Staff Bios

Back to Top

Kasey started with CGLA as a volunteer attorney in April of 2012.  She joined CGLA staff in December of 2012 as a Staff Attorney in the Criminal Records Program and Criminal Defense Program. Kasey came to CGLA after practicing law in the Kansas City area, where she was a Public Defender.   Her practice there focused on defending adults charged with criminal felonies.  Prior to working as a Public Defender, Kasey interned as a Judicial Law Clerk for the Douglas County, Kansas District Court, and a Staff Assistant for the Kansas Criminal Code Recodification Commission. 

As part of the Criminal Records program, Kasey oversees the Expungement Help Desk at the Daley Center, the Expungement court call at the 26^th and California courthouse, as well as maintaining an in-office caseload of criminal records related cases.  As part of the Criminal Defense program, Kasey represents adults and juveniles charged with criminal cases, as well as juveniles facing expulsion from school.

Kasey graduated from the University of Iowa in 2006 with a B.A. in English and Political Science, with an emphasis in the political process.  In 2009 she received her J.D. from the University of Kansas School of Law.

Back to Top

Marissa Claxon, Staff Attorney, Criminal Defense
Marissa joined CGLA in September 2007 after graduating from the University of Southern California's Gould School of Law. She also holds a bachelors degrees in psychology and political science from the University of Illinois ('04). Marissa received the 2007 Irmas Fellowship, funded by long-time USC public interest supporters Sydney and Audry Irmas, which provides one year's salary for a graduate embarking on a career of public service. She also received USC's Miller Johnson Equal Justice Award, given to a graduating student who has demonstrated a strong commitment to serving underrepresented communities.

While in law school Marissa was an intern at both Public Counsel Law Center and the Los Angeles County Public Defender. She was also part of USC's Post Conviction Justice Project, which gave her the opportunity to represent battered women in parole hearings and post-conviction matters. Marissa went to law school with a passion for criminal defense work and a commitment to serving impoverished communities. She is thankful for the opportunity to do both through her work at CGLA.

Back to Top

Cynthia Cornelius, Equal Justice Works Fellow
Cynthia joined CGLA in September 2012 as an Equal Justice Works Fellow sponsored by the Albert and Anne Mansfield Family Foundation.  Cynthia’s two-year fellowship project will help the clients of homelessness organizations in Chicago to access their legal options for clearing their records.  The project will utilize a corps of law student and attorney volunteers who will work with case managers at partner organizations to ensure that those who are eligible and ready are able to remove their record as a barrier to getting back on their feet.

Cynthia graduated from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in May 2012 with a degree of Juris Doctor and a Certificate in Public Interest Law. Cynthia was a non-traditional law student, having accumulated over 30 years of professional experience before entering law school, including the role of Director of Consumer Affairs at the Georgia Public Service Commission where she advocated for consumers and enforced consumer protection laws governing utility service providers. While attending law school, Cynthia found an outlet to fulfill her passion to serve and advocate for the poor and disenfranchised by volunteering at several Chicago-area non-profit organizations, including Cabrini Green Legal Aid. Cynthia also founded the Loyola Expungement Assistance Project for Cabrini Green Legal Aid (LEAP for CGLA) to provide opportunities for law students to acquire hands-on legal experience at Cabrini Green Legal Aid’s Expungement Help Desk. These three initiatives inspired Cynthia’s Equal Justice Works fellowship proposal. 

Cynthia’s volunteerism during law school earned her recognition as Loyola University Chicago School of Law’s Black Law Students Association 2010 Member of the Year, Cabrini Green Legal Aid’s 2010 Law School Volunteer of the Year, Union League Civic and Arts Foundation’s Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) Summer 2011 Intern, and Illinois Legal Aid Online’s Illinois Pro Bono Volunteer of the Month for July 2011.

Back to Top

Paul Haidle, Supervising Attorney, Criminal Records
Paul joined CGLA in March 2008 as a Staff Attorney in the Criminal Records program.  Paul supervises the Criminal Records Program, which includes the Expungement Help Desk, a pro se advice desk at the Daley Center that serves 5,000 people per year seeking to clear a criminal background.  Paul played a key role in developing the recently opened Markham Help Desk, a new desk opened in response to the overwhelming need for legal services in southern Cook County.  Paul regularly speaks on criminal records issues and has trained and supervised hundreds of volunteer attorneys for the annual Cook County Expungement Summit.  Paul also represents clients before the Prisoner Review Board, handles contested objection hearings throughout Cook County, and represents clients in employment discrimination matters related to criminal records.  In 2010, Illinois Legal Aid Online recognized him as an Advocate of the Month; in 2012 he was the recipient of Chicago-Kent’s Abraham Lincoln Marovitz Public Interest Law Award. 

Billy Hahs, Managing Attorney

Billy joined CGLA in January, 2013, as Managing Attorney.  Previously, he spent eighteen years as a public defender - in Madison County, Illinois, and before that, in Spartanburg County, South Carolina. Billy graduated from South Carolina Law School in 1988. He is passionate about criminal defense: “Criminal law not only connects directly to our most pressing social issues, it is an expression of our highest ideals as a nation.” Prior to moving to South Carolina (for his wife’s job), he taught history at Regis University in Denver.

Billy grew up in southern Illinois. He earned a B.A. in history (1969) at Bristol University in England, and a M.A. (1972), Ph.D. (1980) in history at the University of New Mexico. While working on his Ph.D., he received a Fulbright Scholarship to pursue his doctoral research in Spain. He enjoys keeping up with Spanish.

Billy and his wife, Sharon, enjoy spending as much time as possible with their two daughters, their husbands—and, of course, the grandchildren. Their other major “outside” interest is traveling the world to see solar eclipses—fifteen so far. 

Back to Top

JaShawn Hill, Client Specialist
JaShawn joined the CGLA family in August of 2007 as CGLA's receptionist. In 2008, with hard work and dedication to CGLA, she became our Office Manager and recently became our Client Specialist in February, 2012.

JaShawn came to CGLA through The Cara Program, a job training and placement program. Most recently, JaShawn graduated from Northeastern IL University with her Bachelor's degree in Social Work. The inspiration to advance her education came from the vision of our organization. Our vision states that we want clients to leave us stronger than they came, and JaShawn is anxious to continue being an advocate for those who desire needs outside of their legal problems.

Back to Top

Beth Johnson, Program Director
Beth has been an attorney with CGLA since 2005 and serves as Director of the Criminal Records Program.  She is engaged in community outreach, education and advocacy work, and partnering with community based organizations throughout the Chicagoland area.  Through the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education, she provides trainings on criminal records related issues and recently authored an article on Expungement and Sealing (“Expungement and Sealing:  A Lawyer’s Guide).  She has worked successfully with other advocacy groups to pass expansions and clarifications to criminal records laws in the General Assembly. 

Beth has been recognized for her public interest work, receiving Loan Repayment Assistance Awards through the Chicago Bar Foundation Sun-Times Fellowship and DePaul University’s Center for Public Interest Law.  She has received an award for her work from former State Representative Constance Howard and was one of the 2010 recipients of the Safer Foundation’s Visionary Award.  She was recently recognized by the Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court as one of the 2011 Outstanding Women in Non-Profits.  She is a 2005 graduate of DePaul University’s College of Law, receiving a Certificate in Public Interest Law. 

Back to Top

Dierdre Johnson, Business Manager
Since joining CGLA’s staff in the summer of 2002, Dierdre’s role with the organization has steadily grown and expanded.From the start, her welcoming manner established the personal touch that is so highly valued by all who come through the doors of CGLA. As Business Manager, Dierdre is responsible for ensuring an efficient and effective work environment at CGLA’s main office and at our satellite sites. Dierdre manages day-to-day finances, human resources, technology and business systems. She also serves as the primary point of contact for CGLA’s many vendor relationships.

In addition to overseeing the business functions of our main office, Dierdre stays connected to clients through coordination of CGLA's satellite intakes at St. Sabina Church on Chicago's south side and Breakthrough Urban Ministries on the west side.

In 2011, Dierdre successfully completed the Mediation Skills Training through the Center for Conflict Resolution, and she is currently studying criminal justice and business administration as she furthers her education. Outside of the office, Dierdre is active in the lives of her children, church and community including as a volunteer for the Chicago Marathon!

Back to Top

Eve Kleinerman, Staff Attorney, Criminal Records
Eve joined CGLA in July 2012 as a Staff Attorney in the Criminal Records Program. Eve came to CGLA after practicing law in New York for two years, where she was a Public Defender.   Her practice there focused on domestic violence related criminal cases as well as the accompanying family court cases.  During law school Eve completed internships with the Children’s Law Center, New York County Defender Services and Women’s Prison Association. 

Eve oversees the Expungement Help Desk at the Daley Center, conducts monthly training sessions for Help Desk volunteers as well as maintaining an in-office caseload of criminal records related cases. Eve represents clients facing criminal records issues in criminal court as well as in front of the Prisoner Review Board.  

Eve graduated in 2007 with a B.A. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from University of Maryland and in 2010 she graduated from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law with a concentration in Criminal Law and Litigation.

Back to Top

Deirdre Kleist, Client Concierge 
Deirdre came to CGLA in the summer of 2012 as a full-time volunteer through the Amate House Program.  As CGLA's Client Concierge, Deirdre is the face of CGLA to the individuals who visit our offices or call us on the phone.  As an adherent to the theology of hospitality, Deirdre takes her calling at CGLA seriously.

Originially from Conneticut, Deirdre graduated from Stonehill College in Massachusetts in 2012 with a dual degree in Early Childhood Education and Catholic Studies.  

Back to Top

Shannon McDonnell, Volunteer Coordinator
Shannon joined CGLA in 2011 as a full-time volunteer from the Amate House. Originally from Spokane, WA, Shannon graduated from the University of Portland (OR) with a Bachelors of Science in Nursing. 

Deciding not to pursue a career in nursing, she moved to Boston and worked for a staffing agency for two years.  Shannon decided to apply to Amate House after wanting to pursue a more fulfilling career path, and was extremely grateful to be given the opportunity to work at CGLA.  After her year of service as the Client Services Coordinator, Shannon joined the team in June 2012 as the Volunteer Coordinator.  Outside of work, Shannon enjoys exploring Chicago.

Back to Top

Ryann Moran, Temporary Staff Attorney, Housing Law
Ryann joined CGLA’s Housing Law Program in January 2013. Previously, she’d worked at Uptown People’s Law Center, where she practiced housing law, social security disability and public benefits law.

Ryann graduated from DePaul University College of Law in 2007. As a law student, Ryann was a leader with the Student Hurricane Network, which coordinating law student volunteers from across the country to provide legal assistance to Gulf Coast residents recovering from Hurricane Katrina. Her time in New Orleans working on behalf of public housing residents inspired Ryann to dedicate her career to housing law.

Her commitment to public service has been recognized by the Chicago Bar Foundation, the Women’s Bar Foundation of Illinois, and DePaul University’s Center for Public Interest Law. 

Back to Top

Back to Top

Jill Roberts, Staff Attorney, Housing Law
Jill represents clients in both Family and Housing law cases at Cabrini Green Legal Aid.  Before becoming a CGLA staff attorney in November 2010, Jill interned at CGLA in the summer of 2006 as a law student and continued to volunteer and remain active in the CGLA family.  She previously served as an AmeriCorps VISTA Attorney at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago representing clients living in poverty in multiple areas of law as part of the Chicago Medical-Legal Partnership for Children.  Jill completed a judicial clerkship with the United States Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review, Detroit Immigration Court in September 2009.  Jill graduated from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 2008 with a certificate in public interest law.  She also earned a bachelors degree in sociology from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana in 2005.  Jill spent a semester during college in Seville, Spain and now utilizes her Spanish language skills to serve CGLA’s Spanish speaking clients.

Back to Top

Tim Wallace, Grants Coordinator
Tim came to CGLA through his involvement with the ministries of LaSalle Street Church. Now in his ninth year with CGLA, Tim infuses a sense of history and passion for CGLA's work into the day to day life of the organization.

Hired orginally to do grant writing in 2004, Tim served as CGLA's Director of Development from 2006 through summer 2012.  His tenure with CGLA has come full circle as he steps into a newly created role as Grants Coordinator.  Tim's new role allows him to continue to contribute to CGLA's success while staying home with his young daughter. 

Back to Top