Erica Andrews, The Law Offices of Erica Andrews, 2014 LIFT Class 
Erica Andrews obtained her Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School in New Orleans.  Prior to opening her own law firm, Ms. Andrews interned for the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana, JJPL, and co-founded Stand Up for Each Other!, SUFEO!, a collaboration between law students and JJPL, to advocate for Orleans Parish public school students in expulsions,  suspensions, and special education.

Shawon Bernard, Bernard Law Firm, LLC, 2016 LIFT Class
Shawon Bernard is a graduate of Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge. Prior to opening her own law firm, Ms. Bernard worked as an educator and school leader. Her practice, Bernard Law Firm, LLC, located in New Orleans focuses on family and education law. She is a qualified Child Custody and Visitation Mediator, Family and Civil Mediator. Ms. Bernard participated in the Domestic Violence Project at the Family Justice Center and upon completion of the program, she had dedicated over 150 hours of pro bono representation to survivors of domestic violence.

Corinne Beth, 2015 LIFT Class 
Corinne Beth is a graduate of Northeastern University Law School and was admitted to the Louisiana Bar in 2013. She opened a solo law firm in January 2014 that focuses on immigration law, representing detained individuals in bond hearings and removal proceedings.

Natalie Blackman, Law Office of Attorney Natalie Blackman, 2016 LIFT Class
Natalie Blackman obtained her juris doctorate from Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge. Ms. Blackman’s law firm is located in Baton Rouge where she provides services in the practice areas of employment discrimination, personal injury, family law, civil rights, and criminal defense. Upon completion of the LIFT Accelerator program, Natalie had dedicated more than 200 volunteer hours during which she provided workshops and educational trainings to members of the community.

Tinashe E. Chimwaza
Tinashe E. Chimwaza received his Juris Doctor from Southern University Law Center in 2009. Tinashe served as a law clerk at the 19th Judicial District Court and subsequently practiced insurance law for a few years prior to deciding to pursue his passion in immigration law. Originally a native of Zimbabwe, Tinashe emigrated to the United States with his family when he was ten years old. Tinashe Law, L.L.C. was founded out of Tinashe’s desire to meet the needs of the immigration community with whom he shares intimate knowledge of and experience with the immigration process. Tinashe believes immigration, correctly employed, can be a tool of social construction that promotes unity rather than division of people of diverse nationalities and cultures. Tinashe Law, L.L.C. is primarily focused on representing detained immigrants in bond proceedings before the immigration court in Oakdale, Louisiana.

James Graham, The Law Offices of James A Graham, 2014 LIFT Class
James Graham earned his Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School and an MBA and MEd. from the University of New Orleans. In 2013, James formed the Law Office of James A. Graham LLC, a solo law firm that focuses on building medical legal partnerships with hospitals to better serve the legal needs of patients that coincide with the medical services provided, such as appealing denied insurance claims. The firm also focuses on consumer law, specifically debt collection defense, and housing. James is a participant in the incubator project in the New Orleans Family Justice Center.

Robyn Griffin, Griffin Law Group, LLC, 2014 LIFT Class
Robyn R. Griffin graduated from Tulane University Law School in 2009 and started Griffin Law Group LLC in 2012 to ensure every child with mental and/or physical disabilities has the resources s/he needs to lead a happy and healthy life. Robyn previous work includes two years at Legal Services of North Louisiana helping clients secure SSI and Medicaid benefits and work as an Assistant Professor at Grambling State University. Robyn’s younger sister, Bianca (who had cerebral palsy) and her nephew, Javier (who is autistic), serve as motivation to ensure that every child has the tools s/he needs to manage their medical conditions.

Nicholas J. Hite, Hite Law Group, LLC, 2014 LIFT Class
Nicholas Hite graduated from Tulane University Law School in 2012. A lifelong advocate for social justice and true equality, he believes that income should not be a barrier to quality legal representation. Nicholas founded The Hite Law Group, LLC to provide expansive and inclusive legal service for all individuals, proudly specializing in the unique needs of the LGBTQ community and all forms of non-traditional families. Nick is also a participant in the incubator project in the New Orleans Family Justice Center, where he provides pro bono representation to survivors of domestic violence.

Mummi Ibrahim, Ibrahim and Associates, LLC, 2015 LIFT Class
Mummi Ibrahim, a graduate of Howard University and admitted to practice law in Louisiana in 2011, is a solo practitioner focusing primarliy on criminal defense. Before opening her office, she worked with Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana as Staff Attorney, where she ran a campaign to end the practice of sentencing juveniles to life without parole. Since opening her solo practice in 2014, Mummi continually works to improve the administration of criminal justice and tries to provide a holistic approach when addressing the needs of her clients.

DeVonn Jarrett, Jarrett Law Group, LLC, 2018 LIFT Class 
DeVonn Jarrett is  2014 graduate of Southern University Law Center. In 2015, he opened Jarrett Law Group focusing on the practice areas of criminal defense, employment discrimination, mass tort litigation, personal injury, and sports law. In the area of criminal defense, DeVonn focuses on representing modest means clients, primarily during the pre-trial phase. Born and raised in New Orleans, DeVonn is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., Gamma Epsilon Chapter, and the LSBA Committee on the Profession.  

Trinicia S. Leonard, Leonard Law Group, LLC, 2018 LIFT Class
Trinicia opened Leonard Law Group, LLC, in Shreveport in 2018 where she participates in the Juvenile Re-Entry Assistance Program (JRAP). Her law firm provides services in family law, criminal law, expungements, personal injury, and succession and probate law. Prior to opening her law firm, Trinicia worked for Legal Aid of North Louisiana, a Legal Services Corporation Program, as a family law attorney.

Betty Maury, Maury Law Firm, 2014 LIFT Class 
Betty Maury received her Juris Doctor from Loyola New Orleans College of Law in 2013. During law school Betty worked full-time while caring for her family, served as a judicial intern at the 24th Judicial District Court, and was awarded Outstanding Family Law Clinic Student Attorney by the New Orleans Association of Women Attorneys. Dedicated to providing compassionate and affordable legal services to families in the Greater New Orleans area and surrounding parishes, Betty formed Maury Law Firm, LLC. Maury Law Firm is a general practice with a focus on family law.

Cherita McNeal and Cory Alford, McNeal & Alford, LLC, 2019 LIFT Class 
Cherita McNeal and Cory Alford are 2014 and 2015 graduates of Southern University Law Center who opened a small law firm, McNeal & Alford, LLC which focuses on estate planning, real estate, business, and tax law. Both Cory and Cherita have dedicated their professional legal careers to the public interest sector, working with survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and abuse. While balancing full-time jobs and starting their practice, they took several pro bono cases, attended trainings, mentored the incoming class of participants, and continued to volunteer with the Baton Rouge Bar Association Pro Bono Project as well as Free Legal Answers.

Carlton Miller, Miller Law Firm, LLC, 2015 LIFT Class 
Carlton Miller is a recent graduate of Southern University Law Center. He passed the bar in 2014 and shortly thereafter opened a solo practice. His firm focuses on providing affordable legal services in the practice areas of criminal defense, business formation and litigation, and social security disability appeals.

Tiffany Monroe, The Law Office of Tiffany Monroe, 2019 LIFT Class 
Tiffany Monroe is a 2018 graduate of SULC. Her firm, The Law Office of Tiffany E. Monroe, was started in 2019 and focuses on Successions, Wills, and Estate Planning as well as Intellectual Property and Tax Law. A former engineer, Tiffany pursued the legal profession as a second career and a plan to open a solo law firm that would increase access to affordable legal services. While in the program, Tiffany dedicated nearly 300 hours of pro bono work, participated in more than a dozen trainings, and helped mentor the newest class of participants. Tiffany recently supported the Lawyers in Libraries program by offering a Facebook live event on successions, wills, and estate planning. She has created a sustainable solo law firm that we expect will help many people obtain access to affordable legal services for years to come.

Latisha Nixon-Jones, 2015 LIFT Class  
Latisha Nixon-Jones is also a graduate of Southern University Law Center who passed the bar in 2011. She has a solo law firm that primarily focuses on personal injury cases, estate planning, and small business formation. Ms. Nixon-Jones uses the fees received from her personal injury cases to support her practice while she focuses on what she is passionate about, offering reduced cost estate planning and business formation services.

Ebonee Rhodes Norris, The Norris Law Group, LLC, 2017 LIFT Class
Ebonee is the founding partner of The Norris Law Group, LLC, in Shreveport where she works on the Juvenile Re-Entry Assistance Program (JRAP) and practices in the areas of criminal law, personal injury, succession and probate law. In addition to being a certified mediator, Norris is a member of the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Shreveport Bar Association, and Bossier Parish Bar Association.

John Love Norris, IV, 2015 LIFT Class 
John Love Norris, IV is a graduate of Loyola Law School. In 2014, he established John Love Norris, IV LLC, a law firm helping those in need of civil and criminal litigation. Additionally, John also works as an Application Developer having taken part in the creation of the Multiple Bill Calculator, an application that provides sentencing calculations for those who are multiple offenders, and GoodTime Calculator, an application that determines the diminution of a sentence according to Louisiana's law. He is highly-involved in the community, providing legal services for Loyola's Homeless Outreach Program. He also provides free notary services at Rosa F. Keller Library in New Orleans Louisiana.

Megan Snider
Megan Snider joined the LIFT Domestic Violence Project in 2017. During the program, she dedicated hundreds of hours of pro bono representation to survivors of domestic violence and sexual harassment. She obtained her Juris Doctor from Tulane Law School. During and after law school, Megan has been dedicated to public interest law, working with a variety of state agencies and non-profit organizations in Louisiana and California.

Cherie Teamer, Teamer Legal Corporation, 2017 LIFT Class
Cherie works on the JAC Re-Entry Court Collaborative Lawyering Project in New Orleans and operates a solo family, real estate, and personal injury law firm. Many of her clients need legal services and cannot pay large amounts upfront and alternatives need to be present. Cherie provides options for flexible payment plans to help get the representation needed.

Sophie Woodruff, SMW Legal
In 2018, Sophie joined the LIFT DV Project at the Family Justice Center in New Orleans. Her law firm, SMW Legal, offers immigration and family law legal services to modest means clients. Sophie Woodruff is a graduate of Tulane Law School. During law school. Sophie was a dual Fullbright scholar to Germany and Turkey. As an attorney she is dedicated to public interest law and ensuring access to affordable legal services.