In New York City, Ellie was a legal intern and law graduate at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem. She represented respondents facing abuse, neglect, and termination of parental rights proceedings in the Manhattan Family Court.
While in law school, Ellie worked as a research fellow for a non-profit organization for youth empowerment to stop hate-group-led violence. She also worked helping to remove invalid racial restriction covenants from deeds in Washington state. She also interned at Court Appointed Special Advocates for DC, where she participated in managing several programs such as Juvenile Behavioral Diversion Program/Person in Need of Supervision, Abuse and Neglect, Unaccompanied Refugee Minors, HOPE Court, and the Family Treatment Court. Ellie also worked in public defense in Spokane County representing clients facing felony charges and involuntary civil commitment.
Ellie received a Bachelor of Science in Family and Human Development and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Arizona State University in July 2013, a Masters of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling in June 2015, and a Juris Doctor in May 2019 from Gonzaga University.
See Ellie’s profile on our main website.
Honors & Awards
- Gonzaga University School of Law, Pro Bono Distinction
Community & Philanthropy
- Parent Legislative Action Network in New York City to help reform laws impacting parents facing neglect and abuse allegations
- Partnered with educational groups in Washington, DC to implement laws that would disrupt the school to prison pipeline.
Representative Cases
- Represented a nineteen-year-old foster youth facing removal of her newborn due to hearsay.
- Represented a young mother facing removal of her child due to disability discrimination.
- Obtained $2.5M settlement for the family of a wrongful death victim in a medical malpractice suit.
- Recovered $500,000 in UM (uninsured motorist) bodily injury + $100,000 for injured victim of a motor vehicle accident.
- Worked as an associate on a lawsuit against a group home that settled for $500,000.
- Worked as an associate on a vehicle v. bicycle collision that settled for six figures.
- Worked as an associate on a negligence case against a grocery store that settled for $300,000.
- Recovered $283,500 settlement for injuries & damages sustained on the premises of a major store chain.
- Obtained $227,000 settlement for a couple hit by a fail-to-yield driver for their non-life-threatening bodily injury and vehicle damages.
- Recovered $85,000 + $25,000 in bodily injury for minor injured by reckless driver.
- Obtained $100,000 in UM (uninsured motorist) + $25,000 UIM (underinsured motorist) for victim injured during collision.
- Recovered $60,000 in bodily injury claims against an auto dealer/service provider for personal injury sustained in auto accident caused by inadequate tire repair work.
- Has worked on numerous adverse/underinsured motorist claims that have settled for six figures.
Representative Experience
- Represented clients in numerous emergency removal hearings and trials in Manhattan Family Court in which she was able to prevent children being removed from the home. She also represented parents in State Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment (“SCR”) hearings where she was able to prevent parents from being labelled incorrectly affecting decades of their life and ability to work.
- Represented clients in criminal defense cases, including felonies and those involving competency issues, in Spokane County. She has also represented clients facing involuntary civil commitment in Eastern Washington.
- Worked as an associate on personal injury cases involving wrongful death, negligence, and products liability.
Published Works
- The Kids are Alt-Right: How the Media and the Law Enable White Supremacist Groups Recruit and Radicalize Emotionally Vulnerable Individuals, Vol. XII, Fall 2019 Law Journal for Social Justice
Speaking Engagements
- Artificial Intelligence and International Law: A Call for Regulations and Implementation of Protections for Fundamental Human Rights in the Digital Age, Asian Society of International Law, August 2019, Manila, Philippines
- Prison Psychology: Does Daily Counseling For Guards Have a Positive Impact on Prisoner’s Mental Health?, Washington Counseling Association Annual Conference, Spokane, WA 2013
Other
Before law school, Ellie utilized her master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling to intern at the Spokane County Jail Mental Health Unit in Spokane, Washington. She provided counseling for individuals with severe and persistent mental illnesses and co-occurring substance abuse disorders. She frequently provided crisis intervention and counseling. Additionally, Ellie worked as a mental health therapist for YFA Connections, Youth and Family Services. As a mental health therapist, Ellie conducted therapy sessions with children, adolescents, and adults diagnosed with various disorders; she developed and wrote treatment plans, progress notes, and diagnostic summaries for children and adolescents; and she implemented behavioral interventions and modifications as per the treatment plan. She worked with children that had complex trauma and severe mental illnesses. As a former mental health therapist, Ellie was devoted to the cause of helping people address the challenges they are faced in life.