Kristina Bilowus (Novi, MI) is a family law attorney at Findling Law in Royal Oak, Michigan, specializing in all aspects of domestic relations. She also teaches as an adjunct professor at Western Michigan University Cooley Law School. Kristina serves on the Executive Council for the State Bar of Michigan Young Lawyers Section, Hellenic Bar Association, Women’s Bar Association, and Women Lawyers Association of Michigan. She loves volunteering for various mock trial events and is active with the American Inns of Court on the both the regional and national level. Kristina considers the ability to be professionally involved in her various activities and to interact with the many amazing people she frequently encounters a great honor.
Kieone H. Cochran (New Orleans, LA) is currently a Tax Litigation Attorney at the Louisiana Department of Revenue. Kieone is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana. She received her B.A. in Mass Communications and English from Loyola University New Orleans in 2004. Kieone began her legal studies at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law in 2008 as a part-time evening student. After completing her 1L year, she enrolled in summer school. Unbeknownst to her, that decision would change the course of her professional career. Only two classes fit her schedule: Evidence and Federal Income Taxation. Kieone had never considered a career in tax law but after taking Federal Income Taxation, she knew that she had finally found her niche. She enrolled in every tax course that she could and earned her J.D., Certificate in Taxation and Certificate in International Studies in 2012. Kieone became the first student in the New Orleans IRS Office to participate in the Office of Chief Counsel Student Practice Program, which enabled her to present two cases before the United States Tax Court. After earning her LL.M., she interned for the Honorable Juan F. Vasquez, Judge, United States Tax Court.
Nicole M. Del Rio (Tampa, FL) is a Staff Attorney with the Senior Advocacy Unit at Bay Area Legal Services, Inc. BALS is a public interest law firm that represents individuals with limited access to legal services in various civil legal issues. Nicole primarily practices landlord/tenant and family law for clients over 60. In her capacity at BALS, she manages the Social Services Navigator Program, a program where social work interns facilitate communication between clients and community resources to address clients’ social needs. Nicole is active in the Hillsborough Association for Women Lawyers’ Community Outreach Committee as well as the Hillsborough County Bar Association, its Young Lawyers Division and its Member Services Committee. Nicole is originally from Kissimmee, FL and is a first-generation college and law school graduate. She is of Puerto Rican descent and speaks her native language, Spanish, fluently. Nicole enjoys reading, travelling, and embarking on new adventures that are out of her comfort zone. Nicole graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Legal Studies from the University of Central Florida and attended Florida International University’s College of Law, where she earned her Juris Doctor.
Lara Marie Edmonds (Atlanta Beach, FL) JAGC, USN, is a triple husky, a graduate of the University of Connecticut College of Liberal Arts and Sciences ’09, School of Social Work ’16, and UConn Law ’17. During law school, LT Edmonds represented the state’s interests in court through the State’s Attorney’s Clinic and assisted in the resolution of employment disputes in the Mediation Clinic. Her social work placements were in a Traumatic Brain Injury Unit at a rehabilitative hospital and at a Public Defender’s office, where she worked with clients who had been found not guilty of crimes by reason of mental disease or defect. She also represented law students around the country as an ABA Law Student Division Representative and a member of the ABA House of Delegates. LT Edmonds was commissioned as an officer in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps in December 2016. After completing Officer Development School and Naval Justice School in Newport, RI, she reported to Region Legal Service Office Southeast in Jacksonville, FL in December 2017 where she served as Trial Counsel for a year. She is currently serving as a Legal Assistance Attorney at Region Legal Service Office Southeast.
LT Edgar Gonzalez (Washington, DC) serves as an active-duty judge advocate in the U.S. Coast Guard at Coast Guard Headquarters. His current office is the Office of Information and Intelligence Law. From 2014 to 2016, he was a staff attorney for the Office of General Law. Prior to commissioning in 2014, LT Gonzalez clerked in the Coast Guard Office of Maritime and International Law in the Response and Prevention Law Divisions. From 2013 through 2014, LT Gonzalez clerked for the U.S. Attorney’s Office - Southern District of Texas. In 2011 he clerked for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office at the Houston field office and also worked for the Cartwright Law Firm doing mass tort litigation. During law school, he served as the Law Student Liaison for the ABA Standing Committee on Legal Assistance for Military Personnel. He volunteered as a court-appointed guardian ad-litem from 2009 to 2013. He worked as a research chemist in the oil and gas industry from 2007 to 2010. LT Gonzalez graduated from Houston Baptist University, with a B.S. in Chemistry and Mathematics. He received a Juris Doctorate from South Texas College of Law Houston in Texas, and is a member of the Texas Bar.
Whitley S. Granberry (Detroit, MI) is an associate in the Detroit office of Dykema Gossett PLLC. Whitley received her undergraduate degree from Columbia University in the City of New York, before serving in the United States Peace Corps. She then received her law degree from American University’s Washington College of Law, where she served on the Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law and worked in the Community Economic Development Law Clinic.
Andrew R. Hairston (Washington, DC) is a civil rights attorney and writer based in Washington, D.C. He earned his law degree from Louisiana State University in May 2016, where he was a Faculty Scholar. During his time at LSU, he served as the President of the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) from 2014 to 2015, as well as the 1L Representative of the organization from 2013 to 2014. While he was the president of LSU BLSA, he served as a member of the Law Center's Diversity Task Force. Mr. Hairston refined his commitment to racial justice work as a law student. He worked as a law clerk for the LSU Parole and Reentry Clinic, and he subsequently served as a student attorney for the LSU Juvenile Defense Clinic. As a third-year student, he was appointed to the Trial Advocacy Board, and he won the Dean's Cup Senior Appellate Challenge during his final semester at the LSU Law Center. Mr. Hairston received his bachelor's degree, cum laude, from Howard University. Mr. Hairston is currently a staff attorney at Advancement Project, a multi-racial civil rights organization in Washington, D.C. He served as the George N. Lindsay Fellow and Associate Counsel at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law from 2016 to 2017. He is licensed to practice law in Louisiana.
Shasta N. Inman (Albuquerque, NM) is in solo practice in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she serves as guardian ad litem in abuse and neglect cases and handles adult guardianship and family law matters. She also recently added wills and probate to her practice. Ms. Inman is originally from Poplar Bluff, Missouri. She attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Go Big Red!) for undergraduate and completed a J.D./M.A. in Gender & Women’s Studies from the University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law, in Tucson. Ms. Inman currently serves on the New Mexico Board of Directors for the Young Lawyers Division and Children’s Law Practice Section, as well as a YLD liaison for the NM Elder Law Section. Ms. Inman has also been selected as Vice-Chair of the ABA YLD Children and the Law Committee for 2018-2019.
Cameo Joseph (Greenville, SC) is an attorney in Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd’s Greenville office and works in the Healthcare practice group focusing on medical malpractice issues and professional licensing matters. She received her law degree from the University of South Carolina and undergraduate degree from Clemson University. Cameo is actively involved in her community and serves as treasurer of the Christ Church Episcopal School Alumni Association and is a member of the Greenville Chamber of Commerce Pulse Young Professionals and the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Greenville Alumnae Chapter. She serves as the co-chair of the SC Bar YLD Special Olympics Committee and is a member of the Color of Justice Committee.
Kuong Ly (Cambridge, MA) is a practicing attorney in Massachusetts. He is a graduate of UCLA School of Law. A Boston area native, his work and interests centers around housing, land use, and anti-poverty law.
Yasmine-Imani McMorrin (Culver City, CA) is an attorney and education equity advocate serving as the Associate Director of Student Support at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. Yasmine received her J.D. from Rutgers School of Law and B.A. in Economics from Spelman College. Yasmine is a graduate of the Los Angeles African American Women’s Public Policy Institute and the New Leaders Council- Los Angeles Chapter Institute. She serves on the Board of the Rutgers University Black Lawyers Alumni Network and is a member of the Culver City General Planning Advisory Committee.
Colemon L. Potts (Detroit, MI) is a 2013, graduate of Thomas M. Cooley Law School. Although a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Colemon received his Bachelors Degree in the field of Criminal Justice from Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia. During law school, Colemon interned with the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency in Detroit and also completed a Judicial Clerkship for the Honorable Patsy Y. Porter in Atlanta, Georgia. In his last semester of law school, he interned with Detroit Legal Group, PLLC, where he is currently a fourth-year Associate Attorney. Detroit Legal Group, PLLC, is a general practice boutique law firm in downtown Detroit, Michigan. Colemon’s practice focuses primarily on commercial and residential property litigation, criminal law, and personal injury. As a graduate of Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Mr. Potts never hesitates to give back to his school. The career services division of Cooley has had Mr. Potts participate at the Mentor Jet program which pairs lawyers and law students for short interviews. He has also participated in this event with Detroit Mercy Law School. In the 2018-2019 ABA Bar year, Mr. Potts will be Vice Chair for the Minorities in the Profession Committee and a team member for the Men of Color initiative task force.
Sierra Senor-Moore (Springfiled, IL) is an Assistant State’s Attorney in Sangamon County, located in Springfield, Illinois. Currently serving in the Juvenile Division, she has worked as an ASA since being admitted to the Illinois Bar in the fall of 2015. After graduating from Indiana University, McKinney School of Law in spring 2015, Sierra returned to the State’s Attorney’s Office where she had previously served as a 711 Intern. During law school she served as the Black Law Student Association president and participated in Mock Trial. Sierra is a long-time resident of Springfield, Illinois, and very active in the community. She is an elected member to the Springfield Park Board and an appointed member of the Sangamon County Juvenile Justice Council. Additionally, Sierra leads the Law Explorer’s Post through the Springfield Boy Scouts and mentors middle school girls. Sierra received her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of South Carolina.
Ravay Smith (Silver Springs, MD) is an associate counsel at the United States Veteran's Administration in Washington, D.C. She is a class of 2015 graduate of Indiana University School of law where she earned a graudate certificate in Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Law. Ravay became a member of the ABA during law school and served as the YLD Liaison to the ABA Council for Diversity in the Educational Pipeline. As a first generation attorney Ravay is committed to helping pre-law and law students from similar backgrounds in navigating their path in the law. Ravay has committed most of her professional career to public service working for state and federal government in various roles since 2009. She plans to pursue a career in civil litigation.
La’Jessica Stringfellow (Columbia, SC) is a native of Chester, South Carolina. After graduating from Chester County public schools, she attended Virginia State University. While matriculating at Virginia State University, La’Jessica had the privilege to become a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and be elected Student Government Association President. Thereafter she attended the University of South Carolina School of Law where she earned her juris doctor. La’Jessica is licensed to practice law in South Carolina. She clerked at the South Carolina Supreme Court and South Carolina Court of Appeals in Justice John C. Few’s chambers. La’Jessica currently works as an Assistant Solicitor in the 11th Judicial Circuit in South Carolina. She mainly prosecutes domestic violence, assaults, and child abuse cases. La’Jessica is active in the South Carolina Young Lawyers Division, where she serves on several committees –including Voices Against Violence and Special Olympics–and co-chairs the Publications Committee.
Ellise M. Washington (McCalla, AL) is the Founder and Principal Attorney of EMW LAW, LLC., a Birmingham-based boutique law firm specializing in business law, intellectual property, civil litigation, and estate planning. She received her law degree from Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law, where she served a Caruthers Fellow Legal Writing Teaching Assistant and was a member of numerous student organizations. She also was the recipient of numerous accolades and awards including being named to the Dean’s List and receiving the prestigious Alabama Defense Lawyers Association’s Thurgood Marshall Outstanding Advocate Award. Determined to be as active in the larger community as she is within legal circles, Ellise is a member of numerous civic organizations.