River Abeje
East Bay Community Law Center, Berkeley, CA

River Abeje '92 holds a Juris Doctor from Santa Clara Law and a B.A. in Anthropology and Political Science from New School University.  Upon graduating from Santa Clara, Ms. Abeje worked as a staff attorney at Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, where she was involved in litigation challenging medical conditions at the largest women’s prisons in California. During this time she also published several articles on legal and social issues for caregivers of children whose parents are incarcerated and substance dependent. After holding this position, Ms. Abeje served as the Policy Specialist for the Office of Citizen Complaints advancing accountability of the San Francisco police department.  

Since 2007, Ms. Abeje has worked as a supervising attorney for Clean Slate Practice, at the East Bay Community Law Center.  Ms. Abeje received an Award of Merit from the Bar Association of San Francisco in 1999 and a Social Justice Center Award from Santa Clara in 2009.

Cindy Carla Avita
Office of Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (CA-16)

Cindy Carla Avitia '06 graduated from Stanford University in 1993, with a B.A. in Political Science. Ms. Avitia graduated from Santa Clara Law in 2006 and presently works for the U.S. House of Representatives as a Congressional Assistant to Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, Chair of the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law.  She principally deals with the issues of immigration, labor, homeland security, and transportation for the District Office.

Supriya Bhat
San Jose, CA

Supriya Bhat '04 received her bachelor's degree in Political Science, specializing in International Relations from UCLA, in 2001. In 2004 she graduated from Santa Clara Law, and received a Public Interest and Social Justice Certificate with an emphasis in Criminal Justice.

Ms. Bhat became a member of the California State Bar in 2004 and subsequently joined the Santa Cruz Public Defender's Office as a Deputy Public Defender.  In 2008, Ms. Bhat joined the Justice Studies Department at San Jose State University as a lecturer in and developed innovative curriculum for courses such as Concepts in Criminal Law and Race, Gender, and Inequality in the Law. In addition, Ms. Bhat practices as a private criminal defense attorney and volunteers with the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights—Homeless Rights Project in San Francisco.

Kelley Casimere
AT&T
San Ramon, CA

Kelley Casimere ' 95 obtained her B.A in Social Welfare from U.C. Berkeley in 1992. Ms. Casimere has taught law students as Assistant Director of the Santa Clara Law Academic Success Program and has worked as an attorney in the areas of criminal defense, personal injury litigation, construction defect and family law. While practicing, she also lectured on civil litigation at the Santa Clara Law Paralegal Institute.

Ms. Casimere has worked at AT&T for twelve years, and currently serves as an Area Manager in the Network Regulatory department.  Ms. Casimere resides in the East Bay with her husband and their two school age children.

Alaric Degrafinried
San Francisco Human Rights Commission
San Francisco, CA

Alaric Degrafinried '05 began a two-year Equal Justice Works Fellowship with the National Housing Law Project (NHLP) upon graduation.  At NHLP, Mr. Degrafinried provided support and legal assistance to local and national advocates regarding HUD's Section 3 regulations which provides employment and contracting opportunities for low-income individuals.  Currently, Mr. Degrafinried is working for the City & County of San Francisco’s Human Rights Commission as the Manager of the Economic Empowerment & Contract Compliance Unit.

Kristin Love Boscia
Bay Area Legal Aid
Redwood City, CA

Kristin Love Boscia '08 is a Staff Attorney with Bay Area Legal Aid, where she specializes in working with immigrant survivors of domestic violence in family law and immigration law matters.  She received her undergraduate degree in Economics from Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University. After graduating, she joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and worked as a Legal Caseworker at Catholic Charities in Houston, Texas.  She later returned to Santa Clara Law to receive her J.D. and a Public Interest and Social Justice Law Certificate in 2008. Ms. Boscia enjoys traveling and cooking with her husband.

Ben Galloway
Office of Federal Defender
Sacramento, CA

Ben Galloway '01 graduated with a B.A. in History from U.C. Berkeley in 1997. He received his J.D. and Public Interest Law Certificate from Santa Clara Law in 2001.  At Santa Clara Law, he was both a Justice John Paul Stevens Fellow and a B.T. Collins Public Service Scholar.  Mr. Galloway has been a Deputy Public Defender in Santa Clara and Sacramento Counties, and worked in private practice with a San Francisco firm.  In 2007, he joined the Federal Defender’s Office for the Eastern District of California as supervisor of the misdemeanor unit.  Mr. Galloway now handles a wide array of felony cases in the Federal Defender’s trial unit.

Stephanie Grogan
Solano County Public Defender Office
Fairfield, CA

Stephanie Grogan '04 received her J.D. and Public Interest Certificate with an emphasis in Criminal Justice from Santa Clara Law in 2004 and her B.S. in Public Policy and Management from the University of Southern California in 2001. Ms. Grogan has been a Deputy Public Defender in Solano County since 2005 and currently serves clients charged with serious felonies. Ms. Grogan is passionate about presenting a quality defense to all individuals charged with a crime regardless of their ability to pay and regardless of the allegations against them.

While at Santa Clara Law, Ms. Grogan was a member of the Law Review and served as a Student Coordinator for the then Public Interest Resource Center, and on the Board of BLSA and the Public Interest/Social Justice Coalition. Ms. Grogan participated in the first Santa Clara Law student delegation to El Salvador. Ms. Grogan is a recipient of many awards for writing and volunteerism, and was also a recipient of the John Paul Stevens Fellowship.

John B. Lough, Jr.
Fremont, CA

John B. Lough, Jr. '04 is a private practice attorney in the San Francisco Bay Area.  After law school, he served as the Trina Grillo Research Associate and Assistant to the Director at the Center for Social Justice and Public Service at Santa Clara Law.  He then worked to protect the rights of low-wage workers at the Legal Aid Society–Employment Law Center in San Francisco before he entered private practice.  In addition to his practice, he is interested in the conceptual development of the law: the Hawaii Bar Journal published his article Employers Still Cannot Retaliate: Crawford v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville in Oct. 2009. 

Mr. Lough received his B.A. (Mathematics) from the University of California, Berkeley, and his J.D. from Santa Clara Law, where he was Lead Content Editor for the Santa Clara Computer & High Technology Law Journal.  He is a member of both the California and Hawaii State Bars.

Jennie Winter
Pro Bono Project of Silicon Valley
San Jose, CA

Jennie Winter '03 holds a J.D. from Santa Clara Law, a B.A. in Human Development and a Master’s in Public Administration from California State University, Hayward.  Before going to law school she practiced for 23 years as a Holistic Health Educator and Bodywork Therapist.  She brings this background as a healer into her practice of law and her approach to helping clients solve their legal problems.  After law school, Ms. Winter worked in private practice, as a family law attorney in Santa Clara, San Mateo and Alameda counties.  Ms. Winter currently works at the Pro Bono Project of Silicon Valley.

Ava Yajima
California Department of Education
Sacramento, CA

Ava Yajima '01 received her B.A. in Psychology from UCLA.  She returned to UCLA to complete a Master’s in Public Health, Epidemiology in 1996.  Ms. Yajima graduated from Santa Clara Law in 2001 and currently works as a Deputy General Counsel at the California Department of Education.  Ms. Yajima specializes in special education, disability, policy, and child advocacy.