Who We Are

Central West Justice Center is made up of a dedicated team of legal advocates, support staff, senior managers, and a volunteer Board of Managers. Working together, we strive to assure fairness for all in the justice system. Click on the links below to learn more about our team.

Board of Managers

Michael BadgerBadger Legal Group
Jodi MillerBulkley Richardson & Gelinas, LLP

Team

Destin Germany
Destin Germany
Staff Attorney, Community Lawyering Pilot Project
B.A., Political Science, University of North Texas (2015)
J.D., Texas A&M School of Law (2021)
Destin graduated from Texas A&M School of Law in 2021 with a concentration in criminal law and policy. Destin then went to work for the Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Office (FHEO) in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. At FHEO Destin worked in programs and compliance ensuring that recipients of federal funding were not violating federal regulatory requirements or violating the Fair Housing Act. In 2024, while at FHEO, Destin sat for the uniform bar exam in Texas and became a licensed attorney in the state of Texas in May of 2024.
Staff Attorney, Community Lawyering Pilot Project
Kristen Williams
Kristen Williams
Director
B.A. (cum laude), Williams College (2010)
J.D., Boston College Law School (2013)
Kristen started at the Central West Justice Center’s parent organization, Community Legal Aid, as an AmeriCorps Attorney practicing housing law. In 2015, she began working for CLA as a disability benefits and unemployment benefits attorney, before becoming the Director of the Central West Justice Center in 2022. Kristen is licensed to practice in Massachusetts and the U.S. District of Massachusetts.
Director
Caroline Abramovici
Caroline Abramovici
Justice Fellow
B.A., Sociology, University of Florida (2021)
J.D., Emory Law (2024)
Caroline obtained her Juris Doctor degree from Emory University School of Law in 2024. While in law school, Caroline dedicated her time to public interest and immigration law. She interned at Atlanta Legal Aid and Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) in Boston. Caroline was also a member of the Barton Child Law and Policy Center’s Public Policy and Legislative Advocacy Clinics. Before law school, Caroline attended University of Florida and obtained a bachelor’s degree in Sociology. Caroline’s personal experience growing up in an immigrant household inspired her to become an attorney and become an advocate for those in need of legal representation.
Justice Fellow
Catherine Ady Bell
Catherine Ady Bell
Coordinating Attorney
B.S.W., Rhode Island College
M.R.P., Regional Planning, University of Massachusetts Amherst
J.D., Western New England University (2014)
Catherine has been working at the Central West Justice Center’s Springfield office since finishing law school in 2014. She is a member of the National Lawyers Guild and is licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Coordinating Attorney
Marc Bachman
Marc Bachman
Staff Attorney
B.A., History, Tulane University (1994)
J.D., Syracuse University College of Law (1994)
Prior to joining CWJC, Marc was an immigration attorney at Prisoner’s Legal Services of New York and Ascentria Care Alliance. He has also volunteered as a pro bono immigration attorney with Al Otro Lado, Northeast Justice Center, Vecina, and The Legal Project.
Staff Attorney
Miryam Banuelas
Miryam Banuelas
Staff Attorney
B.A., Political Science. University of Houston (2017)
J.D., University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Law School (2022)
Prior to joining CWJC Miryam worked as an Associate at a business immigration law firm in Boston. During law school she was an intern at the Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General and at Greater Boston Legal Services. Miryam also worked in the Immigration Clinic at my law school. During her final year of law school she received the Pro Bono Honor Roll Certificate from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court for distinguished service in providing law related Pro Bono Services to those in need.
Staff Attorney
Alexandra Bonazoli
Alexandra Bonazoli
Coordinating Attorney
B.A., Political Science and History (summa cum laude), University of Massachusetts Amherst (2010)
J.D., Northeastern University School of Law (2013)
Alex joined the Central West Justice Center in 2014 as an attorney with the Justice AmeriCorps program, representing unaccompanied children and teenagers in their immigration court proceedings. Since becoming a Staff Attorney with the CWJC in 2016, Alex continues to assist people seeking humanitarian-based immigration relief, including victims of crimes or domestic violence, asylum seekers, and abandoned or neglected children. Prior to joining CWJC, Alex spent a year at Community Legal Aid as an AmeriCorps Attorney with the Elder and Benefits Law Units. During law school, Alex interned at the Post-Deportation Human Rights Project, the Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation, the United Nations Refugee Agency, and the Political Asylum/Immigration Representation (PAIR) Project. Alex is licensed to practice law in Massachusetts and is proficient in Spanish.
Coordinating Attorney
Ann CascanettStaff Attorney
Karen Cole
Karen Cole
Staff Attorney
B.A., French, Grinnell College
J.D., New York University School of Law
Karen Cole joined the Central West Justice Center’s Immigration Law Unit as a Staff Attorney in April 2017. Prior to joining, she was an Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Legal Fellow at Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) in Boston, MA, where she represented unaccompanied minors in immigration proceedings. Before that, Karen represented children in child abuse and neglect cases in both Massachusetts and New York State. She was also a Skadden Fellow at the Legal Aid Society’s Harlem Neighborhood Office in its Housing Law Unit in New York City.

Additionally, Karen has worked as a program officer at the Robin Hood Foundation in New York City and taught middle and high school French in western Massachusetts. While in law school, she was Root Tilden Scholar, and participated in the juvenile rights clinic. Karen is admitted to the bar association in Massachusetts and New York. Karen speaks French and Spanish.
Staff Attorney
Jessica David
Jessica David
Staff Attorney
B.A., Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies, University of New Hampshire (2015)
J.D., University of Connecticut School of Law (2020)
Prior to joining the Central West Justice Center’s Immigration Law Unit as a Staff Attorney, Jessica worked at the Buffalo Immigration Court for two years, first as a judicial law clerk and then as an attorney advisor. During law school, she represented clients in asylum proceedings at the UConn Law Asylum Clinic and graduated with a certificate in human rights.
Staff Attorney
Caroline Foley
Caroline Foley
Staff Attorney
B.A., Political Science, Framingham State University (2013)
J.D., Western New England School of Law (2021)
While in law school, Caroline was a member of the Western New England Law Review where she organized a two-day symposium on Immigration Law and Detention. She also wrote two articles on immigration law and domestic violence. She was part of the International Human Rights Clinic where she worked with Earth Refuge to research and write on climate migration. She also volunteered with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Immigration Protection Project throughout law school to assist in parole applications for detainees at the Southern border.

Prior to attending law school, Caroline was fully accredited by the Department of Justice to practice immigration law at a nonprofit in Worcester, MA where she coordinated the limited assistance program, helping clients to reunite with family members, to naturalize, and seek relief based on being victims of crimes. She has done extensive work in the Central Massachusetts community to organize and educate immigrants on their rights for the past ten years.

Caroline is a native Portuguese speaker and fluent in Spanish.
Staff Attorney
Claudia Folgosa
Claudia Folgosa
Intake Paralegal
Claudia started her career in the legal field in 2014 when she joined Community Legal Aid as a Receptionist/Support Staff. In 2017, she joined Central West Justice Center as the Intake Paralegal for the Immigration Unit. Claudia speaks Portuguese, Spanish, and some French. She previously worked as a Portuguese and Spanish Medical Interpreter at the Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center and she has been a per diem Portuguese and Spanish Medical Interpreter at UMass Memorial- Marlborough Hospital since October 2014.

Intake Paralegal
Camden Fuller
Camden Fuller
Staff Attorney
B.A., Political Science, George Washington University (2020)
J.D., Boston College Law School (2023)
Camden is a recent graduate of Boston College Law School with a passion for serving the community. Throughout law school, he had the opportunity to work with the Boston College Innocence Clinic, the Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee, and most recently, during his 2L summer, the Boston Federal Public Defenders.
Staff Attorney
Cassaundra Gonzalez
Cassaundra Gonzalez
Staff Attorney
B.S., Criminal Justice, Westfield State University (2007)
M.B.A, Isenberg School of Management, University of Massachusetts (2010)
J.D., Western New England University School of Law (2021)
Cassaundra J. Gonzalez joined Central West Justice Center as an immigration attorney in 2024. Cassaundra is native to the Pioneer Valley and attended Western New England University School of Law, where she graduated with high honors in May of 2021. Prior to joining CWJC, Cassaundra was an Associate Attorney at a local private immigration firm for over 2 years, where she specialized in family immigration, removal defense, and business immigration. During law school, she worked on The Remote Immigrant Assistance Project, a national effort to prepare documents for asylum seekers at the U.S. Mexico border, and she was an intern for the Employment division of Community Legal Aid during the pandemic. She was Symposium Editor for Western New England Law Review’s 2021 Symposium, “New Abolitionism: Ending Civil Immigrant Detention and Criminalization – Policy, History and Legal Strategies.” Cassaundra completed a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice at Westfield State University in 2007 and a Master of Business Administration at Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts in 2010. Cassaundra is fluent in Spanish and a certified TESOL instructor. She lives in Western Massachusetts with her husband, three children, and various beloved pets.
Staff Attorney
Johanna Greenberg
Johanna Greenberg
Staff Attorney
B.A, Bard College (2011)
J.D, Boston University (2021)
Johanna joined the Central West Justice Center in September 2021 as the Boston University N. Neal Pike Disability Rights Fellow in the Immigration Unit. She transitioned to a Staff Attorney in August 2021. While in law school, she participated in the Immigrants’ Rights and Human Trafficking Clinic, where she represented survivors of human trafficking. She also interned at Pine Tree Legal Assistance in Maine and Greater Boston Legal Services. Prior to law school, Johanna was a paralegal, first as a farmworker outreach paralegal in New York State and then in the Employment Unit at Community Legal Services of Philadelphia. Johanna is fluent in Spanish and is learning Portuguese.
Staff Attorney
Luis Guerrero
Luis Guerrero
Staff Attorney
B.A., Political Science and Economics, Merrimack College (2017)
J.D., Boston University School of Law (2020)
During law school, Luis spent his first summer interning with Project Citizenship, a nonprofit that helps green-card holders apply for citizenship. Luis later interned at the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office in the Homicide Unit. Luis also participated in the Immigrants’ Rights and Human Trafficking Clinic during law school, where he represented a client in immigration court. He joined the Central West Justice Center’s Immigration Unit in 2020.
Staff Attorney
Marion Hohn
Marion Hohn
Senior Supervising Attorney, Benefits Law Unit
B.A., Political Science, The College of New Jersey (1997)
J.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2001)
Marion worked at Western Massachusetts Legal Services (WMLS) for almost 10 years before the program joined with Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts Legal Services to form Community Legal Aid in 2011. While at WMLS, Marion served as a Staff Attorney in the Benefits and Housing units. Marion joined the Central West Justice Center in 2016. At CWJC, she is the Senior Supervising Attorney for the Benefits Unit. Marion is licensed to practice law in Massachusetts and the U.S. District of Massachusetts.
Senior Supervising Attorney, Benefits Law Unit
Sara Horatius
Sara Horatius
Racial Justice Fellow, Immigration Law
Sara Horatius has been awarded a two-year Racial Justice Fellowship by the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation (MLAC). The Fellowship will support Attorney Horatius’s work throughout Western Massachusetts, where she will expand CWJC’s immigration legal work with the Haitian community. Horatius is based in CWJC’s Springfield office.

Attorney Horatius received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Temple University in Pennsylvania and law degree from Widener University School of Law in Delaware. After completing law school in 2013, Attorney Horatius returned to Massachusetts and served for one year as an AmeriCorps Legal Advocate at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute in Boston, where she advocated to secure legal status and work authorization for Haitian immigrants. In 2015, Attorney Horatius opened her own law practice in Randolph, where she represented clients with immigration cases seeking the American dream through naturalization. Attorney Horatius has also taught legal courses as an Adjunct Professor at Roxbury Community College, Bunker Hill Community College, and Quincy College. An avid writer, Attorney Horatius earned her M.F.A. in Screenwriting from Boston University in 2021.
Racial Justice Fellow, Immigration Law
Evie Huang
Evie Huang
Legal Advocate, Asian Outreach & Advocacy Project
B.A., The Department of Ocean and Border Governance, National Quemoy University (2019)
Master of Law, National Taiwan Law School (2023)
J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, LLM in Technology and Policy (2024)
Before joining the Central West Justice Center, Evie dedicated her time to serving as a legal volunteer at Taiwan legal aid organization and as a legal intern at the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center in Washington, D.C. Her proficiency in Vietnamese, Mandarin, Japanese, and Korean has significantly enhanced her effectiveness as an advocate.

As an individual with a diverse heritage and experiences, Evie brings deep cultural sensitivity and a strong commitment to promoting justice within the Asian community. She hopes to leverage her legal expertise to give back to the community, using her skills to address the unique challenges faced by marginalized populations. She is committed to advocating for equitable access to justice and making a positive impact on the lives of those she serves.
Legal Advocate, Asian Outreach & Advocacy Project
Marla Jakubiak
Marla Jakubiak
Legal Aid Case Manager
B.A., Paralegal/Legal Studies, John Jay College of Criminal Justice (1996)
Marla joined Community Legal Aid in the spring of 2015. She worked as a Paralegal for the Housing and Elder Units until 2023. Marla works as a Legal Aid Case Manager position. Marla has experience in immigration law, personal injury law, and social security law. Previously, she worked at The Legal Aid Society in the Bronx, NY as a housing Paralegal and at the Essex County Legal Services in New Jersey as a Paralegal for the SSDI and SSI project.
Legal Aid Case Manager
Catie Jennetta
Catie Jennetta
Staff Attorney
B.A., International Affairs, The George Washington University (2018)
J.D., Columbia Law School (2023)
Prior to joining CLA, Catie graduated from Columbia Law School with the Class of 2023. During her time at Columbia, she interned with a number of immigration-focused legal nonprofits, including the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project, the Legal Aid Society of New York, Sanctuary for Families, and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), doing a mix of direct services and impact litigation work. Prior to law school, Catie worked as an immigration paralegal at a small firm in the Washington, DC area, where she specialized in family-based and humanitarian cases. She completed her undergraduate studies at The George Washington University, where she majored in International Affairs.
Staff Attorney
Zachary Leonard
Zachary Leonard
Legal Advocate
B.A., Political Science and Environmental Policy, Washington University in St. Louis (2020)
J.D., University of California Irvine School of Law (2024)
After completing his undergraduate degree, Zachary worked in the nonprofit sector for one year before attending law school. At UCI Law, he gained practical experience working with the Jenesse Center Domestic Violence Shelter, Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program, and the UCI Environmental Law Clinic.
Legal Advocate
Benjamin Levine
Benjamin Levine
Staff Attorney
B.A., History and Religion, University of Rochester (2010)
J.D., Boston College Law School (2015)
Before working at Central West Justice center, Ben worked as a housing rights attorney at the Legal Aid Society in New York City for six years representing tenants in eviction proceedings and to obtain and restore public benefits. Prior to representing tenants, he worked at Start Small Think Big assisting low income entrepreneurs form legal structures to protect their businesses. And prior to law school, he worked as an educator running civic education programs in Chicago Public Schools with Mikva Challenge.

In his free time, Ben likes to run, hike, and cook.
Staff Attorney
Nancy López Ramírez
Nancy López Ramírez
Intake Paralegal
B.A., Latin American & Caribbean Studies and Women & Gender Studies, Union College (2019)
Prior to joining the Central West Justice Center, Nancy worked at Central Massachusetts YWCA as a Domestic Violence Advocate, where she learned to navigate systems from a trauma-centered perspective. She has also worked at the Volunteer Lawyers Project as a Bilingual Intake Specialist and Bilingual Intake Coordinator.
Intake Paralegal
Lin Mao
Lin Mao
Legal Advocate, Asian Outreach & Advocacy Project
B.A., Diplomacy, Jilin University (2018)
Master of Law in Human Rights, University of Hong Kong (2019)
J.D., University of Wisconsin (2024)
Prior to entering law school, Lin actively sought opportunities to serve marginalized communities and advocate for their rights. Her journey has taken her across the globe, from conducting gender research in Kenyan slums to providing care for abandoned and disabled children in Vietnam. Lin continued developing these skills during law school, when she had the privilege of assisting immigrant families in securing juvenile guardianships through the Family Law Clinic. Her summer internship at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles further deepened her commitment as she worked diligently with monolingual Asian clients, many of whom were survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and trafficking. This experience has granted her a profound understanding of the unique needs of disadvantaged individuals when it comes to legal services.
Legal Advocate, Asian Outreach & Advocacy Project
Maya McCann
Maya McCann
Equal Justice Works Fellow
B.A., Government, Smith College (2017)
J.D., Northeastern University School of Law (2022)
During law school, Maya worked as a legal intern for the Massachusetts Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, and a student attorney for the Central West Justice Center’s Migrant Farmworker Unit, DOVE (Domestic Violence Ended) Inc.’s Housing Unit, and Northeastern University School of Law’s Immigrant Justice Clinic. Maya was also a teaching assistant, research assistant, and a two-year lawyering fellow for the Legal Skills in Social Contexts Program. Prior to attending law school, Maya worked for two years as a paralegal for Heisler, Feldman, & McCormick, P.C., a law firm serving low-income clients with cases involving tenant’s rights, employee rights, employment and housing discrimination, and consumer protection issues. While working as a paralegal, Maya also participated in the Young Women’s Advisory Council of the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts and coached high school girls’ soccer. As an undergraduate student, Maya interned for Senator Elizabeth Warren, the Springfield District Court Service Center, Soccer Without Borders, Gardening the Community, and DevelopSpringfield. Maya is a Springfield native deeply invested in her community, trained in domestic violence and trauma response, and is fluent in Spanish.
Equal Justice Works Fellow
Kelly Morgan
Kelly Morgan
Senior Supervising Attorney, Immigration Law Unit
B.A., Music and French Studies, Wesleyan University
J.D., Boston College (2018)
During law school, Kelly was a student attorney at Boston College’s Immigration Clinic and interned with the CPCS Immigration Impact Unit, the PAIR Project, the Muslim Justice League, the Massachusetts Bail Fund, and the Post-Deportation Human Rights Project. Prior to law school, she taught English to union hospitality workers in Boston, MA and to middle school students in Marseille, France. Kelly joined the Central West Justice Center’s Immigration Law Unit in 2018.
Senior Supervising Attorney, Immigration Law Unit
J. Gabriel Otero
J. Gabriel Otero
Intake Paralegal
B.S., Legal Studies, Becker College
Gabriel worked at the Massachusetts Justice Project (MJP) for over 9 years before joining the Central West Justice Center in 2014 as an Intake Paralegal. At MJP, Gabriel advised and provided brief services to clients in civil legal matters, including eviction defense, public and subsidized housing denials and terminations, denials and terminations of public benefits, debt collection, and unemployment compensation denials. Gabriel also coordinated the operations of the Worcester District Court Lawyer for the Day Program.
Intake Paralegal
Briana Perez
Briana Perez
Intake Paralegal
Before coming to CWJC, Briana worked for Wayside Youth and Family Services where she provided case management and mental health services to those in need. Prior to this, Briana worked for another nonprofit agency (Healthy Families) where she connected young adults to resources such as housing, education, childcare, DTA services and other benefits as needed. Briana continues to volunteer for the Wayside Trauma team where she provides hotline and medical advocacy services to survivors of DV and other forms of abuse.

Intake Paralegal
Laura Putnam
Laura Putnam
Staff Attorney
B.A., American Studies and Spanish, Smith College (2010)
J.D., Boston University School of Law (2019)
Laura joined the Immigration Unit at Central West Justice Center in January 2021. Prior to joining CWJC, she worked as a legal fellow in the Immigration Impact Unit at the Committee for Public Counsel Services, the Massachusetts public defender agency, where she represented people who were detained in immigration custody in their deportation proceedings. During law school, Laura spent two years representing noncitizens before the Boston Immigration Court, the Board of Immigration Appeals, and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services as a student attorney in the Boston University School of Law Immigrants Rights and Human Trafficking Clinic. She did internships in immigration practice at the Bronx Defenders and criminal practice at the Colorado Public Defenders. Prior to law school, Laura worked as a case manager helping families experiencing homelessness with children in Denver, CO. As an undergraduate student, Laura wrote a thesis about the history of knitting in Western Massachusetts. Laura speaks Spanish and is licensed to practice law in Massachusetts.
Staff Attorney
Claudia Quintero
Claudia Quintero
Staff Attorney
BA., Communication Studies, California State University, Los Angeles (2010)
M.S., Communication (Rhetoric), The University of Utah (2013)
J.D., (cum laude) Western New England University School of Law (2017)
Claudia joined Central West Justice Center in 2017, after graduating law school. She leads the Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Project for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the Fairness for Farmworkers Coalition. She was honored with the 40 under 40 award in 2021, awarded the Adams Pro Bono Publico Award by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, and was previously recognized as Student of the Year by the Massachusetts National Lawyers Guild in 2017. Attorney Quintero was recently appointed to the Labor and Workforce Development Working Group with the City of Springfield, was a founding board member of the Pioneer Valley Workers Center, on the board of the Rosenberg Fund for Children, New England Public Media, and the coordinating committee of the ACLU of MA Immigrant Protection project. She has previously mentored college and law students through the Lawyers Collaborative for Diversity, and UMass Women in Leadership (UWiL) Program. In 2019, she was chosen as a scholar for the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, and in 2020 she was selected as the Chair of the Minorities in the Profession Committee for the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division. She is an active member of the Massachusetts chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, the Hampden County Bar Association and the Massachusetts Bar Association. While in law school she interned with Public Counsel in Los Angeles in their Immigrants’ Rights Project, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Office of Legal Counsel in Washington, DC., and the City of Springfield in their Labor Relations Department. Attorney Quintero also teaches Law and Social Change at Western New England University School of Law, and is a native Spanish speaker.
Staff Attorney
Ben Rodgers
Ben Rodgers
Skadden Fellow
B.A., Political Science, Arizona State University (2020)
J.D., Yale Law School (2024)
Ben is a Skadden Fellow, representing Massachusetts farmworker children. During law school, he was a student intern at CWJC’s Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Project and at the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. For over two years, he was a member of Yale Law School’s Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic, where he worked on trial and appellate court cases, and on matters before federal and state administrative agencies. He was Co-Chair of Professional Development for Yale’s First Generation Professionals student organization. Ben also worked as a research assistant on projects involving immigration law, administrative and regulatory law, and alternatives to incarceration, and as a teaching assistant for a seminar on civil and constitutional rights litigation. Before law school, he worked at the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project in rural Washington as a volunteer intern. Ben speaks Spanish.
Skadden Fellow
Tania M. Rodríguez Reyes
Tania M. Rodríguez Reyes
Staff Attorney
B.A., Political Science, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus (2008)
J.D., University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus (2011)
Tania worked as an attorney in Puerto Rico before relocating to Massachusetts in 2014. Before joining the Central West Justice Center as an Immigration Staff Attorney in 2022, she worked at Gandara Center, where she was promoted from Intensive Care Coordinator to Senior Care Coordinator in 2017. Tania was admitted to the Puerto Rico Bar in 2012, Puerto Rico Federal Bar in 2014, and Massachusetts Bar in 2021.
Staff Attorney
Océane Loren Maéva Roux
Océane Loren Maéva Roux
Staff Attorney
B.A., Political Science, St. Mary's University (2020)
J.D., Suffolk University Law School (2023)
Prior to joining the Immigration Law Unit at the Central West Justice Center, Océane spent the last two years working as a Law Clerk in small immigration law firms in Boston. Throughout her time in law school, she served as a student attorney in Suffolk Law’s Accelerator Clinic, advocating for tenants in eviction and housing discrimination cases. Additionally, Océane took on the role of Continuity Editor for the Journal of Health and Biomedical Law, where she had the opportunity to explore the intersection of health and immigration law.
Staff Attorney
Rhiannon Snide
Rhiannon Snide
Staff Attorney
B.A., Journalism, University of Massachusetts Amherst (2018)
J.D., Albany Law School (2021)
Rhiannon is a graduate of Albany Law School. During law school Rhiannon worked for the New York State Office for New Americans where she engaged in policy research and advocacy work. Prior to joining CWJC in 2024, Rhiannon worked as an immigration attorney at Catholic Charities Worcester County where she represented individuals seeking humanitarian and family-based immigration relief and organized a number of legal clinics and “know your rights” campaigns.
Staff Attorney
Edith Tierney
Edith Tierney
AmeriCorp Paralegal
B.A., Sociology, Mount Holyoke College (2024)
Previously, Edie has interned in a variety of locations including the Maine Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future, the Maine Office of the Public Advocate, and United Way of Pioneer Valley among others.
AmeriCorp Paralegal
Ellen VanScoyoc
Ellen VanScoyoc
Senior Supervising Attorney, Immigration Law Unit
B.A., History (magna cum laude), Brown University (2001)
J.D., (cum laude) New York University (2006)
Ellen worked at Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts for over three years before the program joined with Western Massachusetts Legal Services to form Community Legal Aid in 2011. Ellen joined the Central West Justice Center in 2014. She is a Senior Supervising Attorney for the Immigration Law Unit and advocates and represents immigrant survivors of domestic violence and asylum seekers in immigration cases. Prior to joining LACCM, Ellen worked for Greater Boston Legal Services as an attorney in their Housing Unit and represented asylum seekers as a pro bono attorney with the Political Asylum/ Immigration Representation project in Boston, MA. Ellen is licensed to practice law in Massachusetts. She is proficient in Spanish and is learning Portuguese.
Senior Supervising Attorney, Immigration Law Unit