Heritage Month Profiles: Celebrating Trailblazers in the Appellate Bar
Throughout the year, we celebrate different cultural heritage months by highlighting the journeys of incredible trailblazers in our highest courts. We are proud to feature these superstars, many of whom also serve as TAP volunteers.
Click on their profiles below to learn more about how they got where they are, their most memorable cases, and their excellent advice to aspiring appellate attorneys and judges!
We update these profiles regularly, so be sure to check back!
Nadeen Abou-Hossa
Associate, Gonzalez Chiscano Angulo & Kasson, PC
TAP Volunteer
Amir H. Ali
Executive Director, MacArthur Justice Center
TAP Volunteer and former Board member
Cristina Alonso
Founder, Alonso Appeals
TAP Volunteer
Emmanuel Hiram Arnaud
Assistant Professor of Law, Cardozo School of Law
TAP Volunteer
Eldena Bear Don’t Walk
Conflict Defender Division Administrator, Office of the Montana Public Defender
Hon. Anna Blackburne-Rigsby
Chief Judge, D.C. Court of Appeals
Megan Byrne
Staff Attorney, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Capital Punishment Project
TAP Volunteer
Angela Cai
Deputy Solicitor General, New Jersey Attorney General's Office
TAP Volunteer
Hon. Zainab Chaudhry
Judge, New York State Court of Claims
TAP Volunteer
Valerie Collins
Attorney, Towards Justice
TAP Volunteer
Donna Farag
Counsel, WilmerHale
TAP Volunteer
Indiana Garcia
Litigation Associate, O'Melveny & Myers LLP
TAP Alum
Ed Guedes
Partner and Chair of the Appellate Practice Group, Weiss, Serota, Helfman, Cole & Bierman, P.L.
TAP Volunteer
Christopher Hu
Deputy Solicitor General, California Department of Justice
TAP Volunteer
Antonio Ingram II
Assistant Counsel, Legal Defense Fund
TAP Volunteer
Caprice Jenerson
President and Attorney-In-Charge, Office of the Appellate Defender in New York
TAP Volunteer
Heather Kendall-Miller
Retired attorney and Dena’ina Athabascan, Native American Rights Fund (Retired)
Former TAP Board Member
Hon. Gia Kim
Judge, Los Angeles County Superior Court
TAP Volunteer
Stacy Leeds
Willard H. Pedrick Dean and Regents Professor of Law, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law
Hon. Melissa A. Long
Justice, Rhode Island Supreme Court
TAP Volunteer
Hon. Monica Márquez
Justice, Colorado Supreme Court
Simone Marstiller
Of Counsel, Gunster
TAP Volunteer
Hon. Rebeca C. Martinez
Chief Justice, Texas Fourth Court of Appeals
TAP Volunteer
Roman Martinez
Deputy Office Managing Partner, Latham & Watkins LLP
TAP Volunteer
Hon. Jesse McClure III
Judge, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
TAP Volunteer
Melody McCoy
Staff Attorney, Native American Rights Fund
Ryan Park
Solicitor General, North Carolina Department of Justice
TAP Volunteer
Juan Perla
Partner, Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP
TAP Volunteer
Ashwin Phatak
Principal Deputy Solicitor General, Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia
TAP Volunteer
Emanuel Powell III
Litigation Associate, Jenner & Block LLP
TAP Volunteer
Leonard Powell
Staff Attorney, Native American Rights Fund
TAP Volunteer
Hon. Luis Felipe Restrepo
Judge, Third Circuit Court of Appeals
Pratik Shah
Head of Supreme Court & Appellate Practice, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
TAP Volunteer
Rasha Gerges Shields
Government Investigations & Complex Litigation Partner, Jones Day
TAP Volunteer
Rupa Singh
Partner, Niddrie Addams Fuller Singh LLP
TAP Volunteer
Christina Swarns
Executive Director, Innocence Project
Natasha Taylor
Partner, Wright Close & Barger, LLP
TAP Volunteer
Roger Tejada
Litigation Intern, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.
TAP Alum
Sam Thypin-Bermeo
Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey
TAP Volunteer
Hon. Sarah I. Wheelock
Judge, Minnesota Court of Appeals
Graham White
Appellate Attorney, Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice
TAP Volunteer
Racheal M. White Hawk
Associate, Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP
TAP Volunteer
Hon. G. Helen Whitener
Justice, Washington State Supreme Court