Ed Barnes
Director, Income Practice
J.D., New York University School of Law (1977)
B.A., Linguistics, Brown University (1969)
Ed Barnes has been a supervising attorney at EBCLC since 1988, and Director of the Income practice since 1995. Before coming to EBCLC, Ed worked at DNA Legal Services on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona, and at the Legal Aid Society of Alameda County. He has also been a math teacher for the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone. Ed is the author of numerous welfare policy changes; and has handled major litigation concerning public assistance and health care.
Martha Brown
Director of Finance and Administration
Elisa Della-Piana
Director, CLASS
J.D., Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley (2002)
B.A., History, University of Utah (1999)
Elisa Della-Piana is the project director for the CLASS self-help clinic and the homeless citation defense program at the Law Center. Elisa is a 2002 Boalt graduate and former EBCLC intern who has worked on issues of civil rights and homelessness since 2000. After graduation, Elisa clerked for Judge David F. Levi, Eastern District of California; and Judge Betty B. Fletcher, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Elisa then spent four years at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, providing individual representation through the Homeless Rights Project, working on policy issues related to homelessness, and co-counseling on impact litigation, including the successful class action suit Kincaid v. City of Fresno.
Meredith Desautel
UC Berkeley School of Law Bridge Fellow
J.D., UC Berkeley School of Law, Boalt Hall (2008)
B.A., Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University (2004)
Meredith joined EBCLC’s Clean Slate practice as a Bridge Fellow in August 2008. While in law school, Meredith participated in the Clean Slate practice as a clinical student. She also interned at Public Advocates, where she worked on education equity issues, and at the Equal Justice Society, where she conducted research on unconscious bias in schools and the workplace. Prior to law school, Meredith worked for the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development as a member of the New York Urban Fellows program.
Sharon Djemal
Staff Attorney & Clinical Instructor, Housing Practice
J.D., Columbia University School of Law (1997)
B.A., Political Science, Macalester College (1991)
Sharon Djemal joined EBCLC’s Housing practice in 2000. Prior to EBCLC, Sharon was a Soros Fellow at the Urban Justice Center 's Homelessness Outreach and Prevention Project, providing eviction prevention and community education to public housing tenants in New York City. While a fellow, she founded a clinic at Columbia University School of Law, supervising an average of 15 students each semester. For more on her work at the Urban Justice Center,
While
in law school, Sharon participated in numerous public interest
activities, and earned Columbia ’s highest clinical award, the
Jane Marks Murphy Prize for interest and proficiency in clinical
advocacy. Sharon 's other involvement in community organizations
stretches across the globe, from New York, Washington D.C., and
Minnesota, to Nicaragua, Angola, and Israel.
John Engstrom
Staff Attorney, Community Economic Justice Practice
J.D., Santa Clara School of Law (2005)
B.S., Management Science, University of California at San Diego
John Engstrom recently joined EBCLC as a Staff Attorney in the Community Economic Justice Unit. Prior to joining EBCLC, John worked at the Alameda County Homeless Action Center and the Mental Health Advocacy Project in San Jose. John specialized in assisting clients obtain and maintain public benefits. John also worked on policy issues affecting low income and disabled members of the community. As a law student, John interned at EBCLC for four semesters.
Victoria Flores
Contracts Manager
B.A., English Literature, San Francisco State University (2005)
Victoria Flores joined EBCLC in July, 2007 as a Contracts Manager. Prior to coming to EBCLC, Victoria worked for nearly four years in development/contract management for several organizations in the Bay Area. When not at the Law Center, Victoria provides consulting services and technical assistance to non-profits.
Liam Galbreth
Staff Attorney & Clinical Instructor, Health Practice
J.D., Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley
(1999)
B.A., Politics, University of California at Santa Cruz (1994)
Liam Galbreth joined EBCLC in 2001 as an attorney in the Income practice and a member of the Family Advocacy Services Team. In 2003 he moved to the Health practice. In 2002 he co-chaired the Alameda County Bar Association Community Projects Committee. While in law school, Liam interned at EBCLC for two semesters.
Sheila Hall
Director, Health Practice
J.D., Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley (1984)
B.A., English, University of California at Berkeley (1978)
Sheila Hall joined EBCLC in 1999 and has served as the Director of the Health practice since 2001. She has been Legal Director of the East Bay Medical-Legal Partnership (a collaboration between EBCLC and Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland) since 2006. Before coming to EBCLC, Sheila worked at Marin AIDS Project and in private practice in Los Angeles and San Francisco. She has served as a pro bono attorney for the AIDS Legal Referral Panel and the Volunteer Legal Services Program of the San Francisco Bar Association. Sheila served as a member of the Ryan White HIV Health Services Planning Council for the Oakland Eligible Metropolitan Area from 2005–2007.In 2004 she was selected by the state Office of AIDS to serve on the California HIV Planning Group, the top advisory body on HIV policy and planning in the state.
Eliza Hersh
Director, Clean Slate
J.D., Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley (2005)
B.A., Letters, Wesleyan University (1998)
Eliza joined EBCLC as a Clean Slate Fellow in 2006. After graduating from Boalt, Eliza clerked for Chief Judge Martha Vázquez, United States District Court, District of New Mexico. As a law student, Eliza interned at EBCLC and trained to be a victim liaison in the JustBridges program. Prior to law school, Eliza worked as an investigator on post-conviction capital cases.
Luan Huynh
Staff Attorney, Income Support
J.D., UCLA School of Law (2005)
B.A. Political Science and Communications, UCLA (1999)
Luan Huynh recently joined EBCLC as the Shartsis Friese Public Interest Law fellow in the Income practice. While in law school, Luan was a member of the National Latino Law Student Association (NLLSA), the National Lawyers Guild, and the Equal Justice Society. In addition, Luan was comments editor for the Asian Pacific American Law Journal, volunteered at the Sunday Clinic, and clerked for the Working People's Law Center in downtown Los Angeles.
Luan was previously a district representative for a California assemblymember and a secretary to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters before attending law school. Luan was born in Vietnam and raised in Fresno, California, but Barcelona, Spain is her favorite city in the whole wide world.
Marc S. Janowitz
Staff Attorney & Clinical Instructor, Housing Practice
J.D., New College of California School of Law (1980)
B.A., University of Maryland (1969)
Marc Janowitz joined EBCLC as a consulting attorney in 2002 after many years of providing pro bono assistance to EBCLC clients, with a focus on affirmative law suits in the Housing practice. In 2005 he became a staff attorney. Marc previously operated the Law Offices of Marc S. Janowitz in San Francisco where he specialized in representing residential and commercial tenants. He has lectured widely in California on landlord-tenant issues for business and professional groups, including the Real Property Section of the State Bar of California.
From 1994-2002 Marc served as an elected Commissioner on the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board. In 2003, he successfully litigated Drouet v. Superior Court before the California Supreme Court establishing the right of tenants to assert retaliation claims in Ellis Act evictions.
Gracie Jones
Intake Specialist, Housing Practice
Gracie Jones joined EBCLC in 2003 as the Receptionist. In 2006, she became the Housing Intake Specialist. Before coming to EBCLC, Gracie worked at the Berkeley Housing Authority and served on the Section 8 Voucher Program team.
Laura Lane
Director, Housing Practice
J.D., Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley
(1996)
M.A., Comparative Literature, San Francisco State University (1992)
B.A., Classics, Hunter College (1988)
Laura
Lane joined EBCLC as a supervising attorney in 1997 and directs
the Housing practice. As a law student
Laura worked in EBCLC’s Health practice, at
the Legal Aid Society of Alameda County, and at the American Civil
Liberties Union. A recipient of an echoing green Public Interest
Fellowship, in 1996 Laura founded and directed a project providing
free legal services to people living with HIV/AIDS in Contra Costa County.
Laura
has taught housing law and policy at Boalt Hall School of Law and at Golden Gate University, School of Law. In 2003,
she was honored at a reception in San Francisco by Housing Rights, Inc. in recognition of her contributions
to fair housing in the East Bay.
Margaretta Lin
Director, Community Economic Justice Practice
J.D., Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley
(1991)
M.A., Asian Studies, University of California at Berkeley (1991)
B.A., University of Virginia (1986)
Margaretta
Lin joined EBCLC in 2003 to direct the Community Economic Justice
practice. While in law school, Margaretta co-founded the Boalt
Hall Studies in International Law and Women of Color Caucus. She
was active in the Coalition for Diversified Faculty and a member
of the California Law Review. After graduating from Boalt, Margaretta
served as a law clerk to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First
Circuit.
Margaretta
has been a civil rights lawyer and activist for more than a decade
in the Bay Area. Margaretta was the founder and Executive Director
of Youth Together, a youth organizing and educational justice
organization working in Oakland, Berkeley, and Richmond. She was
a civil rights attorney at Public Advocates, where she was lead
counsel on class action education discrimination cases. She has
also served as an equity specialist with the federal desegregation
assistance center and a research associate on a national research
study on school diversity issues.
Jonathon Marley
Director of Development & Planning
Fellowship, Health Care Administration, Johns Hopkins University
(1988)
M.P.H., Health Policy and Management, Harvard University (1987)
A.B., Human Biology, Stanford University (1984)
Jonathon Marley founded EBCLC's development department in 1994 and has served as Development Director since that time. Before joining EBCLC, he worked with the Over 60 Health Center in Berkeley, directed the Teen Clinic and HIV Program at La Clinica de la Raza in Oakland, and interned at the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center.
At Harvard, Jonathon co-founded the Health and Human Rights Group, and later helped to start both the International Campaign to Free Geronimo Pratt and the New Village Community Public Charter School of the East Bay. In 1999 he created the Anti-Bias Curriculum Project, helping elementary school students in Berkeley public schools understand and appreciate differences related to race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, family income, and language. Jonathon serves on the School Governance Council and the Academic Choice Advisory Council at Berkeley High School, and he is on the Board of Directors for the Peoples Life Fund in Berkeley.
Jaimee Arnone Modica
Staff Attorney & Clinical Instructor, Housing Practice
J.D., King Hall School of Law, University of California at Davis
(2003)
B.A., University of California at Berkeley (1999)
Jaimee
joined EBCLC in 2003 as an Equal Justice Works fellow in the Housing practice. The fellowship was generously
supported by the law firm of Bingham McCutchen and focused on substandard
housing in the cities of Oakland, Berkeley and Emeryville. In 2005, Jaimee became a staff attorney. During
law school, Jaimee interned at EBCLC for several semesters, and
at La Raza Centro Legal and the Hotel Employees & Restaurant
Employees, Local 2.
Deborah Moss-West
Development Officer
J.D., Santa Clara School of Law (1994)
B.A., Social Science, San Jose State University (1988)
A Bay Area native, Deborah Moss-West joined EBCLC in 2000 and has served the agency in many capacities. As EBCLC’s first Program Director and then Deputy Director, Deborah oversaw the agency’s human resources, fiscal and administrative functions. Her work also included providing organizational development and technical legal assistance to non-profits and small businesses. In October 2006, Deborah became EBCLC’s first Development Officer, focusing her efforts on law firms, corporate giving and cultivating relationships with EBCLC’s many supporters and major donors.
Prior to coming to EBCLC, Deborah worked for twelve years in Human Resources, Civil Litigation, and Procurement. When not at EBCLC Deborah provides non-profit and small business consulting services and enjoys working with youth and teaching.
Ayana Muhammad
Office Manager
Ayana Muhammad has been at EBCLC since March 1998. Ayana manages the dual role of Office Manager and Network Administrator at EBCLC. She has years of administrative experience and has attended many computer related trainings. She previously worked at EBCLC in the early 1990s, before attending Clark Atlanta University. Ayana also has worked for the Center for Health Leadership where she interacted with public health officials from all over the country. Ayana served in the United States Army Reserves for seven years as a Medical Specialist.
Jen Neuber
Receptionist
M.A., Rhetoric, University of California at Berkeley (2004)
B.A., Communication Studies, Macalester College (1999)
Jen Neuber joined EBCLC as a bilingual receptionist in 2006 with Spanish as her second language. Jen minored in Spanish at Macalester College and studied abroad for a semester in Bogotá, Colombia. Before joining EBCLC, Jen was a graduate student and teaching assistant in Film Studies and Rhetoric at the University of California, Berkeley. While studying at Berkeley, she organized with Students for Justice in Palestine and a taught in Patten University's college program at San Quentin prison. Jen has volunteered with People United for a Better Oakland's Campaign for Community Safety and Police Accountability since 2004, and continues her work as an organizer in various local campaigns for community empowerment and social justice.
Osha Neumann
Consulting Attorney
J.D., New College of California School of Law (1987)
M.A., History, Yale (1962)
B.A., History, Swarthmore (1961)
Osha
Neumann joined EBCLC as a Consulting Attorney in 2003. He has
been in private practice in Berkeley since 1987, representing
political protestors, victims of police misconduct and homeless
people in cases regarding their civil rights. He is the chairperson
of Community Defense Inc., a non-profit that promotes legal education
for poor and marginalized communities. He is also an accomplished
muralist responsible or many murals still to be seen in Berkeley.
Serina Rankins
Intake Specialist & Paralegal, Clean Slate Practice
AA, Paralegal Studies, Merritt College (2007)
Serina Rankins joined EBCLC in July 2007. She was born and raised in Oakland, CA. Serina has over 11 years of administrative experience, having worked at various non-profits and corporations in the Bay Area. She is a member of the National Notary Association.
Phil Rapier
Supervising Attorney, Housing Practice
J.D., UC Berkeley School of Law, Boalt Hall
B.A., University of California at Berkeley
Phil has maintained a solo practice in the Bay Area for over twenty years, focusing primarily on tenants and housing rights. He was actively involved in the campaign to pass Oakland’s Just Cause Eviction ordinance and continues to be committed to changing and improving the law as much as enforcing it. A Boalt graduate as well as a UC Berkeley undergraduate, he is pleased to see the law school’s increased commitment to public interest law as there were few such programs during his days as a student. He is particularly excited about contributing to the teaching and supervision aspects of the Law Center’s work, as well as community outreach and legislative proposals.
Tamura Saxton
Administrative Assistant
Tamura joined EBCLC in August of 2007. She was born and raised in Oakland, CA. Tamura holds a degree in Fashion Merchandising. After working in the buying office of a catalogue company she decided to enter the legal field. Before coming to EBCLC, Tamura worked as a legal assistant in a worker’s compensation law firm and a real estate law firm. Currently, Tamura is a student in the Los Angles Mission College paralegal program.
Tirien Steinbach
Executive Director
J.D., Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley (1999)
B.A., Art History, University of California at Santa Cruz (1994)
In March 2007, Tirien Steinbach became the third executive director of EBCLC. Tirien joined EBCLC in 2001 in the Income practice where she incubated Clean Slate practice, which she directed. In 2006 Tirien served as EBCLC's Director of Clinical & Program. Tirien is currently a Lecturer at Boalt Hall School of Law (UC Berkeley), and co-teaches "Community Law Practice at EBCLC," the companion seminar for Boalt students enrolled in EBCLC’s clinical program.
In law school, Tirien was active in the public interest and student of color communities, where she served as co-president of the Berkeley Law Foundation Student Steering Committee and Vice President of Recruitment for Law Students of African Descent. Upon graduating from Boalt, Tirien is the recipient of numerous fellowships and awards, including an Equal Justice Works fellowship sponsored by the California Appellate Project, a Berkeley Law Foundation grant for her work at EBCLC, and the inaugural Thelton E. Henderson Social Justice Prize.
Linda Tam
Staff Attorney & Clinical Instructor, Health Practice
J.D., Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley
(2000)
B.A., Psychology, Yale University (1996)
Linda
Tam joined EBCLC in 2003 to develop an immigration specialty within
the Health practice. At Boalt, Linda served
on the Asian Law Journal, was recruitment co-chair of the Asian
Pacific American Law Students Association, and worked in the International
Human Rights Law Clinic. At Yale, she received the Association
of Yale Alumni Community Service Fellowship.
Linda
has extensive work and volunteer experience in serving low-income
clients and communities, including work most recently at La Raza
Centro Legal, Disability Rights Advocates, the Department of Justice
(Executive Office for Immigration Review) and the Asian Law Caucus.
She also brings teaching and training experience, and ability
in 5 languages in addition to English (Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese,
Toisan and French). She is a contributor on immigration law to
AIDS and the Law, the leading treatise on HIV legal issues.
Jeffrey Thomas
Deputy Director
Yvonne Troya
Staff Attorney & Clinical Supervisor, Health Practice
J.D., Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley (2006)
B.A., Latin American Studies & Biology, Bowdoin College (1996)
Yvonne Troya joined EBCLC as a staff attorney in the Health Law Practice in 2007. Prior to law school, Yvonne served as a paralegal in the Asylum Program of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights in San Francisco for five years. There she worked with indigent immigrants from over 30 different countries. During law school, Yvonne interned with the Employment Law Project of La Raza Centro Legal and worked as a summer associate at the law firm of Drinker, Biddle & Reath. She also spent a semester working at the World Organization against Torture (OMCT) in Geneva, Switzerland in addition to interning with the International Human Rights Law Clinic at Boalt.
Chauniqua Young
Development Associate
B.A., Liberal Arts, Sarah Lawrence College, 2002
Chauniqua
Young joined EBCLC in 2003 as an Administrative Assistant and
Volunteer Coordinator. In 2006 she became Development Associate. Previously, she worked with the Sarah Lawrence
College Office of Admission as the Intern for Student of Color
Recruitment.
Carolina Zanni
Administrative Assistant
Carolina
was born and raised in Santiago, Chile and came to the United
States in 1994. Carolina attended Contra Costa College, and after
completing ESL classes, she graduated in 2001 with two Certificates
of Achievement in Computer Systems Operations and Network Technologies.
Carolina worked as an administrative assistant for an Oakland
based law firm, providing services in personal injury cases, such
as car accidents, wrongful death, medical malpractice, class action
suits, and toxic torts. With Spanish being her first language,
Carolina also helped Spanish speaking clients with translations
and legal documents.
