Be a Patriot and Volunteer at NNLA

Past Life. Lisa is a bilingual attorney who brings to her leadership over eighteen years’ experience representing legal aid clients in every substantive area served by NNLA. Before law school, Lisa drafted declarations for Chilean torture survivors to support Pinochet’s extradition and she represented Central American asylum seekers fleeing civil war. During law school, Lisa prepared an amicus brief for the Canadian War Crimes Tribunal to support the exercise of universal jurisdiction to prosecute a former Hutu government official residing in Canada accused of inciting genocide in Rwanda.

Latest Inspiration. Lisa is captivated by the city of Houston’s success in reducing homelessness by sixty percent. Houston makes its 100 nonprofits work in concert to great effect: https://www.thewayhomehouston.org/. In keeping with this example, Lisa has partnered with Nevada Legal Services (NLS) to jointly serve clients every weekday at the Civil Law Self-Help Center located in the Reno Justice Court. As NLS Executive Director, Peter Wetherall rightly noted, “our clients don’t care what our organizations are called.” It just matters that we help them.

Lisa Evans, Executive Director

Lisa Evans

Executive Director

Past Life. In her current role, Krissta has now served four legal aid organization. She started at Nevada Legal Services in Las Vegas, then Micronesian Legal Services in Saipan, and during the pandemic, Legal Services of the Virgin Islands in St. Thomas. At NLS, Krissta was promoted to Statewide Pro Bono Director, where she spearheaded important projects like creating family law self-help forms for the Fifth Judicial District Court in Nye County.   

Latest Inspiration. Krissta recently initiated a new collaboration with the ABA’s Children’s Immigration Law Academy that finds pro bono representation for unaccompanied minors and other child immigrant cases. https://cilacademy.org/pro-bono-matters/.

Krissta Kirschenheiter, Executive Team Attorney.

Krissta Kirschenheiter

Executive Team Attorney

Past life. Jill has been licensed since 1993 and actively practicing for 30 years in a diverse spectrum of legal matters:  Insurance Defense, Collections, Personal Injury, Mass Torts, Bankruptcy, the entire spectrum of Family Law, with even a bit of criminal defense, administrative law, and general civil litigation. 

Latest Inspiration. In her new role, Jill has committed herself to streamlining NNLA intake procedures across our service locations so that “no matter where or how a potential client comes to us they will receive the same service.” Jill has also just launched a new Custody Basics Class this summer presented every two weeks to the public and partner agencies. She expects to offer it in Spanish in the new year.

Jill Whitbeck, Director of Intake Programs.

Jill Whitbeck

Director of Intake Programs

Past life. Jennifer most recently served as the Chief Rights Attorney for Nevada. Jennifer oversaw COVID legal response, worked on innovative projects, and filed briefing before the Nevada Supreme Court and Court of Appeals on litigation matters impacting older adults and persons with disabilities. Jennifer also authored legislation to create the Vulnerable Adult Fatality Review Team in Nevada and provide protections for persons living in long term care settings.      

Latest Inspiration. Jennifer is excited to try to bring The Legal Risk Detector Tool to Northern Nevada. This online referral process technology helps legal and social service providers work together to address the needs of our most vulnerable residents. https://www.probono.net/programs/risk-detector/. Jennifer is also eager to take our Medical Legal Partnership to the next level and increase caseload capacity of our Senior Legal Center by expanding its pro bono program.

Jennifer Richards, Supervisor, Senior Law Center.

Jennifer Richards

Supervisor, Senior Law Center

Past Life. Elena is a five-year veteran of our Senior Law Center, where she assisted senior citizens with civil legal matters. Prior to this, she worked for Volunteer Attorney’s for Rural Nevadans, (VARN) and assisting clients in family law matters.

Latest Inspiration. Elena was recently promoted to supervisor of the Civil Law Self-Help Center, now located on the first floor of the Reno Justice Court. In conjunction with NLS, Elena ensures that self-represented litigants access the correct court forms by working with court staff and connects visitors to social safety net resources provided by community partners. Elena will expand self-help services as demand increases both in and outside Washoe County.

Elena Butko, Supervisor, Civil Law Self-Help Center.

Elena Butko

Supervisor, Civil Law Self-Help Center

Past Life. Lee was a public defender in Nevada for ten years. He served as a Criminal Court and Family Court judge in New York City for 17 years. He wrote a book on the law of domestic violence in New York. Lee also served on the Permanent Judicial Commission on Justice for Children and is a graduate of the National Judicial College’s permanency planning institute.

Enduring Inspiration. Lee has always been concerned about the imbalance of power between those with and without resources. Coming of age as a lawyer during the Warren Court years, Lee studied the Court’s efforts to balance the scales of equity by the application of law. In his new role, Lee will strive to partner with the local legal community to improve the lives of our fellow Washoe County residents by assisting with their legal challenges. He greatly appreciates the dedication of the local bar to justice for everyone. Reach Lee at impactlit@nnlegalaid.org.

Lee Elkins, Director of Strategic Advocacy and Impact Litigation.

Lee Elkins

Director of Strategic Advocacy and Impact Litigation

COME WORK/VOLUNTEER FOR NNLA!  

We offer meaningful life’s work and a healthy work-life balanced 35-hour work-week. Email careers@nnlegalaid.org or view our job openings. Or start by volunteering on a case: probono@nnlegalaid.org.

NNLA Icon

COME WORK/VOLUNTEER FOR NNLA!  

We offer meaningful life’s work and a healthy work-life balanced 35-hour work-week. Email careers@nnlegalaid.org or visit our job openings page. Or start by volunteering on a case by emailing probono@nnlegalaid.org.

Photo by https://unsplash.com/@rstone_design

The following article was initially published in the January/February Edition of The Writ, the official publication of the Washoe County Bar Association. To view the original publication CLICK HERE >

I wouldn’t ordinarily compare myself to Tom Brady. After all, he is the greatest quarterback of all time winning seven Super Bowl titles, while I played third string for one year in high school. Poorly. But in one respect I’ve got Tom beat. Famously, Tom Brady came out of retirement after one month to play a final season in the NFL. Tom said you can’t un-retire twice. (Gisele Bündchen also came out of retirement to resume modeling after their divorce, but that’s another story). I’ve come out of retirement three times – once after sitting on the Family Court in New York, and twice from the Public Defender’s Office in Reno.  Now I work for Northern Nevada Legal Aid. Proudly.

Speaking of New England Patriots, another great patriot from New England was Louis D. Brandeis. Justice Brandeis once said “If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you.” Brandeis was a pragmatic progressive, famous for his eponymous Brandeis brief – arguing from data and social science.  Before his appointment to the Supreme Court in 1916, Brandeis was known as “The People’s Lawyer,” taking cases without compensation to advocate for workers’ rights, against monopoly and the concentration of wealth, which he considered antidemocratic. He was also an early advocate for consumer protection. In 2009, The Economist called Brandeis “a Robin Hood of the law.”  Brandeis’ innovation was to draw on the lived experience of ordinary people, demonstrating factually how they were affected by the law to advocate for fairness and for equity. Brandeis was one of the first public interest lawyers.

Here at Northern Nevada Legal Aid, we follow Justice Brandeis’ path, advocating for the protection of ordinary people seeking to keep their housing or protection from abusive partners, parents or creditors. We strive to ensure that people without means are treated fairly and with due regard in civil matters.

Life is hard. Within our practice we represent dependent children in Family Court. We represent survivors of domestic violence. We represent the elderly in many issues, including consumer protection, medical legal issues, social security disputes and guardianship. We represent people seeking legal immigration status. We run a self-help center where we provide guidance for under resourced people seeking legal advice.

It’s a hard knock life, as our former client Orphan Annie reminds us. But the knocks are somewhat softer with a dedicated lawyer in your corner. All of us who have made it to adulthood know that fate is fickle. In many families, including my own, we experience severe illnesses, debilitating injuries, addiction and mental health problems. Our friends and family lose jobs, suffer financial setbacks, have accidents. Our impulse is always to sympathy and to ease the suffering of others.  Often, we are at a loss.

Fortunately, as members of the Washoe County legal community we are in a position to do more than sympathize. Northern Nevada Legal Aid has an active pro bono program. Your law license can be a talisman against calamity.  We would be honored to work with you in any of our areas of practice to assist the neediest members of our community.  So, if you are retired – come back. Beat Tom Brady’s record and become a “Brandeis” for Washoe.

ATTENTION NORTHERN NEVADA LAW FIRMS AND ATTORNEYS: Volunteer with Northern Nevada Legal Aid’s Pro Bono Program: probono@nnlegalaid.org. Obtain a Nevada law license under the Emeritus program for pro bono work: https://nvbar.org/access-to-justice/emeritus/

Lee Elkins is the Director of Strategic Advocacy and Impact Litigation for Northern Nevada Legal Aid. He previously served as a public defender in Washoe County for 10 years. He was a criminal court and family court judge in New York City for 17 years. You can reach Lee at impactlit@nnlegalaid.org.

 

The following article was initially published in the January/February Edition of The Writ, the official publication of the Washoe County Bar Association. To view the original publication CLICK HERE >

I wouldn’t ordinarily compare myself to Tom Brady. After all, he is the greatest quarterback of all time winning seven Super Bowl titles, while I played third string for one year in high school. Poorly. But in one respect I’ve got Tom beat. Famously, Tom Brady came out of retirement after one month to play a final season in the NFL. Tom said you can’t un-retire twice. (Gisele Bündchen also came out of retirement to resume modeling after their divorce, but that’s another story). I’ve come out of retirement three times – once after sitting on the Family Court in New York, and twice from the Public Defender’s Office in Reno.  Now I work for Northern Nevada Legal Aid. Proudly.

Speaking of New England Patriots, another great patriot from New England was Louis D. Brandeis. Justice Brandeis once said “If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you.” Brandeis was a pragmatic progressive, famous for his eponymous Brandeis brief – arguing from data and social science.  Before his appointment to the Supreme Court in 1916, Brandeis was known as “The People’s Lawyer,” taking cases without compensation to advocate for workers’ rights, against monopoly and the concentration of wealth, which he considered antidemocratic. He was also an early advocate for consumer protection. In 2009, The Economist called Brandeis “a Robin Hood of the law.”  Brandeis’ innovation was to draw on the lived experience of ordinary people, demonstrating factually how they were affected by the law to advocate for fairness and for equity. Brandeis was one of the first public interest lawyers.

Here at Northern Nevada Legal Aid, we follow Justice Brandeis’ path, advocating for the protection of ordinary people seeking to keep their housing or protection from abusive partners, parents or creditors. We strive to ensure that people without means are treated fairly and with due regard in civil matters.

Life is hard. Within our practice we represent dependent children in Family Court. We represent survivors of domestic violence. We represent the elderly in many issues, including consumer protection, medical legal issues, social security disputes and guardianship. We represent people seeking legal immigration status. We run a self-help center where we provide guidance for under resourced people seeking legal advice.

It’s a hard knock life, as our former client Orphan Annie reminds us. But the knocks are somewhat softer with a dedicated lawyer in your corner. All of us who have made it to adulthood know that fate is fickle. In many families, including my own, we experience severe illnesses, debilitating injuries, addiction and mental health problems. Our friends and family lose jobs, suffer financial setbacks, have accidents. Our impulse is always to sympathy and to ease the suffering of others.  Often, we are at a loss.

Fortunately, as members of the Washoe County legal community we are in a position to do more than sympathize. Northern Nevada Legal Aid has an active pro bono program. Your law license can be a talisman against calamity.  We would be honored to work with you in any of our areas of practice to assist the neediest members of our community.  So, if you are retired – come back. Beat Tom Brady’s record and become a “Brandeis” for Washoe.

ATTENTION NORTHERN NEVADA LAW FIRMS AND ATTORNEYS: Volunteer with Northern Nevada Legal Aid’s Pro Bono Program: probono@nnlegalaid.org. Obtain a Nevada law license under the Emeritus program for pro bono work: https://nvbar.org/access-to-justice/emeritus/

Lee Elkins is the Director of Strategic Advocacy and Impact Litigation for Northern Nevada Legal Aid. He previously served as a public defender in Washoe County for 10 years. He was a criminal court and family court judge in New York City for 17 years. You can reach Lee at impactlit@nnlegalaid.org.

Are you a retired/semi-retired lawyer? Do you want to work 20 hours a week – receiving paid time off and qualifying for 401(k) matching – by representing adults in guardianship proceedings or children in foster care? We have a place for you! Please email careers@nnlegalaid.org.

Are you an out-of-state lawyer? Did you know you could be licensed in Nevada through working for NNLA? https://nvbar.org/licensing-compliance/admissions/

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