit at the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (DCR). She currently leads on the topics of religious discrimination and immigrant communities and co-leads on health equity and justice.

Prior to DCR, she served as the Ethics Liaison Officer at the New Jersey Department of Health. Prior to state service, she served as an attorney handling matrimonial, and estate matters, primarily in minority communities and served as a municipal public defender.

Lubna helped draft regulations on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) as part of her appointment to the NJ Supreme Court Committee on ADR. At DCR, she works on proactive ways to help New Jerseyans learn about their rights under the Law Against Discrimination (LAD). She assists in drafting public facing materials and regulations in ensuring minority concerns are addressed at all levels of rulemaking and in delivery to the public.

She also works with DCR’s Community Relations Unit (CRU) in delivering Know Your Rights presentations to Immigrant communities. Lubna has always been active in minority attorney organizations and continues to help minority communities in accessing civil rights.

Lubna emigrated from Kuwait and currently resides by the Jersey Shore with her family.

Ezekiel Rediker

he/him

Zeke currently serves as the Executive Advisor on Legal Policy to Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey. In this role, he serves on the Senior Executive Team, where he advises the Mayor and Chief of Staff and works on policy, enforcement, and compliance. Zeke focuses on workers’ rights, civil rights, and public health and safety. Prior to joining the Mayor’s Office, Zeke worked at Reed Smith LLP, where he was a litigator, and clerked at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Detroit. Zeke is a graduate of Michigan Law School (J.D.), the University of Oxford (M.Sc. African Studies), Cornell University (B.A. College Scholar Program), and Pittsburgh Public Schools.

Mitchell Rishe

he/him

Mitchell Rishe is Deputy Attorney General in the Land Use and Conservation Section of the California Attorney General’s Office. Mitchell’s practice includes the representation of state agencies that manage public land and regulate private development. In addition to his litigation work, Mitchell serves as liaison counsel to the California Coastal Commission, which ensures that coastal development does not disrupt sensitive habitat, remains resilient to climate change, and protects the public’s right to access the coast. Mitchell is also a member of the Office’s Bankruptcy Practice Group which, among other things, aims to prevent oil companies and other polluters from escaping their environmental cleanup obligations through use of the bankruptcy laws. Mitchell received his B.S. from the University of Pennsylvania and his J.D. from UCLA School of Law. Mitchell lives in West Los Angeles with his wife and two children.

Maggy White

she/her

Maggy White is a Divisional Deputy City Solicitor in the City of Philadelphia Law Department’s Code & Public Nuisance Litigation Unit. She has served as continuing legal education faculty in the areas of code enforcement and historic preservation law. Prior to joining the Law Department, Maggy served as a law clerk to the Honorable James Gardner Colins of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, an intermediate appellate court for state and local government issues and court of original jurisdictions for suits brought by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Maggy is a graduate of Temple University’s Beasley School of Law, where she was a member of the Rubin Public Interest Law Society and received the Milton C. Sharp Memorial Award in Land Use Planning. While in law school, Maggy was a research assistant to Professor Louis M. Natale and interned for the Honorable Marjorie O. Rendell of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

Torrey Dixon

he/him

Torrey Dixon is Special Deputy Attorney General for the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office. At the Attorney General’s office, Torrey primarily works to protect North Carolina consumers from financial harm in the motor vehicle industry. Prior to joining the Attorney General’s office, Torrey worked as a civil rights attorney for the University of North Carolina Center for Civil Rights where he worked to protect voting rights and education rights throughout the state of North Carolina. He was also the State Director of FairVote NC where he worked to advance legislation to expand election participation throughout the state, including achieving legislation which permitted the preregistration of 16-and 17-year-olds for voting when they reach 18. Having worked as a community organizer, civil rights attorney, and in government, Torrey believes that government works best when everyone has a real vote, voice, and stake in the process and there is authentic collaboration between community organizations and enforcement agencies. He enjoys working at the Attorney General’s Office where he has a concrete impact on the lives of everyday persons throughout North Carolina.

Sarah Jane Utley

SHE/HER

Sarah Jane Utley received a B.S. with a major in Animal Science from Texas A&M University; a Master’s in Environmental Toxicology from Texas Tech University and earned a J.D. with honors from Texas Tech School of Law.

Sarah worked as an enforcement attorney for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and joined the Natural Resources Division of the Texas Attorney General’s Office in 2005, where she represented various client agencies including Texas Parks and Wildlife, the General Land Office, the Texas Water Development Board, and the TCEQ.  The majority of her docket consisted on environmental enforcement matters and natural resource damage actions.  In 2011, Sarah joined the Harris County Attorney’s Office, where her practice focused on environmental regulatory matters.  In 2021, Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee named her Environmental Division Director, which handles environmental regulatory and enforcement matters for Harris County, Harris County Flood Control District, and Harris Health.

Pete Cavanaugh

HE/HIM

Pete currently serves as an Assistant Corporation Counsel in the City of Chicago Law Department's Affirmative Litigation Division. In this role, Pete works to protect the residents of Chicago through the enforcement of the City’s ordinances, including consumer protection, labor, construction code, and other regulations. Before joining the Affirmative Litigation Division, Pete worked in the Constitutional and Commercial Litigation Division, where he primarily focused on defending the City’s ordinances in Federal Court. Prior to joining the City, Pete clerked in the Northern District of Illinois and began his legal career in private practice at a large international law firm.

Matt Sturtz

HE/HIM

Matt currently serves as the Deputy Solicitor General for the City of Columbus Attorney’s Office.  He handles affirmative and defensive civil litigation and advocates at the appellate level on the city’s behalf.  Prior to serving in his current role, Matt was an appellate and trial prosecuting attorney for the city.  For a portion of his time as a trial prosecutor, he served in the office’s designated Domestic Violence and Stalking Unit and exclusively prosecuted intimate partner violence and related criminal offenses.  Matt is a graduate of Capital University Law School and the Ohio State University.

Elliot Min

he/him

Elliot Min serves as a Deputy County Counsel for the Los Angeles County Counsel's Office, Affirmative Litigation and Consumer Protection Division, where he represents Los Angeles County as a plaintiff in public nuisance abatement, code enforcement, unlawful business practice, and environmental remediation matters.  Prior to working for the County, Elliot served as a Deputy City Attorney for the cities of Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Jose, where he worked on a wide range of matters, including city prosecution, civil litigation, writs and appeals, transactions, and advisory work.  Elliot is a proud Los Angeles County native, received his B.A. from the University of California Los Angeles, and J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law in 2014.  He is married with one daughter, Chloe (3).

Leslie Ross

she/her

Leslie Ross is the Unit Chief Counsel for the Arizona Attorney General Division of Civil Rights Section, Chair of the Arizona Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and legal advisor to the Arizona Civil Rights Advisory Board. Prior to working for the Attorney General’s Office, Ms. Ross served as in-house counsel for state agencies and in private practice. Prior to becoming an attorney, Ms. Ross worked for the State Bar of Arizona on the Arizona Attorney magazine and for the Arizona Bar Foundation.

Allyson Bain

Attorney General’s Office, IL

Allyson Bain is an Assistant Attorney General with the Public Interest Division’s Disability Rights Bureau of the Office of the Illinois Attorney General. She primarily serves as lead counsel for fair housing cases alleging disability rights-related violations under the Illinois Human Rights Act, and she also investigates and resolves claims of disability discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Fair Housing Act, Illinois Human Rights Act, and other state and federal laws. Before joining the Office of the Illinois Attorney General in August 2023, Allyson worked for six years at the Roger Baldwin Foundation of ACLU, Inc. (ACLU of Illinois) as a Skadden Fellow and then as a Staff Attorney. Before joining the ACLU of Illinois, Allyson served as a judicial law clerk for Magistrate Judges Alan Kay and Robin Meriweather of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. She is also the “Ally” behind “Ally’s Law,” or the Illinois Restroom Access Act, which requires retail establishments to provide access to employee-only restrooms for customers with medical conditions. Allyson earned her B.A. from Lake Forest College and her J.D. from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law.

Kathryn Boughton

Attorney General’s Office, AZ

Kathryn Boughton works as an Assistant Attorney General in the Special Litigation section of the Solicitor General’s Office within the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. In this role, she focuses on constitutional and appellate litigation and government compliance investigations.

Prior to joining the Attorney General’s Office, Kathryn worked in private practice where she represented clients in complex commercial disputes and maintained an active pro bono practice. Kathryn is a graduate of Arizona State University and clerked for the Honorable Robert Brutinel, Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. Prior to law school, Kathryn served for several years in the federal government where she focused on immigration-related issues and worked for a private immigration law firm.

Hannah Flores

Los Angeles Office of County Counsel, CA

Hannah Flores is a Deputy County Counsel in the Affirmative Litigation and Consumer Protection Division at the Los Angeles Office of County Counsel. Prior to joining County Counsel, she worked at Bay Area Legal Aid and Inner City Law Center, where she provided direct representation to low income tenants in slum housing litigation and unlawful detainer proceedings. At County Counsel, she conducts investigations and prosecutes civil lawsuits to enforce state laws that prohibit unfair and unlawful business practices. She also works on code enforcement matters and advises Los Angeles County (County) departments on enforcement of the County Code including, but not limited to, the County's tenant protection ordinances and minimum wage program. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley and Loyola Law School.

Susan Harris

Town of Brookline, MA

Susan Harris is associate town counsel for the Town of Brookline, Massachusetts. In that role, she provides legal representation and support to Town officials, boards and commissions, department heads, and staff. She also represents the Town in litigation before state and federal courts and administrative agencies. Prior to joining Brookline’s Office of Town Counsel, Susan served as legal counsel for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Office of Professional Practices Investigations, where she investigated and prosecuted allegations of educator misconduct. She also previously served as an assistant district attorney in Middlesex County. Susan graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles and Boston College Law School.

Lilly Hecht

Division on Civil Rights, NJ

Lilly Hecht is a Deputy Attorney General with the Affirmative Enforcement Unit (AEU) of the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (DCR) as a member of the 2023-2025 cohort of the New Jersey Attorney General’s Honors Program. Her focus is on intersectional racial and social justice with a particular interest in community-based advocacy. As a member of AEU, she helps spearhead DCR’s division-initiated, priority investigations of systemic, pattern and practice discrimination. She previously served as a 2021-2023 Excelsior Fellow with the Appeals & Litigation Unit of the New York State Division of Human Rights, where she pursued appellate judicial enforcement of and respondent compliance with agency findings of discrimination. She graduated with honors from Brandeis University and New York University School of Law.

Kaitlyn Karpenko

Attorney General’s Office, MA

Kaitlyn Karpenko currently serves as an Assistant Attorney General in the Data Privacy and Security Division for the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General. Her work is dedicated to data privacy enforcement and internet consumer protection matters, particularly focused on power imbalances between large corporations and individuals. Before joining the AGO, she worked as a criminal prosecutor in New York City, helping survivors of domestic violence navigate the criminal justice system. Kaitlyn holds a J.D. from Columbia Law School, an LL.M. in International Criminal Law from the University of Amsterdam, and a B.A. from the University of Rochester. Prior to law school, she worked as a paralegal for law firms focused on civil rights and employment discrimination.

Erick Perla

Gaithersburg City Attorney’s Office, MD

Erick Perla is the Assistant City Attorney for Gaithersburg, Maryland. Erick has dedicated his career to upholding the safety and general welfare of the community. As an Assistant City Attorney, Erick provides legal advice to various City departments, commissions, and boards while serving as the primary litigation attorney for the City. Prior to joining the Gaithersburg Office of the City Attorney, Erick worked as a State prosecutor in the Frederick County State Attorney’s Office for three years. Erick has also worked for the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Erick obtained his B.A. from the University of Maryland at College Park and J.D. from the University of Baltimore School of Law.

Alexis Piazza

Attorney General’s Office, CA

Alexis M. Piazza is a Deputy Attorney General in the Bureau of Children’s Justice, Civil Rights Enforcement Section, at the California Attorney General’s Office. In that role, he leads investigations into local public agencies regarding their interactions with school-age youth. He has also served as principal author for amicus briefs, filed on behalf of the Attorney General with the California Supreme Court and California Court of Appeal, regarding the rights of students when facing school discipline. Alexis clerked on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California. Alexis received his law degree from New York University School of Law, his teaching credential from University of California – Los Angeles, Center X, and his undergraduate degree from Claremont McKenna College.

Lucy Prather

City of Chicago Law Department, IL

Lucy serves as an Assistant Corporation Counsel in the City of Chicago Law Department's Affirmative Litigation Division. In this role, Lucy works to protect the residents of Chicago through enforcement of local consumer protection, tenant, affordable housing, and other code provisions. Before joining the Affirmative Litigation Division, Lucy practiced municipal and zoning law at a small municipal law firm. She began her legal career as a law clerk in the Eastern District of New York. Lucy is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Smith College.

Shilpa Ram

Civil Rights Department, CA

Shilpa Ram is Assistant General Counsel at the California Civil Rights Department (CRD), where she advises all divisions within CRD on their legal obligations and works collaboratively to identify solutions that allow CRD’s divisions to accomplish CRD’s overall civil rights goals. Prior to joining CRD, she was a senior staff attorney on the education equity team at Public Advocates, where she served on several coalitions, collaborated with her colleagues to advocate for resources for high-need students, and engaged in capacity-building with community partners to advance their priorities.

Shilpa also worked as a civil rights attorney at the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education (OCR) for several years, where she investigated, negotiated, and resolved complaints of discrimination against school districts, colleges, and other recipients of federal funding, and monitored recipients’ compliance with OCR resolution agreements. She also served on the steering committee of OCR’s Diversity and Inclusion Council, mentored law students in OCR’s Legal Intern Program and regularly provided workshops and trainings in English and Spanish to parents, community-based organizations, school districts, colleges and other partners on students’ and parents’ civil rights in school. While at OCR, Shilpa served on the Regional Network of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI) and the AAPI Bullying Prevention Task Force. Currently, she is a Board member of the American Constitution Society’s Bay Area Lawyer Chapter. Her interests include traveling, swimming, and visiting bakeries and ice cream parlors with her family and friends.

David Rangaviz

Attorney General’s Office, MA

David Rangaviz is an Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, where he focuses much of his work on issues related to police accountability, housing discrimination, and criminal justice. Outside the office, Dave serves on the nonprofit board of Project Citizenship, an organization that seeks to increase naturalization rates in Massachusetts. He also serves: as a member (and former co-chair) of the Boston Bar Association’s Criminal Law Steering Committee, on the Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers Oversight Committee, and as a hearing officer for the Board of Bar Overseers. He previously worked as an appellate staff attorney at the Committee for Public Counsel Services, and a trial attorney in the Maryland Office of the Public Defender. Dave also teaches criminal procedure at Boston College Law School. After law school, Dave clerked for Kent Jordan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Barbara Lenk of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, and John Conroy of the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont. He is a graduate of Brown University and Harvard Law School.

Kyle Rapinan

Attorney General’s Office, NY

Kyle S. Rapiñan (they/them/theirs) is an Assistant Attorney General at the Office of the New York State Attorney General (OAG), Civil Rights Bureau, where they enforce laws that protect all New Yorkers from discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, military status, source of income or disability. Using federal, state, and local civil rights laws, such as the Voting Rights Act, the Fair Housing Act, the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, New York State Human Rights Law, and other landmark laws, the Bureau investigates and prosecutes discrimination in a variety of areas. Prior to OAG, Kyle worked at the NYC Commission on Human Rights, where they focused on transgender and gender non-conforming rights, racial justice, and disability rights in housing, public accommodations, and employment for nearly five years.

Before OAG, Kyle also ran their own law practice, helping adults and minors change their name and update their various identification documents and has helped form small businesses (LLCs and PLLCs). Kyle was also the Director of Survival and Self-Determination at the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, where they worked alongside low-income transgender and gender non-conforming people of color for gender self-determination and liberation - by securing name changes, updated ID documents, and health care procedures under New York State Medicaid. Before law school, Kyle founded a youth-led arts venue, Queer Youth Space. Kyle graduated from Northeastern University School of Law and the University of Washington. Kyle enjoys biking, travel deals, and finding additional ways to love New York City.

Gavriel Schreiber

Kansas City Mayor’s General Counsel, MO

Gavriel Schreiber serves as General Counsel to Mayor Quinton Lucas in his hometown of Kansas City, Missouri. In this role, he oversees litigation strategy for the Mayor’s office and provides legal analysis and guidance to advance the administration’s goals of building a stronger, more vibrant Kansas City for all residents. His portfolio also includes development strategy, housing policy, and policy drafting and analysis. Gavriel engages with broader legal trends by guest lecturing at the University of Kansas Law School and publishing scholarship on local government law, including a recent article in the University of Chicago Law Review on cities’ strategies for resisting state preemption.

Gavriel clerked on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. He received a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Maryland and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he served as Strategy and Oversight Chair of the Harvard Law Review.

Sarah Silver

Attorney General’s Office, CO

Sarah Silver is an Assistant Attorney General in the Housing Protection Unit, Consumer Protection Section of the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. In this role, she conducts investigations and litigates civil cases to enforce state laws that aim to prevent fraud, abuse, and discrimination in housing. Sarah is one of two attorneys who make up the recently formed Housing Protection team and is thus also responsible for developing a slate of enforcement priorities and bringing public awareness to Colorado housing laws. Before joining the Housing Protection Unit, Sarah was an Assistant Attorney General in the Consumer Fraud Unit.

Prior to her work for the Attorney General’s Office, Sarah spent eight years at the Legal Aid Society in Brooklyn, NY, where she defended tenants facing eviction and brought affirmative cases to enforce the warranty of habitability. She earned her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and her B.A. in Political Science and German Language from Kalamazoo College.

Blake Welbourn

Harris County Attorney’s Office, TX

Blake Welborn is an Assistant County Attorney in the Environmental Division of the Harris County Attorney’s Office. Blake’s practice includes environmental enforcement, public health and safety issues, and affirmative impact litigation on behalf of Harris County. He began his time with Harris County as a joint Justice Catalyst/Public Rights Project fellow, where his project focused on designing citizen suits for Harris County under the Clean Air Act.

Blake graduated from the University of Texas School of Law and Texas A&M University. Prior to law school, he taught high school science in Dallas, Texas as a Teach for America corps member.