Leadership

Dennericka Brooks is a Managing Director and the Director of the Housing Practice Group. Dennericka has spent her career at Legal Aid Chicago, first as a generalist working in diverse areas of poverty law, including family, housing, consumer, and employment. As a supervisor, Dennericka has specialized in subsidized housing law ensuring that tenants live in decent, safe, and affordable housing that is free from discrimination. Dennericka helped to create and manage the Woodlawn Legal Clinic on Chicago’s south side and served as a mock trial coach. Currently, Dennericka serves as an Adjunct Faculty Member teaching trial practice at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Dennericka mentors students at Loyola and has served as a tutor and board member of Minority Legal Education Resources, a not-for-profit bar preparation program. Dennericka has been the recipient of several awards, including The Chicago Bar Foundation’s Kimball and Karen Public Interest Law Fellowship (2007) and its Abraham Lincoln Marovitz Public Interest Scholarship (2004); Loyola’s Norman C. Amaker Award of Excellence (2014); St. Bellarmine Award (2013) and Mock Trial Coach of the Year (2010). Dennericka earned her law degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law (2007) and her undergraduate degree from Grinnell College (2004).

Benna Crawford is a Managing Director and the Director of the Children & Families Practice Group.  Benna joined Legal Aid Chicago in 2010 as an AmeriCorps VISTA attorney where she ran a clinic teaching unrepresented litigants how to file for divorce. In 2012, she transitioned to a staff attorney where she focused on divorce cases involving real estate. In 2017, Benna became a supervisory attorney. Her practice currently focuses on representing survivors of domestic violence in divorces, allocation of parental responsibility cases, and orders of protection. Benna received her undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Vivian Hessel is the Chief Information Officer at Legal Aid Chicago. In this role, Vivian manages major technology projects for our organization, leads strategic technology planning, and develops policies and procedures for information security and information management. She also oversees the work of the Information Technology group and acts as an on-site administrator for Legal Aid Chicago’s case management system, LegalServer. Since 2012, Vivian has managed and maintained technology grants for Legal Aid Chicago totaling almost $2 million. These grants have funded online applications for legal services, case management software, eDiscovery systems, updates to our phone system, laptops, other equipment, and more. Vivian regularly presents at technology and legal aid conferences across the country on topics involving legal and ethical issues, case management software, and best practices. Before taking on her current role, Vivian worked as a staff attorney and then a managing attorney at one of Legal Aid Chicago’s general intake offices for 20 years. Her practice involved a wide variety of poverty law issues including consumer, family, housing, public benefits, and employment matters. Vivian received her undergraduate degree in psychology and mathematical methods in the social sciences, an honors program, from Northwestern University, and her law degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

Mark Kennedy is the Chief Financial Officer at Legal Aid Chicago. In this capacity, Mark is responsible for leading the financial management of the organization and supporting all strategic and programmatic matters as they relate to accounting, budget, treasury management, fiscal/grant compliance, and financial analysis. He also manages the relationships with Legal Aid Chicago’s key banking, accounting, and investment partners.   Prior to joining Legal Aid Chicago in 2020, Mark spent 14 years at Northwestern University in a variety of finance and analytics roles, most recently as Executive Director, Finance and Administration for Alumni Relations and Development. Before joining Northwestern, he was the Director of Finance and Administration at CommunityHealth, a non-profit organization committed to delivering comprehensive, high-quality health care at no cost to low-income, uninsured adults. He began his career at NERA economic consulting, focusing primarily on merger and acquisition antitrust risks and litigation.

Mark received his undergraduate degree in Economics, with honors, from Washington and Lee University, a Master’s in Public Policy and Administration from Northwestern University, and completed the Leadership Development Executive Education Program at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.

McKenzie Marks oversees Human Resources at Legal Aid Chicago. McKenzie brings a host of HR experiences in the essential areas of HR including, without limitations: benefits administration, recruitment, compliance, and training/development. McKenzie most recently worked as the HR Manager at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. McKenzie holds an MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University.

Jennifer Miller is the Chief External Relations Officer at Legal Aid Chicago. Jen has nearly twenty years of fundraising experience.  Previously, Jen was the Chief Development Officer at The Chicago Lighthouse.  While leading the Financial Development team there, she oversaw all fundraising initiatives, which included individual and major gifts, foundations and grants, capital and endowment campaigns, and planned giving.  Also at The Chicago Lighthouse, Jen worked with a donor to start a legal clinic, which provided pro bono legal assistance to people with disabilities and Veterans. Jen is a licensed attorney, having worked in two different law firms, where she focused on Estates and Trusts and Estate Administration.  In addition, Jen has taught at numerous colleges and law schools for over a decade.  She now teaches a writing class at Columbia College in her spare time. Jen has her undergraduate degree in English and Political Science from the University of Rochester, a Masters in English from the University of South Dakota, a law degree from Washburn University School of Law, and an LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law.

Cynthia Sadkin is the Chief Strategy Officer. She began her legal career at Legal Aid Chicago in 1992 as a staff attorney and then as a supervisory attorney, practicing a wide range of poverty law including housing, employment, consumer, disability, and family law. As Director of Client and Community Services, she led the design and launch of the centralized Client Screening Unit and was actively involved in the agency’s reorganization in 2010. Through creative and strategic project development, Cynthia has acquired substantial new funding for Legal Aid Chicago to increase access to legal services for underserved communities, provide comprehensive legal services to survivors of domestic and sexual violence, and expand legal services for older adults. Her collaborative approach creates opportunities for partnership with service providers and other legal aid programs to provide holistic and client-centered services to clients and community members. In 2009, she received the Jerold S. Solovy Equal Justice Award for exemplary leadership and commitment to legal services. Cynthia has a law degree from Harvard Law School and an undergraduate degree in Finance from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Suzanne Courtheoux is the Director of the Long-Term Care Practice Group.  Since she joined Legal Aid Chicago in 2013, Suzanne has been advocating for residents of long-term care facilities in suburban Cook County and Lake County through the Ombudsman Program.  She advocates on a broad range of issues affecting residents, and often represents residents in involuntary discharge hearings and Medicaid appeals. Prior to joining Legal Aid Chicago, Suzanne represented a wide range of clients in commercial litigation, labor & employment and insurance issues at large law firms – Jenner & Block and Seyfarth Shaw.

Suzanne earned her bachelor’s degree at Yale University and her law degree at University of Chicago Law School in 2004.

Hugh F. “Trey” Daly III is the Director of the Public Benefits Practice Group. Trey came to Legal Aid Chicago in 2017 after 27 years in legal services in Cincinnati, Ohio and most recently as the Ohio State Director for Enroll America, a non-profit seeking to expand participation in the Affordable Care Act. In 2009, Trey was named a Community Health Leader by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation an honor that brought a $125,000 grant to the Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati. Trey supervises six Supervisory Attorneys and manages a staff of 42 attorneys and paralegals. Trey has represented clients on issues related to benefits such as SNAP, Medicaid and disability benefits from the Social Security Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs in hundreds of administrative hearings, state courts including the Ohio Supreme Court and Federal Courts including the U.S. Court for Veterans Appeals and D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Trey received his undergraduate degree from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio and a law degree from the University of Kentucky College of Law.

Mischa Fleishman is Director of Foundation and Government Grants in the External Relations department. He joined Legal Aid Chicago in 2015 as an AmeriCorps VISTA member serving as the Volunteer Coordinator, where he helped support efforts to develop and maintain pro bono projects and recruit and train volunteers. At the end of his VISTA year, Mischa became the Grants Administrator where he researched, developed, and wrote grant applications, and completed grant reports. In 2018, Mischa was hired into his current role, where he coordinates Legal Aid Chicago’s grants program, and he supervises the current Grants and Data Administrator. Mischa received his undergraduate degree in creative writing from Luther College in 2011.

Daniel P. Lindsey is the Director of Litigation. Daniel joined Legal Aid Chicago as a neighborhood staff attorney in 1992. He left in 1995 to focus on consumer fraud litigation and returned in 2001 to lead Legal Aid Chicago’s homeownership preservation work. In 2011, Daniel became a Supervisory Attorney in the newly formed Consumer Practice Group. In 2015, he became its Director, where he supervised 12 attorneys litigating in the areas of bankruptcy, foreclosure, quiet title, debt collection, consumer fraud, and utilities. In 2020, Daniel took on the additional role of Managing Director of Litigation in order to coordinate the advocacy work of Legal Aid Chicago’s practice groups. In 2022, Daniel became Chief Litigation Officer so that he could concentrate full-time on leading the advocacy work of Legal Aid Chicago. Daniel has drafted judicial rules, testified in support of local, state, and federal laws protecting homeowners, and taught and lectured at numerous law schools. Daniel is the recipient of the 2015 Jerold S. Solovy Equal Justice Award for exemplary leadership and commitment to legal services. He is a 1985 graduate of Davidson College and a 1990 graduate of Harvard Law School.

Ainat Margalit is Director of the Consumer Practice Group. She joined Legal Aid Chicago in 2012 and focused on home ownership preservation, bankruptcy, and debtor’s rights. In 2020, she became a Supervisory Attorney. She has dedicated her career to serving the public interest and championing consumer rights is her passion. Before coming to Legal Aid Chicago, Ainat worked in the private sector in plaintiff-side consumer rights litigation and before that state government. Ainat is the 2018 recipient of Chicago-Kent Law School’s Abraham Lincoln Marovitz Public Interest Award and the 2018 recipient of the Jerold S. Solovy Equal Justice Award. Ainat received her undergraduate degree from Tel-Aviv University and law degrees from Tel-Aviv University and Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Lisa Palumbo has worked at Legal Aid Chicago for over 25 years. Lisa previously worked on the U.S./Mexico border representing Central American asylum seekers; the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Hong Kong with Vietnamese asylum seekers; and on the U.S. Naval base in Guantanamo where the U.S. Government detained Haitian and Cuban asylum seekers. Lisa is an expert in complex immigration cases, including the immigration consequences of criminal convictions, human trafficking cases, and removal proceedings. She has argued cases in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and is fluent in Spanish and work-proficient in French. Lisa was the 2010 recipient of the Jerold Solovy Award and has received awards from the Lawyers Trust Fund and the American Immigration Lawyers’ Association. Lisa is a graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law and received her undergraduate degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Jenelle Pedroza, LCSW, is the Director of Client Support Services which includes our social work staff and a housing navigator. Jenelle and her team collaborate with attorneys across Legal Aid Chicago to support our clients in achieving and sustaining their legal goals through case management and clinical support. Jenelle joined Legal Aid Chicago in April 2017. As a social worker, she has always worked on interdisciplinary teams and has focused on trauma- especially related to domestic violence, human trafficking, and immigration- and crisis prevention and intervention. She is fluent in Spanish and holds a master’s degree in social work from Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Chicago and undergraduate degrees in social work and Spanish from Asbury University.

Steve Phillips is the Director of Information Technology at Legal Aid Chicago, where he manages information systems and technology to support the achievement of the organization’s mission and goals. In his role, Steve oversees daily operation and projects related to internal systems, including networks, software applications, and telecommunications; manages network administration and security protocols; and maintains a disaster recovery strategy for all software applications and data. Steve brings more than 20 years of IT experience to Legal Aid Chicago.

Melissa O. Picciola is the Director of Pro Bono & Community Partnerships. Melissa oversees all of Legal Aid Chicago’s volunteer and pro bono projects, including internships, in-house volunteers, community legal clinics, and all law firm and corporate partnerships and has created volunteer focused projects at Legal Aid Chicago serving clients in advance directives, eviction defense, and record expungement. She joined Legal Aid Chicago in 2018 after a career in legal aid. She has practice experience in family law and domestic violence, eviction defense, and representing people with disabilities on individual and systemic matters. Melissa received both her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Bill Sviatko is the Director of Operations at Legal Aid Chicago. He comes with in-depth experience in Process Management, Organizational Support, Strategic Planning, Business Administration, Facility Management and Regulatory/Compliance adherence. Prior to coming to Legal Aid Chicago, Bill’s industry experience spans healthcare, manufacturing/distribution, and advertising. Bill possesses a Bachelor’s degree from Columbia College in Chicago. His expertise and passion for processes, systems, workflow management and clear and direct communication supports the organization’s mission, values and goals.

Piper Taggart is the Director of the Client Screening Unit. Piper joined Legal Aid Chicago in 2000 as a Staff Attorney. In 2010, she was promoted to Senior Attorney. As a Staff Attorney and Senior Attorney, Piper represented clients in Consumer, Employment, Family and Housing cases. Piper came to the Client Screening Unit as a Director in 2011. Piper currently leads the staff of Intake Specialists and Attorneys that handle intake and screening for the majority of Legal Aid Chicago’s clients. Piper received her undergraduate degree from Harvard University and her law degree from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.

Barbara Bertini is the Associate Director of  the Pro Bono & Community Partnerships Practice Group at Legal Aid Chicago.  She joined Legal Aid Chicago to focus on enhancing and expanding the organization’s presence in the Cook County community.  She has experience as a government attorney, a criminal prosecutor, and a specialist in criminal records relief.  This experience allows Barbara to provide substantive legal trainings to service providers and community members and manage Legal Aid Chicago’s partnerships with organizational allies. Barbara received both her law degree and her undergraduate degree criminal justice from Northeastern University in Boston.

Ashley Fretthold is an Associate Director for the Children & Families Practice Group. She primarily represents students in education matters, including special education, school discipline, sexual harassment, residency, and bullying. She was a member of the Legal Aid Chicago teams that filed civil rights suits in 2013 and 2018 against Chicago Public Schools on behalf of communities whose schools were selected for closure. She has engaged in systemic advocacy reforming special education and Title IX policies at Chicago Public Schools. She also advocates for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence in Order of Protection cases and family law matters such as divorce and custody disputes. She joined Legal Aid Chicago in 2008 as a staff attorney at the Westside neighborhood office, where she gained experience in every area of law in which Legal Aid Chicago practices. Prior to law school, Ashley worked in the education field, first as an education research associate and later as a fifth grade teacher. In 2019, the agency awarded Ashley the Jerold S. Solovy Equal Justice Award. Ashley received her law degree from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and her undergraduate degree in public policy studies from Duke University.

Jessica Kalmewicki is an Associate Director in the Housing Practice Group. She began her career at Legal Aid Chicago as a staff attorney in 2000 and litigated domestic relations, consumer, employment, bankruptcy, and housing law matters before administrative agencies, and state and federal courts. In 2009, she joined the Housing Practice Group, where she concentrated her practice on defending housing rights pursuant to the Fair Housing Act, and state and local statutes. In addition to litigating her own matters, Jessica currently oversees staff and senior attorneys handling housing law matters. Jessica is also a member of Legal Aid Chicago’s Veterans Task Force and HIV Task Force. In addition to working for Legal Aid Chicago, Jessica has worked as a corporate litigator in Detroit, Michigan, and as an Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Bureau for the Office of the Illinois Attorney General. She is licensed to practice law in Michigan and in Illinois. Jessica earned an undergraduate degree in political science and English from Aquinas College and her law degree from the University of Michigan Law School.

Gwynne Kizer Mashon is an Associate Director in the Public Benefits Practice Group. She joined Legal Aid Chicago in 2020 after nine years in legal services in New Orleans, LA. She most recently served as the Director of Development and Advocacy at Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS). In that role, she advocated for systemic solutions to end homelessness and hunger and to ensure low-income people can access vital medical care. Gwynne has represented clients on issues related to benefits such as SNAP, Medicaid, and disability benefits from the Social Security Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs in administrative hearings and federal court. In her current role, she manages the Public Benefits Outreach and Enrollment team, leads systemic advocacy projects to ensure vulnerable populations can access the food, cash, and medical assistance they need to survive, and represents clients in administrative and judicial proceedings. Gwynne also leads Legal Aid Chicago’s Homeless Services Task Force, which seeks to increase access to services for people who are homeless and address related cross-practice group systemic issues. She earned her undergraduate degree from Grinnell College and her law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Amina Najib is the Associate Director in the Immigrants and Workers’ Rights Practice Group. She joined Legal Aid Chicago in April 2021 and supervises a robust team of attorneys and paralegals dedicated to providing comprehensive representation to marginalized communities and survivors seeking benefits before U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services and the Executive Office for Immigration Review. Prior to joining Legal Aid, Amina spent a decade in the private sector as an associate attorney with a local immigration firm.  Amina received her undergraduate degree from Loyola University Chicago and a JD from DePaul University College of Law. She speaks Spanish, English and Arabic.

started with Legal Aid Chicago in 2021 as a Supervisory Attorney. In February of 2024, she was promoted to Associate Director with the Housing Practice Group. 

Melissa Staas is an Associate Director with the Children & Families Practice Group.  She joined Legal Aid Chicago in 2018 as a Supervisory Attorney after practicing public interest law for 10 years with the Family Defense Center (now Ascend Justice), where she represented parents involved in all stages of the child welfare (or “family regulation”) system, including affirmative class action and federal civil rights litigation.  During law school, she focused on legal issues involving families and children, serving as Editor-in-Chief of her school’s Children’s Legal Rights Journal. At Legal Aid Chicago, Melissa helps lead the practice group’s representation of clients in family defense, domestic violence, domestic relations, and education law matters. Currently, she also serves as an Adjunct Faculty Member teaching trial practice at Loyola University Chicago School of Law and serves on the American Bar Association’s Commission on Homelessness and Poverty. Melissa received her undergraduate degree in psychology and women’s studies from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and her law degree, magna cum laude, from Loyola University Chicago’s School of Law.

Dolores Ayala is the Supervisory Attorney for Employment Law in the Immigrants and Workers’ Rights Practice Group. She and her team focus on workers’ rights in the workplace: the right to a workplace that enforces anti-discrimination laws, that ensures freedom from a hostile work environment, including sexual harassment; the right to a reasonable accommodation of a disability under the Americans With Disabilities Act; the right to be paid at the lawful rate for work performed, including overtime pay; the right to complain of violations without fear of retaliation. Dolores’ team also advocates for workers who have lost their jobs in their claims for unemployment benefits.

Dolores joined Legal Aid Chicago in 2019 after 11 years as in-house Employment Counsel in the legal departments of two large corporations, where her job, as she saw it, was to promote positive employee relations by ensuring all employees were treated fairly and the companies lived up to their missions of being equal opportunity employers who valued diversity and treated employees with dignity and respect. She also initiated and led those companies’ corporate pro bono programs, in collaboration with the National Immigrant Justice Center, Cabrini Green Legal Aid, Equip for Equality, among others. Her work as a corporate pro bono leader was recognized when she was awarded the 2018 Exelon Outstanding Corporate Counsel Award by the Chicago Bar Foundation. Prior to moving in-house, Dolores spent 11 years as a litigator in two Chicago law firms. Dolores was on the Dean’s List, graduated cum laude, and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa at Washington University in St. Louis where she received her B.A. She attended foreign universities as well, including Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and Università per Stranieri di Perugia. She received her J.D. from DePaul University College of Law, where she was a Dean’s Scholar, a member of the DePaul Law Review, and received the John Powers Crowley Award for Excellence in Trial Advocacy. Dolores is fluent in Spanish, is work-proficient in Italian, and speaks (but does not read!) Hebrew.

Agnes Baik is a Supervisory Attorney for the Farmworker Project in the Immigrants and Workers’ Rights Practice Group. She started as a Staff Attorney at Legal Aid Chicago in November 2020, advocating for the rights of agricultural workers through both civil litigation and immigration remedies for victims of trafficking and other workplace crimes. Before joining Legal Aid Chicago, Agnes practiced immigration removal defense at the Bronx Defenders in New York City. Agnes earned a BA from Wesleyan University and a JD magna cum laude from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. She is fluent in Spanish.

Melissa Bartolomei is a supervisory attorney in the Pro Bono & Community Partnerships Group at Legal Aid Chicago. She joined Legal Aid Chicago as a staff attorney in 2019 managing the community legal clinics, partnering with volunteer attorneys and community organizations to provide free legal advice at multiple locations throughout Chicago. Melissa’s work focuses on supporting volunteers while developing and managing the pro bono focused projects of Legal Aid Chicago, including the community clinics, the William J. Hibbler Memorial Pro Se Assistance Program, and the Cook County Early Resolution Program for Evictions. Prior to joining Legal Aid Chicago, Melissa worked as an attorney supervisor at the Milwaukee Justice Center and as a staff attorney at Legal Action of Wisconsin representing victims of domestic violence in family law matters. Melissa received her law degree from the University of Iowa College of Law and her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Irvine.

James Brady is a Supervisory Attorney in the Consumer Practice Group. Mr. Brady began his legal career as a staff attorney with Legal Aid Chicago in 1991 at the Englewood Office on Chicago’s southside. In 1995, he moved to the Southside office and in 2004, to the Homeownership Preservation Project. Mr. Brady’s practice focuses on bankruptcy, homeownership, and consumer fraud. He is a 1988 graduate of the University of Michigan and a 1991 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law.

Sal De Los Angeles is a Supervisory Attorney in the Public Benefits Practice Group at Legal Aid Chicago. He joined Legal Aid Chicago as a Staff Attorney in September 2019, briefly working with the Immigrants and Workers’ Rights Practice Group on t-visa projects. In October 2019, he transitioned to the Public Benefits Practice Group. Sal’s practice consists of helping clients obtain or maintain Social Security benefits, such as Disability Insurance (SSDI) and/or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), in addition to other public aid needs, such as food assistance (SNAP), cash assistance, Medicare, and Medicaid. He provides legal representation at administrative hearings or through negotiating resolutions with administrative agencies. Sal became a Supervisory Attorney with the Public Benefits Outreach and Enrollment project in December 2022 and supervises the work of the staff in their outreach and enrollment work capacities.

Previously, from 2005 to 2016, Sal managed education programs at the Alzheimer’s Association, California Southland Chapter in Los Angeles, California. He delivered education programs about Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias to the public and provided caregiver trainings to families living with Alzheimer’s disease.

Sal received his undergraduate degree from Ripon College and law degree from DePaul University College of Law.

Mona Elgindy is a  Supervisory Attorney in the Public Benefits Practice Group at Legal Aid Chicago. She supervises the MLP Projects. Mona comes from Prairies State Legal Services where she was the co-chair for several years of their Senior Taskforce and staff attorney in their Joliet office since 2013. Mona’s previous practice consisted of all areas affecting seniors with a large focus on public benefits, housing, nursing home involuntary discharges and financial exploitation. Mona has handled numerous cases at the administrative hearing level with the IL Dept. of Human Services; IL Dept. of Public Health; IL Dept. of Health and Family Services; IL Dept. of Rehabilitative Services and the Social Security Administration. She has successfully argued administrative review appeals in circuit court and has spoken extensively about the legal remedies available to protect seniors from financial exploitation within the Public Benefits arena. Mona received her undergraduate degree in Secondary Education from DePaul University and taught for many years before going back to school. Mona completed her law degree magna cum laude from Loyola University Chicago.

Helen Harnett is a Supervisory Attorney for the Immigration Project in the Immigrants and Workers’ Rights Practice Group. She joined Legal Aid Chicago in August 2022. Helen started her legal career at Farmworker Legal Services in western Michigan. She later founded the Immigrant Rights Clinic at the University of Baltimore School of Law. She worked as an advocacy attorney at the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), and as the Director of Policy at the National Immigrant Justice Center. Helen practiced at immigration firms in Chicago and New Orleans, representing clients before administrative agencies and in federal court. Helen has a BA in European History from Northwestern University, a Masters in British and Irish History from the University of Chicago, and received a JD magna cum laude from American University Washington College of Law. She is fluent in Spanish.

Regina Hernandez is the Supervisory Attorney for the Pro Bono & Community Partnerships Group at Legal Aid Chicago. She first joined Legal Aid Chicago as an AmeriCorps VISTA attorney in 2016, coordinating the Juvenile Expungement Help Desk and the agency’s free community legal clinics. Becoming a staff attorney in 2017 within the Pro Bono & Community Partnerships Group, she focused on pro bono project development, working to expand Legal Aid Chicago’s capacity to take on a higher volume of clients in a wider variety of legal areas. Regina provided substantive legal trainings to pro bono attorneys and other professionals, co-counseled and supervised pro bono cases, and continued to manage Legal Aid Chicago’s community legal clinics while creating additional pro bono initiatives. As Supervisory Attorney, Regina utilizes her expertise in criminal records to oversee one of the Pro Bono & Community Partnerships Group’s fastest-growing pro bono projects for criminal records relief. The project works with pro bono attorneys to represent clients in their efforts to break down the barriers created by a criminal record in order to gain access to fundamental needs such as employment, housing, and education. Regina received her law degree from the Loyola University Chicago School of Law and her undergraduate degree in news-editorial journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Neal Kitterlin is a Supervisory Attorney in the Housing Practice Group at Legal Aid Chicago. He joined Legal Aid Chicago as a staff attorney in March 2023, focusing primarily on the Eviction Prevention in Chicagoland (EPIC) program. As part of this program, Neal coordinates and provides guidance to volunteer attorneys who advise, assist with settlement negotiations, or represent tenants in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs who face eviction. In addition to these duties, Neal also provides legal representation directly to tenants facing eviction, termination of housing subsidies, and other housing-related issues. As a supervisor, Neal currently oversees staff attorneys and paralegals handling housing law matters. Prior to joining Legal Aid Chicago, Neal worked as an associate at CTM Legal Group and Ashman Law Offices, LLC.

Neal received his undergraduate degree from Louisiana Tech University and law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Allison Kotarba is a Supervisory Attorney in the Client Screening Unit. She began her legal career at Life Span where she represented survivors of domestic violence. Later, Allison worked in private practice where she handled bankruptcy, landlord-tenant and family law matters. She joined Legal Aid Chicago in 2015 as an Intake Attorney in the Client Screening Unit. In 2017, Allison became a Staff Attorney and she transitioned to the Housing Practice Group where she helped clients maintain their subsidized housing.  After six months, she returned to the Client Screening Unit. In early 2022, she was promoted to a Supervisory Attorney, and in this role, she manages and provides support to CSU’s Intake Specialists and Staff Attorneys, coordinates intake with Legal Aid Chicago’s Practice Groups, manages internal and external referrals and provides assistance to the CSU Director. Allison received her undergraduate degree with honors from the University of Illinois at Chicago and law degree with honors from Chicago-Kent College of Law. She is also fluent in Polish.

Anna Maitland is a Supervising Attorney for the Trafficking Survivors Assistance Project (TSAP) in the Immigrants and Workers’ Rights Practice Group. She joined Legal Aid Chicago as a staff attorney in September 2017 as a part of the Immigration Project, where she helped survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault to address immigration needs. In 2018, she transitioned to TSAP to work with survivors of trafficking to address a holistic set of needs, from immigration concerns to civil litigation, name changes to victim advocacy, connecting to additional social, health and legal services to coordinating those services and so on. Anna became the TSAP supervisor at the start of November, 2020, where she works with a small but mighty team to provide trauma informed, client-centered services to underserved and marginalized groups across Illinois, while building out partnerships with other providers across the state. Anna received her undergraduate degree from University of Colorado at Boulder and a JD/MA from American University Washington College of Law and the School of International Service. She speaks Spanish and English.

Emma McMullen is a Supervisory Attorney in the Children and Families Practice Group. She joined Legal Aid Chicago in 2018 after graduating from law school and since then has practiced all areas of law that the Children and Families Practice Group covers. She primarily provides representation in family law matters, including parentage and divorce cases, as well as protective order matters for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. She has recently expanded her practices to include family defense work by providing parent representation in child welfare proceedings and DCFS indicated appeals. In 2019, she spent six months on the education law team on special education matters. In addition to her casework, Emma is co-chair of Legal Aid Chicago’s DEI committee.

Emma received her law degree in 2018 from Loyola University Chicago School of Law with a certificate in Child and Family Law. She received her undergraduate degree in political science and psychology with a focus on developmental psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Joseph P. Miller is a Supervisory Attorney in the Housing Practice Group at Legal Aid Chicago. He joined Legal Aid Chicago in October 2021. Joseph comes from Prairie State Legal Services where he served in numerous roles and offices. He spearheaded Prairie State Legal Services’ efforts to bring foreclosure helpdesk and mediation to Kane, Lake and Winnebago counties. In addition to foreclosure, Joseph worked on housing, domestic violence, and public benefits issues. Joseph received his undergraduate degree in philosophy from the University of Illinois at Chicago and his law degree from The John Marshall Law School.

Mary Mulcrone is a Supervisory Attorney for the Public Benefits Practice Group at Legal Aid Chicago. She supervises Recovery Legal Care, the Medical Legal Partnership with the University of Chicago. Mary began her legal career working in private practice, advocating for clients to receive disability benefits from the Social Security Administration. Mary also taught Pre-Law at the high school level in Chicago.

Mary received her undergraduate degree from Gonzaga University and law degree from New England Law| Boston.

Naeem Nulwala is a Supervisory Attorney in the Children and Families Practice Group at Legal Aid Chicago. Naeem began practicing law in 2009 and began his career in legal aid in 2010 at Land of Lincoln Legal Aid. While there, Naeem represented disadvantaged and disenfranchised individuals in a wide variety of legal areas including protective orders, family law, consumer law, education law, and housing law. Naeem moved to Legal Aid Chicago in 2017 where he focuses on protective orders and family law cases that involve domestic violence. Throughout Naeem’s career in legal aid, he has provided additional services to his clients by collaborating with community groups and domestic violence shelters. Additionally, Naeem regularly provides “know your legal rights” talks to the client community and provides trainings to community partners. Naeem also actively volunteers in the community by, amongst other things, serving on the Board of Directors of the Center for Advancing Domestic Peace – an organization that provides partner abuse prevention and intervention programs. Naeem graduated with a degree in engineering from the University of Washington in Seattle and a degree in law from Lewis and Clark Law School.

Steven Scheuer is a Supervisory Attorney in the Public Benefits Practice Group. Steven joined Legal Aid Chicago as a Staff Attorney in 2018. He assists clients with accessing public benefits, including Medicaid, SNAP, and Social Security. This often involves representing clients in administrative hearings before the Illinois Department of Human Services and the Social Security Administration. Before working at Legal Aid Chicago, Steven was a fellow at Uptown People’s Law Center, representing clients in eviction and Social Security matters. Steven received his law degree from University of Chicago Law School and his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College.

Jamie (Josephine) Schulte is a Supervisory Attorney with the Children and Families Practice Group, where she represents clients in a variety of education law and child welfare matters. Jamie first joined Legal Aid Chicago in 2015 as a Skadden Fellow, focused on representing students in alternative high schools and students facing expulsion and informal “push out” from traditional schools. After her fellowship, Jamie became a staff attorney in education law, advocating for youth in special education, school discipline, Title IX, enrollment disputes, and other education law matters. In November 2019, Jamie moved to the Cook County Public Defenders’ Office, where she represented parents in abuse and neglect proceedings and was selected to be on a small complex litigation team within the child protection division. Jamie returned to Legal Aid Chicago in her current role in March 2021. Jamie also previously clerked for the Honorable Judge Gregg Costa on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Prior to law school, Jamie taught middle school through Teach for America. Jamie received her undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame and law degree from the University of Chicago.

Kevin Sheehan is a Supervisory Attorney in the Housing Practice Group at Legal Aid Chicago and joined in October 2023. Kevin previously worked as a housing attorney at Land of Lincoln Legal Aid in Springfield, Illinois and the North Suburban Legal Aid Clinic in Highland Park, Illinois. He’s advocated for housing clients in Cook, Lake, Sangamon, Logan, Adams, Greene, and Christian counties. He has extensive experience representing tenants in disputing with their landlords and local housing authorities. Kevin also worked closely with community groups and local municipalities to make the eviction process more accessible for low income clients in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kevin received his undergraduate degree in political science at the University of Dayton and his law degree from the DePaul College of Law.

Evan Stahr is a Supervisory Attorney in the adult criminal records section of the Pro Bono & Community Partnerships Practice Group at Legal Aid Chicago. He joined Legal Aid Chicago in August 2021 as a Staff Attorney, working on sealing and expungement of criminal records. Prior to joining Legal Aid Chicago, Evan practiced family and housing law at other legal aid organizations in the Chicago area.

Evan’s practice consists of helping clients clear their arrests and convictions so they can break down barriers they face because of their records. He provides representation in sealing and expungement hearings as well as administrative proceedings and informal challenges to criminal records.

Evan received his undergraduate and law degrees from Indiana University – Bloomington.

Alix Strunk is a supervisory attorney in Legal Aid Chicago’s Immigration Project in the Immigrants and Workers’ Rights Practice Group. She has practiced immigration law for many years, in private practice and nonprofits. Alix was named a Rising Star in Immigration by Super Lawyers Magazine four years in a row. Her practice has focused on removal defense, family-based immigration, and humanitarian remedies, such as asylum and options for survivors of crime. At Legal Aid Chicago, Alix helps supervise the project’s varies caseload and other projects.

Alix received her undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University and graduated summa cum laude and Order of the Coif from DePaul University College of Law. Alix is fluent in Spanish.

Lawrence is a Supervisory Attorney in the Long Term Care Practice Group where he supervises a team of Community Ombudsmen to protect the rights of individuals living in nursing homes. Lawrence first joined Legal Aid Chicago in 2004 as a Staff Attorney at the South Side neighborhood office where he represented clients in a variety of legal matters. Lawrence then joined the Homeownership Preservation Project (“HOPP”) where he represented clients in legal matters related to home ownership. Lawrence left HOPP for the Veterans’ Rights Project where he helped and recruited pro bono attorneys to help, veterans fight for their earned service connected benefits. Because he believes that housing is a fundamental human right, Lawrence joined the Housing Practice Group where he represented subsidized housing residents and became a Senior Attorney. In 2017 Lawrence left Legal Aid Chicago for a position in the Law Project of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless and rejoined Legal Aid Chicago in 2019 in his current role. Lawrence is a 2004 graduate of DePaul University College of Law.

Wendy Weber is a Supervisory Attorney in the Public Benefits Practice Group. She joined Legal Aid Chicago after several years as an Attorney at Cabrini Green Legal Aid, where she represented petitioners seeking criminal records relief.  She previously lived in Washington state, where she worked as a Public Defender, a Hearings Examiner with the Department of Licensing, and then in private practice representing drivers against the Department of Licensing. Prior to that, she was a Staff Attorney with Prairie State Legal Services, representing individuals in housing, family, public benefits, and other civil legal matters.

Wendy has a Master’s in Social Work, and was a Social Worker prior to law school. She has volunteered as community organizer for the Human Rights Campaign, board member for Pride Community Center of Northwest Indiana, and Volunteer Attorney with Northwest Immigrant Right’s Project and Seattle’s Housing Justice Project.

Michelle Weinberg is a Supervisory Attorney in the Consumer Practice Group, concentrating on the representation of seniors in consumer protection and financial exploitation cases.  Ms. Weinberg began her career as a consumer lawyer in 1993 with the class action firm of Edelman & Combs. Ms. Weinberg has litigated a wide range of cases, including published decisions under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Truth in Lending Act, the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act, and other consumer protection statutes. She joined Legal Aid Chicago in 2001. In 2005, Ms. Weinberg received the Excellence in Public Interest Service Award from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the Chicago Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. She was also named Advocate of the Month in 2007, by Illinois Legal Aid Online. Ms. Weinberg has been a member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates (“NACA”) since 1997, and in 2011, she received the NACA Consumer Advocate of the Year award for public interest work. Ms. Weinberg is a former Chair of the Chicago Bar Association Consumer Law Committee and served on NACA’s board of directors and ethics committee. She currently serves as a public/consumer representative on the State of Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation’s Collection Agency Board. She is frequently called upon to speak at legal conferences and to comment in the news media on emerging consumer issues. She is a 1992 graduate of Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Sarah Chitwood Morales is a Grants Project Manager in the External Relations department at Legal Aid Chicago. She joined Legal Aid Chicago in July 2022 as an Intake Specialist in the Client Screening Unit before transitioning into her current role. As a Grants Project Manager, Sarah monitors and manages select agency grants to ensure that grant deliverables are completed successfully, on time, and within budget.

Sarah received her undergraduate degree in English and French Literature from California State University, Long Beach before going on to receive a master’s degree in Comparative and World Literature from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Mary Ellen Diaz began her career at Legal Aid Chicago as a receptionist. After working several years in that capacity, she became office manager at one of the neighborhood offices. In 2011, when Legal Aid Chicago consolidated all of its offices and relocated to the current Loop location, she undertook the coordination of translation and interpreting services. She now oversees these services and also assumes office manager duties when necessary. Ms. Diaz is a state registered Spanish interpreter and provides interpreting and translation services in Spanish and in this role is able to be a voice for many LEP clients. With her strong belief in our mission, she works tirelessly to assure LEP clients have meaningful access to all of Legal Aid Chicago’s services. Ms. Diaz is a dedicated, hardworking and loyal employee who is passionate about her work.

Noah Glaser is the Grants Financial Manager at Legal Aid Chicago. Noah works with the Finance Team to develop budgets and systems for reporting grant activity and has primary responsibility for managing the grant portfolio in accordance with funder policies and requirements. An economic historian with a focus on French and Mexican history, Noah has taught courses at Loyola University Chicago and University of Illinois at Chicago and is always trying to learn about the origins of our social systems and possibilities for change. His role entails bringing Legal Aid Chicago’s staff and grantors the financial information they need to best support the clients they serve. Noah received his undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago and his PhD from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

M.R. is the Technology Trainer and Service Desk Manager on the IT Team at Legal Aid Chicago. M.R. is responsible for training Legal Aid Chicago staff on various technology tools and best practices, as well as overseeing day-to-day technical support needs for the organization. Formerly a middle school classroom teacher focused on special education and ESL, M.R. eventually transitioned into educational technology at CodeHS, a computer science curriculum platform for schools. In this role they developed professional development workshops for K-12 teachers on computer science topics such as coding, cybersecurity, AI, data science, and more.

M.R. has a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education from Northeastern Illinois University.

Natasha Jarrett is the Pro Bono Project Manager in the Pro Bono & Community Partnerships Practice Group at Legal Aid Chicago. She joined Legal Aid Chicago as a temporary paralegal in February 2020, where she supported attorney staff on the Criminal Records Relief and Community Legal Clinics teams. After six months, she transitioned exclusively to the Criminal Records Relief project as a permanent paralegal. She conducted client intake, helped to manage the projects’ large case load and worked to streamline the filing and administrative processes as the project transitioned from an in-person clinic to a wholly virtual one. Natasha became a Senior Paralegal in January 2023, overseeing the work of junior paralegals, law school interns and in-house volunteers within the Criminal Records Relief Project. In October 2023, Natasha became Pro Bono Project Manager, supporting and developing the volunteer projects that allow Legal Aid Chicago to reach and serve more clients. Natasha received her undergraduate degree from the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada and her post-baccalaureate paralegal certificate from Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois.

Sarah Kirk is the Comptroller for Legal Aid Chicago. In this role, Sarah has the responsibility for managing the financial related activities of the organization. This includes accounts payable, accounts receivable, general ledger and the implementation of internal controls. Prior to joining Legal Aid Chicago, Sarah had extensive experience in both private and non-profit companies, including having served as Controller for the American Osteopathic Foundation, where she was responsible for the Foundation’s accounting, budgeting, and reporting functions, as well as managing the annual audit process. She also has prior professional experience with Diversified Financial Management Corporation, Polished Nickel Capital Management, and Ernst & Young LLP. Sarah received her undergraduate degree in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and her Master of Taxation from DePaul University.

Marc McIntosh is the IT Operations Manager at Legal Aid Chicago. In this role, Marc is responsible for managing the system administration staff, the IT servers and systems, providing input and completing tasks on major technology projects, and providing technical support to staff. Prior to joining Legal Aid Chicago, Marc worked for Ventas Inc. in Chicago, where he held the position as Technical Support Lead and Co-Manager of the service desk. Marc has worked in several IT capacities with companies such as Eddie Bauer, Ultra Diamonds, and the Harza Engineering Company.

Liz Proscia, Associate Director of External Relations, joined Legal Aid Chicago in November 2023. Formerly the Communications Manager at READI Chicago, a Heartland Alliance program, she brings her passion for community and social justice to the team. An Upstate New York native, she began her career in Poughkeepsie, New York, working for various arts, education, and environmental nonprofit organizations. Since moving to Chicago in 2020, Liz has had the opportunity to uplift the stories of READI Chicago participants as well as volunteer through mutual aid groups in the city.

As Associate Director of External Relations, Liz cultivates new partnerships with law firms, corporations, and donors and works closely with the Ambassadors Board. In addition to developing interpersonal relationships with new and existing stakeholders, Liz coordinates media opportunities and marketing campaigns to raise awareness of Legal Aid Chicago’s impactful work.

Liz received her undergraduate degree in Digital Media Programming and Management from the State University of New York at New Paltz.

Katie Ragsdale joined Legal Aid Chicago in January 2024 as a Grants Project Manager. Her background in social work and education informs her current work managing large, complex, population-focused grant projects. Building on her past experiences– from working in direct service with youth to roles building social sector capacity for equitable data and research practices — Katie takes a holistic, community-centered approach to collaborating with various stakeholders. Katie received her undergraduate degree with a double major in Gender, Sexuality, & Women’s Studies and French from Bowdoin College and her master’s in social work from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

Jonathan Russell is the Associate Director of the External Relations department at Legal Aid Chicago. His work ensures that large, complex grants are properly monitored and managed and that grant deliverables are completed successfully, on time, and within budget. Jonathan joined Legal Aid Chicago in 2020 after two years in fundraising and grant management at the Adler Planetarium. Prior to entering his current field, Jonathan worked in education, helping young people reach their full academic potential. Jonathan completed his undergraduate degree in literature and writing at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri and received a master’s degree in literature from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Virginia Sandoval has been the Office Manager of Legal Aid Chicago since 2011 where she oversees all office support functions and is responsible for the supervision of the office support administrative staff. Virginia’s experience has given her the opportunity to work as a paralegal in the Public Benefits Project and in her current role as an Office Manager. She is a dedicated employee who strives to assist people living in poverty and her goal is to assure that clients are treated with compassion and respect.

Susan Theiss is the Fair Housing Project Manager in the Housing Practice Group. Susan joined Legal Aid Chicago in February 2017 as an attorney in Complex Litigation where she worked on matters in all of Legal Aid Chicago’s practice groups. She transitioned to the Housing Practice Group as a staff attorney in 2019 and became a Supervisory Attorney in 2022. Susan now works exclusively in the area of fair housing rights as the Manager of the Fair Housing Project that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded the agency in 2020. Susan oversees the Fair Housing Project, including  community outreach to raise awareness of fair housing rights, investigations of instances of housing discrimination, and enforcement actions. Susan received her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College, and her law degree from the University of Chicago.

Jacob Weinstein is a Grants Project Manager in the External Relations department at Legal Aid Chicago. His work ensures that large, complex grants are properly monitored and managed and that grant deliverables are completed successfully, on time, and within budget. Jacob joined Legal Aid Chicago in October 2021 as a VISTA contributing to our community engagement work, and shortly after transitioned to Grants and Data Administrator. Jacob received his undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies at the University of Vermont.