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 BIOGRAPHIES
Harry Batt
Director of Development
Harry joined Inner City Law Center in February 2010. Harry came to us from Public Counsel, an organization he joined in December 2000, where he was the Associate Director of Development. Harry began his career in Development working with organizations focused on assisting elderly and low-income communities as well as social change issues such as generic drug substitution laws and “Lifeline” utility rates. Prior to joining Public Counsel Harry owned, operated, and managed casual, fine dining, and concept restaurants throughout the world and has contributed to the success of a diverse portfolio of brands including Hilton Hotels and Hyatt Hotels, as well as national concept restaurants. Harry trained at Midwest Academy, where he received a degree in community organizing. He studied politics at Hebrew University and Brandeis University, and received a B.S. in Information Systems at University of Phoenix.
Javier Beltran
Staff Attorney
Javier joined Inner City Law Center as Staff Attorney in April 2008 litigates habitability and unlawful detainer cases. Previously, Javier worked in civil litigation with a law firm in Orange County and worked as an immigration attorney in Sherman Oaks. Before becoming an attorney, Javier worked as a teacher. Javier was born and raised in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Pico-Union and has a close connection with the problems and concerns of the greater Los Angeles community. He is a former board member and president of the Pico-Union Neighborhood Council for the City of Los Angeles. Javier received a B.A. in History from California State University Los Angeles and a J.D. from Southwestern University School of Law.
Isabela Carrillo
Advocate
As an Advocate, Isabela focuses her efforts on educational justice and community development projects. Before joining ICLC in 2006, Isabela was a Reading Tutor for the America Reads and Counts Program. She graduated from California State University, Los Angeles with a B.A. in Sociology with a Law and Society option and a minor in Mexican-American Studies. Outside of work, Isabela enjoys reading, photography, and swimming.
Daisy Chavez
Paralegal
Daisy joined Inner City Law Center in March of 2010 as a Tenant Organizer. Daisy has lived in Downtown all her life and has a keen understanding of the disadvantages people face that are marginalized by homelessness, lack of job opportunities, and poor public education. She looks forward to brining resources to the diverse communities in Los Angeles and loves being witness to empowered families. Daisy also received a BA degree in Literature and Political Science from the University of California, Irvine.
Gloria Contreras
Screener / Receptionist
Gloria is a Screener and Receptionist at Inner City Law Center and has been with the organization since 2006. Gloria appreciates the reciprocity in the interactions where she can learn from clients as well as help them. Prior to joining ICLC, Gloria served as Office Clerk at Elco Lighting. She is especially skilled in cosmetology and hairstyling. She also enjoys outdoor activities like camping, swimming, bicycling, and dancing.
Jennifer Dasteel
Director of Pro Bono
Jennifer joined Inner City Law Center in September 2009 as an intern in the litigation department. She then joined ICLC as a Supervising Attorney on a short-term TANF funded homeless prevention and eviction defense project from May to October of 2010. Before joining ICLC, Jennifer graduated from Pomona College with a B.A. in English Literature and a concentration in Creative Writing in May of 2005. Jennifer was then awarded a prestigious three year Martin Luther King, Jr. Public Interest Scholarship at UC Davis, School of Law from 2006 to 2009. While in law school Jennifer chaired the Black Law Students’ Association from 2007-2008, was on the executive board of UC Davis’ 501 (c)(3), King Hall Legal Foundation, and interned with the East Bay Community Law Center, Legal Services of Northern California, the ACLU of Hawaii, and the Prisoners’ Rights Service of London; she also organized four expungement clinics in conjunction with volunteer attorneys in Northern California. Jennifer currently enjoys developing pro bono projects with firms, and furthering the goals of ICLC and its clients.
Amelia Fay-Berquist
Tenant Organizer
Amelia is from the SF Bay Area, and graduated from UCLA in 2009 with a degree in Chicana/o Studies. Before joining ICLC, Amelia spent much of her time focusing on immigrant rights issues, including working as a patient interpreter and advocate in health clinics in New Jersey, volunteering for the New Sanctuary Movement, and conducting research on the convergence of immigration law and gang policy here in LA. Amelia is excited to be working on housing issues as it is yet another facet of human rights. She plans on attending law school in 2012, with a focus on public interest law.
Jenny Garcia
Tenant Organizer
Jenny enjoys organizing tenants to improve their living conditions and be informed of their rights. She previously worked for Union de Vecinos, organizing low income tenants in campaigns to bring changes to their neighborhoods. She has a B.A. in Literary Arts from Brown University and enjoys using art as a tool for social justice.
Marcy Gribin
Staff Attorney
Marcy litigates habitability and unlawful detainer cases. Prior to becoming a staff member in 2007, Marcy volunteered at ICLC and worked at the Office of the Federal Defender Eastern District. Marcy earned her B.A. in Politics at Occidental College and her J.D. at the University of California, Davis School of Law. Outside of work, Marcy serves on the board of the Junior League of Los Angeles, is a certified Zumba fitness instructor, and enjoys singing.
Patty Gurrola
Director of Tenant Organizing
Patty Gurrola has been an advocate for Inner City Law Center since 2007. Patty graduated with a B.A. in Chicano/a Studies from Pomona College. She enjoys informing tenants of their rights and assisting them to acquire proper living conditions. Patty also enjoys spending time with her family and friends, traveling to Durango, Mexico, cooking, and politics.
Amos Hartston
Chief Counsel and Director of Legal Services
Amos joined Inner City Law Center as Chief Counsel and Director of Legal Services in May 2011 and oversees all of ICLC's legal programs, including Housing Litigation, Homelessness Prevention and the Homeless Veterans Project. Prior to joining ICLC, for 14 years Amos was a commercial litigator with the international law firm of Latham & Watkins LLP. Between 2004 and 2011, Amos split his time between his commercial litigation practice and serving as Pro Bono Counsel for the firm, overseeing Latham's worldwide pro bono efforts, including more than 1.3 million hours of free legal services valued at more than $500 million since 2004. Amos helped Latham's pro bono practice double to more than 250,000 hours per year, receiving numerous awards and becoming one of the most respected pro bono programs among private law firms. His commercial litigation practice focused on intellectual property and complex business disputes, in both state and federal court. Amos sits on the boards of directors of Equal Justice Works, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the Los Angeles County Bar Foundation. Amos received his B.A. from the University of California Santa Barbara and his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.
Betty Hung
Special Counsel, Part-Time Fellow
Betty Hung is a part-time fellow at ICLC focusing on the linkages between urban poverty, public policy, and low wage-work. Betty is a co-founder of and serves as counsel to the Los Angeles Taxi Workers Alliance and also played a key role in reauthorization of a California law that addresses the exploitative working conditions of car wash workers. She has a joint position at ICLC and LAFLA where she is a Senior Attorney in the Employment Law Unit. Prior to joining LAFLA in 2004, Betty served as a staff attorney/Echoing Green Foundation Fellow at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, where she was part of the legal team that litigated the El Monte Thai and Latino garment worker case. She also worked as a community organizer with Cambodian high school girls in Long Beach, CA, where she spearheaded a campaign that led to school safety reforms, and as a litigation associate at the law firm of O'Melveny & Myers LLP where she initiated several diversity efforts. Betty serves on the boards of the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation and Worksafe. She is a former board member of the Fund for a New Los Angeles of the Liberty Hill Foundation and the former board chair of the Sexual Assault Crisis Agency, which honored her with a lifetime achievement award in 2004. Betty is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School.
Elly Kugler
Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Legal Fellow
Elly Kugler joined Inner City Law Center in September 2010 as an Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Legal Fellow where she assists veterans in obtaining VA benefits and housing, with a focus on women, veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, and homeless veterans. She is a 2010 graduate of UCLA School of Law and the Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy and earned a B.A. cum laude from the University of Maryland. Prior to law school, she engaged in advocacy and organizing with low-income workers at La Raza Centro Legal in San Francisco and the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice and worked for a youth empowerment program in Washington, DC. During law school, Elly researched collateral consequences of convictions at the National Employment Law Project in Oakland and assisted with deportation defense at Van der Hout, Brigagliano & Nightingale in Los Angeles. She has been involved in legal clinics and volunteer activities relating to prisoner reentry and expungement, immigration law and reform, and GLBTQ rights.
Lorraine Lopez
Staff Attorney
Lorraine joined ICLC in October 2009. She spent the two previous years at Eviction Defense Network in Los Angeles as their Law & Motion Clerk and Litigation Director. From 2005-2007, Lorraine was an Equal Justice Works Fellow working with the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago. There she provided community outreach services and representation to tenants participating in the Housing Choice Voucher Program. Lorraine earned her B.A. from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and her J.D. from Tulane University Law School. Outside of ICLC, Lorraine is actively involved with the Koreatown Tenant’s Defense Network tenant’s rights legal clinic. She enjoys running, photography, and attending baseball games when the Chicago Cubs come to California.
Cynthia Mendoza
Staff Attorney
Cynthia joined ICLC in July 2010 as a staff attorney representing traditionally underserved clients in habitability litigation. Cynthia firmly believes in social justice advocacy and is no stranger to the public interest legal community in Los Angeles. Prior to law school, Cynthia spent several years as a paralegal in Public Counsel’s Consumer Law Project and later in the Los Angeles Regional Office of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. In law school, she worked on behalf of low-wage workers at Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County. Cynthia received a B.A. in economics and political science from Brown University and a J.D. with a concentration in public interest law and policy from the UCLA School of Law. Cynthia, and her husband Joel, live in the northeast San Fernando Valley. They enjoy listening to live music, attending Blues festivals, gardening and playing with their dog Shaggy.
Adam Murray
Executive Director
Adam, who joined ICLC as Executive Director in May 2007, has been leading the organization in strategic planned growth to meet increasing client needs. Prior to joining ICLC, Adam was a litigator with the international law firm of Howrey LLP. In 2001, he worked pro bono on the momentous Rosales slum housing case in which ICLC secured $1.9 million for 59 parents and children. Adam sits on the Los Angeles County Citizens' Committee on Economy and Efficiency and has taught economics and political science at East Los Angeles College. In 2009, the Daily Journal newspaper named Adam one of the top 20 attorneys under 40. He sits on the board of the ACLU of Southern California, and previously served as president of the boards of both the Housing Rights Center of Southern California and the Immigration Center for Women and Children. He is also a former board member of the Fair Housing Council of the San Gabriel Valley, and of the Center for Progressive Leadership. Adam received a B.A. in International Relations from Pomona College, an M.A. in economics from Claremont Graduate University, and a J.D. from U.C. Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law. Adam and his wife, Aman Thind, live in South Pasadena. They enjoy playing soccer and spending time with their two young children.
Sonia Pflaster
Staff Attorney
Sonia is a staff attorney whose work focuses exclusively on defending indigent Los Angelinos against unlawful detainers. Sonia earned her B.A. in Latin American History from UC Davis and her J.D. from Harvard Law School. After completing her first year of law school, Sonia was selected as an Equal Justice Works Fellow for her work at Public Counsel. Returning to Harvard, Sonia spent two years practicing family law as a student attorney with the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, where she obtained trial and motion practice representing victims of domestic violence. Prior to joining ICLC, Sonia was a summer associate at Morrison & Foerster and volunteered at the Los Angeles County Public Defenders Office. Long inspired by her Father’s career, Sonia is excited to put her degree to work fighting for the rights of every day Los Angelinos.
Sylvia Skillicorn
Paralegal/ Senior Advocate
Sylvia is the Advocacy Coordinator at Inner City Law Center and has been with the organization since 1998.
Greg Spiegel
Director of Public Policy and Communications
Greg leads ICLC's efforts to craft and advocate for housing and homelessness policy. Prior to joining ICLC in 2009, Greg practiced for eight years at the Western Center on Law and Poverty. In addition to redevelopment and other areas of housing law, Greg's Western Center practice focused on drafting and implementing state and local reforms to improve slum housing conditions, particularly to prevent environmental health hazards such as lead poisoning. Greg co-founded the Healthy Homes Collaborative, chaired housing committees of the State and Los Angeles Strategic Plans to End Lead Poisoning and wrote The Lead Guide: A Community Resource for Lead Poisoning Prevention in California. From 1997 to 2000, Greg was a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles working on redevelopment, transportation, affordable housing and nonprofit corporate law. In 1996, Greg was an AmeriCorps fellow advising community-based organizations in South Los Angeles. Greg received his law degree from the University of Illinois College of Law and his B.A. from UCLA.
Brett Terrell
Director of Advocacy
Brett Terrell is the Director of Advocacy at Inner City Law Center and has been with the organization since 1987. Brett enjoys the satisfaction of seeing a client's rights protected and is dedicated to defending his clients' interests. Prior to working with ICLC, Brett served as shelter manager at El Rescate. He enjoys trail running and biking.
Melissa Tyner
Staff Attorney
Melissa is a veterans’ advocate in the Homeless Veterans Project at Inner City Law Center. Melissa graduated from Whittier Law School in May of 2009. Prior to joining Inner City Law Center Melissa worked as a law clerk at Disability Rights California and assisted clients, including veterans, whose disability benefits had been wrongfully terminated. As a law clerk at Public Counsel she advocated for children with disabilities in foster care whose health benefits were being reduced and processed adoption and guardianship cases. In law school Melissa participated in legal clinics serving low-income families with conservatorships, special education needs, and domestic violence services.
Estephanie Villalpando
Paralegal
Estephanie joined ICLC in July 2010 as a paralegal for the eviction defense project, a short-term project funded by TANF. When the project ended, Estephanie became a tenant organizer. She is currently a paralegal in the litigation department, assisting with complex habitability litigation. Prior to joining ICLC, Estephanie volunteered at the Santa Monica Self Help Center, where she helped pro per litigants in a variety of legal matters, including eviction defense. Later, she began volunteering for Coalition for Economic Survival in its West Hollywood tenants’ rights clinic. Estephanie received a B.A. in political science with a minor in education from the University of California, Los Angeles. Outside of work, Estephanie enjoys spending time with her family. Ultimately, Estephanie would like to attend law school and pursue a public interest legal career.
Aura Yuson
Advocate
Aura has been an Advocate with ICLC since February 2009. Since earning her Bachelor's degree from UCLA in Sociology, she has worked in the nonprofit field in various capacities including case management, outreach, program coordination, and facilitating groups. Aura is particularly passionate about encouraging clients to become self-advocates. Aura enjoys gardening, taking care of her environment, good books, and time with her family.
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