Alex is a Senior Attorney with the Debtors’ Prison Project, based in Northern California. Before joining Public Justice, Alex was the Associate Vice President for Strategic Litigation at the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) in Boston, Massachusetts, where she managed a team of several attorneys and paralegals on groundbreaking federal Clean Water Act cases against major…
Charles Moore is a staff attorney with the Debtors’ Prison Project. He is based in the Washington, DC office of Public Justice. Before joining Public Justice, Charles had experience both in civil litigation and criminal defense in multiple roles. Immediately prior to joining Public Justice, Charles was a public defender in the State of Maryland. …
Mariam Elbakr is a Skadden Fellow with the Debtors’ Prison Project. Her fellowship focuses on challenging an arcane Tennessee law that imposes public defender fees on people who cannot afford to pay. This is a continuation of her work in law school with the Policy Advocacy Clinic, where she challenged court-imposed monetary sanctions on youth…
Brian Hardingham is a Senior Attorney with the Debtors’ Prison Project. He litigates cases challenging the illegal use of money bail, excessive fees attached to conditions of pretrial release and probation, the imposition of excessive fines, and other scenarios in which a person’s inability to pay money leads to jail or other adverse consequences in…
Leslie A. Bailey is Director of the organization’s Debtors’ Prison Project, in Public Justice’s West Coast office. Leslie litigates complex public interest cases and appeals involving civil rights and liberties, consumer protection, and court secrecy. She has briefed, argued, and won cases in state and federal appellate courts across the country and has testified in both…
Jacqueline Arkush is a 2025-2026 Justice Catalyst Fellow working at Public Justice to expose private correctional healthcare providers’ wrongdoing by utilizing the public’s right of access to court records and therefore facilitating the ability of legal and community-based advocates to hold these companies and the government accountable.
Shelby Leighton joined Public Justice in March 2022 as a staff attorney in the Access to Justice Project. She litigates high-impact cases with the goal of making the civil court system a fair, equitable, and effective tool for those with less power to win just outcomes and hold those with more power accountable, including cases…
Leah M. Nicholls is the Director of the Access to Justice Project, working in Public Justice’s Washington, DC headquarters. Leah litigates high-impact civil public interest cases at the trial and appellate levels, including cases involving access to courts, court secrecy, consumer protection, and Public Justice’s Food Project. She has briefed, argued, and won cases in state…
Steve Ralls is Public Justice’s Vice President, Communications, Marketing & Branding. In his current role, Steve oversees Public Justice’s communications, marketing, branding and board relations teams, which are responsible for the organization’s media, marketing, outreach & education and fundraising programs and campaigns as well as Board development and strategy. Steve has secured prominent media coverage…