Staff
Tonia Allison
Member Services Coordinator
Tonia Allison joined the Foundation staff as Development Processing Assistant in September 2010 and currently serves as the organization's Member Services Coordinator. Before coming to Public Justice, Tonia had three years of gift processing experience with the United States Naval Academy Foundatio Read More...
Alexis Amann
Human Resources Coordinator
Alexis Amann is based out of the Oakland, California Public Justice office and is responsible for working with the Office and Human Resource Manager to ensure that Public Justice has the staff, policies, and practices needed to sustain our team and organizational well-being. Before coming to Public Read More...
Paula Athey
Legal Assistant
Paula Athey assists Managing Attorney Adele Kimmel, Environmental Enforcement Director Jim Hecker, Power-Cotchett Attorney Richard Webster, Food Safety & Health Attorney David Muraskin, and Thornton-Robb Attorney Gabriel Hopkins. She joined Public Justice in 1995 as the Receptionist and was pro Read More...
Leslie Bailey
Director, Debtors' Prison Project & Senior Attorney
Leslie A. Bailey is a senior attorney in Public Justice’s Oakland, California office, and Director of the organization's Debtors' Prison Project. Leslie litigates complex public interest cases and appeals involving civil rights and liberties, consumer protection, and court secrecy. She has briefed Read More...
Jennifer Bennett
Staff Attorney
Jennifer Bennett is a Staff Attorney at Public Justice, where she focuses on appellate and Supreme Court litigation. Jennifer litigates precedent-setting appeals on a wide range of issues, including civil rights, workers’ rights, consumer protection, and government transparency. Her recent work in Read More...
F. Paul Bland, Jr.
Executive Director
F. Paul Bland, Jr., Executive Director, has been a senior attorney at Public Justice since 1997. As Executive Director, Paul manages and leads Public Justice's legal and foundation staff, guiding the organization’s litigation docket and other advocacy. As staff and senior attorney, he was resp Read More...
Leslie A. Brueckner
Senior Attorney
Leslie A. Brueckner is a Senior Attorney at Public Justice, where she specializes in cutting-edge appellate litigation in the state and federal courts. A 1987 magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, Leslie’s current areas of practice include class actions, constitutional law, federal pr Read More...
Arthur H. Bryant
Chairman Emeritus
Arthur H. Bryant, Chairman Emeritus of Public Justice, has won major victories and established new precedents in several areas of the law, including constitutional law, toxic torts, civil rights, consumer protection, and mass torts. The National Law Journal has twice named him one of the 100 Most Read More...
Jason H. Connor
Food Project Fellow
Jason Connor is an attorney and the Food Project’s legal fellow. His work at Public Justice centers on developing litigation aimed at increasing transparency in federal and state agricultural regulation and public accountability in Big Ag. Jason is a recent graduate of NYU School of Law, where Read More...
Greg Cork
Chief Engagement Officer
Greg Cork joined the Public Justice team as Chief Engagement Officer in March of 2019. Prior to assuming this role, Greg ran his own consulting LLC, advising nonprofits on strategic and business planning, fundraising, organizational structuring, and board and talent recruitment. Greg brings to Pu Read More...
Jessica Culpepper
Food Project Director
Jessica Culpepper is Director of Public Justice's Food Project. Before joining Public Justice, Jessica was a Barker Fellow and Staff Attorney at the Humane Society of the United States in the Farm Animal Welfare Division. There she worked primarily on fighting pollution from Concentrated Ani Read More...
Karla Gilbride
Cartwright-Baron Senior Attorney
Karla Gilbride joined Public Justice in October 2014 as our Cartwright-Baron senior attorney. Her work focuses on fighting mandatory arbitration provisions imposed on consumers and workers to prevent them from holding corporations accountable for their wrongdoing in court. She has testified befor Read More...
Susan Gombert
Senior Meetings & Events Manager
Susan Gombert, CMP is Senior Meetings & Events Manager at the Public Justice Foundation. She is responsible for all aspects of the Foundation's meetings and special events, and is a staff liaison to the Foundation's Gala Committee. Prior to joining Public Justice, Susan was the Membership Dir Read More...
Brian Hardingham
Debtors' Prison Project Attorney
Brian Hardingham is based in the Oakland, California office of Public Justice. Before joining Public Justice, Brian clerked for Judge Jane Stranch on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and Judge Cormac Carney in the Central District of California. Brian also spent a year and a half doing pretrial a Read More...
Jim Hecker
Director, Environmental Enforcement Project
Jim Hecker, Environmental Enforcement Project Director at Public Justice, received an undergraduate degree with honors from the University of Illinois, and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Jim received his J.D., magna cum laude from the University of Illinois College of Law. He earned distinctions Read More...
Adele P. Kimmel
Senior Attorney
Adele P. Kimmel, Senior Attorney, is based in the DC Headquarters of Public Justice. Since joining the law firm in 1994, Adele has worked on wide range of civil rights cases, representing prisoners and immigrant detainees who were beaten, sexually assaulted, denied adequate medical care, and killed; Read More...
Megan Kyte
Membership Manager
Megan Kyte joined Public Justice in June 2019 and currently serves as the organization’s Membership Manager. Prior to joining Public Justice, Megan was the Senior Development Associate at The Arc of the United States, an organization dedicated to promoting and protecting the human rights of people Read More...
Neil Levine
Senior Attorney, Environmental Enforcement Project
Neil Levine is a senior attorney on Public Justice’s Environmental Enforcement Project. He joined Public Justice in December 2017 after spending 25 years representing national organizations and community groups throughout the country on a wide range of environmental issues. Neil previously serv Read More...
Lexi McMenamin
Communications Associate
Lexi McMenamin, Communications Associate, assists the Communications team with the organization’s growing portfolio of media, outreach and organizing work. Lexi’s role particularly focuses on Public Justice’s digital communications, as well as supporting Public Justice’s outreach and coaliti Read More...
Kathleen Morris
Legal Assistant/Operations Coordinator
Kathleen Morris joined Public Justice in January 2012 and currently serves as Legal Assistant/Operations Coordinator, based in our West Coast office. Prior to coming to Public Justice, Kathy worked as a paralegal for a small civil litigation practice which represented clients in a wide variety of Read More...
David Muraskin
Food Project Senior Attorney
David S. Muraskin is a Food Project Senior Attorney with Public Justice in Washington, D.C. He focuses on impact litigation to promote sustainable alternatives to the industrial animal agriculture system. His docket consists of constitutional, consumer, worker, and environmental cases. Of part Read More...
Brent Newell
Food Project Senior Attorney
Brent Newell is a Food Project Senior Attorney with Public Justice in Oakland, California, where he works with the Food Project team to reform the industrial animal agriculture system, support impacted communities, and promote sustainable alternatives. Prior to joining Public Justice in 2018, Bre Read More...
Victoria W. Ni
Director of Finance & Administration
Victoria W. Ni, Director of Finance & Administration, is based in the Oakland, Calif., office of Public Justice. Prior to her current role with the organization, Vicky litigated a wide range of cases focused on protecting and ensuring the rights of consumers, workers, victims, and individuals Read More...
Leah M. Nicholls
Senior Attorney
Leah Nicholls joined Public Justice's D.C. office in September 2012 as the Kazan-Budd Attorney. She was previously senior staff attorney for civil rights and general public interest at the Georgetown University Law Center's Institute for Public Representation. Leah had also been a teaching fellow an Read More...
Ellen Noble
Seneca Falls Fellow
Ellen Noble is a Fellow at Public Justice in Washington, D.C. She joined Public Justice after serving as a law clerk for Judge Albert Diaz on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 2017-2018. Ellen graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2017. Du Read More...
Aidan O’Shea
Director of Communications
Aidan O’Shea, Public Justice's Director of Communications, is responsible for expanding the reach of the organization's work and oversees Public Justice's messaging strategy, press outreach and other communications efforts, including website content, social media, and video production. He joined P Read More...
Steve Ralls
Director of External Affairs
Steve Ralls, Director of External Affairs, first joined Public Justice in April 2015 as the organization's Director of Communications. In his current role, Steve oversees Public Justice's communications and development teams, which are responsible for the organization's media, marketing, outreach &a Read More...
Lisa Reed
Food Project Paralegal
Lisa Reed joined Public Justice in 2019 as the Food Project paralegal, supporting the Food Project in all aspects of their work. Before joining Public Justice, Lisa worked as a litigation and government contracts paralegal. She received her Master’s Degree in Political Science from Boston College. Read More...
Ameesha Sampat
Food Project Outreach Manager
Ameesha Sampat, Food Project Outreach Manager, is responsible for creating opportunities for Public Justice’s supporters and allies to mobilize around key issues through the development of grassroots and community engagement strategies. She joined Public Justice’s Washington, D.C. office in Octo Read More...
Norma Sapp
Office and Human Resources Manager
Norma Sapp is the Office and Human Resources Manager, located in Public Justice's DC headquarters. Norma has spent much of her career managing office operations for both non-profit organizations and for-profit companies in the Washington, D.C. area. Read More...
Stephanie Shannon
Executive Assistant to the Chairman
Stephanie Shannon joined Public Justice’s West Coast Office in June 2018 as the Executive Assistant to the Chairman. Prior to coming to Public Justice, Stephanie completed her Master’s Degree in Human Rights and Democratization at the European Inter-University Center in Venice, Italy, where she Read More...
Kelly Simon
Development Director
Kelly Simon joined the Public Justice staff as Director of Development in October 2017. Prior to beginning this role, Kelly served as the Director of Development for the Pro Bono Institute, a legal organization dedicated to enhancing and strengthening pro bono programs of large law firms and legal d Read More...
Kellan Smith
Food Project Associate Attorney
Kellan Smith is a Food Project Associate Attorney with Public Justice in Washington, D.C. where he supports the efforts of the Project to thwart corporate oppression inherent in the industrial animal agriculture system. Prior to joining Public Justice in 2019, Kellan was a Staff Attorney at the C Read More...
Yvonne Stewart
Legal Assistant
Yvonne Stewart joined Public Justice in 2011 as a Legal Assistant. She assists Executive Director Paul Bland, Staff Attorney Leah Nicholls, Food Safety & Health Attorney Jessica Culpepper and Staff Attorney Karla Gilbride on their many public-interest cases. Yvonne has over 25 years of lega Read More...
Tommy Wrenn
Deputy Director of Development
Tommy Wrenn joined Public Justice in August 2016 and currently serves as the organization's Deputy Director of Development. Before coming to Public Justice, Tommy was Program Assistant at The Nexus Fund, a grant making organization dedicated to the prevention of mass atrocities. A graduate of Appala Read More...