  |   About CLSEPACommunity Legal Services in East Palo Alto (CLSEPA) provides legal assistance to low-income individuals and families in East Palo Alto and the surrounding community. Our practice areas include housing, immigration, general civil litigation, and anti-predatory lending. We opened our doors in September 2002 and currently handle approximately 1,700 cases per year, helping some 1,200 clients. Volunteer attorneys, paralegals, law students, and community volunteers work with our dedicated staff members to provide life-changing legal services to residents in need. We are a community-based organization funded by grants and donations from foundations, law firms, legal organizations, and individuals who recognize the importance of providing the protections of the law to those who wouldn't otherwise have them. To schedule an appointment, please call our office at 650-326-6440.
Board of Directors
To schedule an appointment, please call our office at 650-326-6440. To volunteer, please send an email to volunteer@clsepa.org. Our Team
JoAnne GoldbergInterim Executive Director JoAnne is a graduate of Smith College who earned an MBA from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, where she worked prior to joining CLSEPA. She brings extensive experience in organizational management and strategic planning to CLSEPA, having consulted to a variety of local nonprofit organizations including Girls' Middle School, the Peninsula College Fund, Summit Prep, Girl Ventures, and QuestBridge, and served on nonprofit boards and several commissions for the city of Menlo Park. At CLSEPA, she seeks to ensure that the organization provides essential legal services to the local community. 
Rico Altman-MerinoDevelopment Coordinator Rico graduated from the University of Chicago with a Bachelor's degree in History. Before he became CLSEPA's Development Coordinator, he volunteered as a legal assistant for CLSEPA's Housing Program. In Chicago, he helped organize student support for university workers and residents of local affordable housing projects. As Development Coordinator, Rico identifies funding streams, authors grant proposals, and supports the Executive Director's long-term development agenda. 
Kathya ReganOffice Manager and Receptionist Practice Areas Housing 
Jeanne Merino, Esq.Housing Supervising Attorney Jeanne Merino has worked as the Consulting Supervising Attorney of CLSEPA's Housing Program since CLSEPA's inception in 2002. Prior to working with CLSEPA, Jeanne was a clinical supervisor at the East Palo Alto Community Law Project for nine years. She has taught courses in Community Law Practice, Problem-Solving, Federal Litigation, Legal Research and Writing and Housing at both Stanford University and Stanford Law School. Early in her career, Jeanne clerked for Justice Cruz Reynoso of the California Supreme Court, and worked as a resident advocate for a transitional housing program in East Palo Alto. She is presently the Director of Stanford Law School's First Year Legal Research and Writing Program. Jeanne received her Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School in 1986. Jeanne is fluent in Spanish. 
Victor RamirezAssistant Director & Housing Paralegal Victor Ramirez has served as a Paralegal and Director of the Housing Program at CLSEPA since CLSEPA's inception in 2002. After practicing law in his home country of Colombia for two years, Victor came to California and began working at the East Palo Alto Community Law Project, CLSEPA's predecessor agency. Victor has worked collaboratively with many different organizations and government agencies in the resolution of legal matters affecting tenants. He has also been involved and worked collaboratively with the East Palo Alto's Rent Stabilization Program, churches, property owners, and other local non-profits in their efforts to make residents aware of their rights and responsibilities under the City's program. Victor is fluent in Spanish. Immigration 
Neil Babra, Esq.Immigration Attorney Neil Babra is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He is licensed to practice law in California, where he was briefly in private practice before joining CLSEPA. He specializes in immigration law, including removal defense, family-based immigration, and relief for immigrant victims of crime. 
Rosa Gomez, Esq.Immigrant Youth Outreach Program, DREAM Act Attorney Rosa Gomez is CLSEPA's Immigrant Youth Outreach DREAM Act Attorney. Rosa received her undergraduate degree from the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC). She graduated from The Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law and interned with the Orange County Public Defenders Office and Legal Services for Prisoners with Children (LSPC). Before working for CLSEPA, Rosa was a Volunteer Attorney with the San Francisco Bar Association's Family Law Project and served as the Immigrant's Rights Fellow at the International Institute of the Bay Area. Rosa is fluent in Spanish. 
Helen Beasley, Esq.Immigrant Youth Outreach Program, Law Fellow Helen Beasley graduated from Harvard Law School in 2011. She received a Holmes Public Interest Fellowship to work in CLSEPA's Immigrant Youth Outreach Program beginning September 2011. During law school, Helen participated in the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic and the Family Law Clinic. Helen spent her summers working on women's rights issues at the Global Justice Center in New York and the Center for Reproductive Rights in D.C. She is from Canada and received her B. Arts & Science (Honors) from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. 
Amalia Greenberg Delgado, Esq.Immigration Attorney Over the last 10 years, Amalia Greenberg Delgado has been dedicated to representing and advocating for the rights of refugees and immigrants around the world and in the U.S. After getting her J.D. at Washington College of Law, Amalia was awarded the Soros Justice Advocacy Fellowship with the ACLU of Northern California to advocate for improved law-enforcement practices in immigrant communities. Amalia then worked with Amnesty USA as their Immigrants' Rights Project Coordinator where she organized and supported members to engage in immigrants' rights work in Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and California. Amalia has also worked abroad extensively in Egypt, Turkey, and Ecuador to provide much needed legal aid and advocacy to asylum seekers and refugees. She is currently a co-founding Board Member of Asylum Access, an organization that works to realize refugee rights in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. 
Marilia Zellner, Esq.Immigration Supervising Attorney Mari received her Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 2000 with the Dean's Public Interest Distinction Award. She is licensed in Minnesota and has primarily practiced federal immigration law. Mari joined the CLSEPA immigration unit in the Fall of 2007 and supervises a complex caseload, including removal defense, primarily for survivors of violent crime seeking humanitarian-based relief. Her practice focuses on improving access to immigration counsel for detained women and children, advising people detained because of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids or Secure Communities (S-Comm) enforcement. Mari also believes in providing culturally appropriate community-based legal education. In 2010, Mari was selected as the American Immigration Lawyers Association's inaugural "Face of AILA" recipient, in recognition of her efforts to promote justice and pro bono service. Mari is fluent in Spanish. Volunteer Attorney Program 
Julie Hansen Quinlan, Esq.VAP Supervising Attorney Julie Hansen Quinlan graduated from Stanford Law School in 1990. She worked for Jackson Tufts Cole & Black, then joined the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County as a staff attorney in 1992. Julie spent 10 years at the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo handling cases involving elder abuse, housing, landlord tenant and consumer law. Over the next 4 years, she worked with Stanford Law School's clinical program in consumer law. Julie joined CLSEPA in 2006, where she serves as the supervising attorney of the Volunteer Attorney Program. 
Katrina Logan, Esq.Managing Attorney, VAP Katrina earned her Juris Doctor from Santa Clara University School of Law where she graduated with a Public Interest Certificate. She earned her Bachelor's degree in African and African American Studies and English from Stanford University. Before working with CLSEPA, Katrina was a Graduate Fellow at the Northern California Innocence Project and volunteered with the Pro Bono Project of Silicon Valley, representing clients in restraining order and child custody hearings. At CLSEPA, Katrina manages the pro bono referral process and works primarily with the immigration, civil, and consumer law and practice areas. 
Maricela CastilloVAP Coordinator Maricela Castillo joined CLSEPA in 2008 as both the Office Manager and Receptionist. Maricela has become a triage specialist, using her patience and keen knowledge of legal concepts to guide clients in the right direction. She is currently working on her Associate's degree from Mission College. She is passionate about helping people in need and feels privileged to work in an office that is dedicated to helping the community prosper. Ms. Castillo is fluent in Spanish. Anti-Predatory Lending and Foreclosure Prevention 
Kathryn Latour, Esq.Home Mortgage Modification Attorney Kathryn earned her Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School in 1990 with a focus on Human Rights before moving to Europe for 13 years where she gained new cultural perspectives and became proficient in French and Dutch. While there she was chosen to participate in the annual Human Rights Conference at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands and later served as translator for political asylum seekers from Sierra Leone and other war-torn African nations. Kathryn came to CLSEPA in March 2009 to join the Anti-Predatory Lending team, specializing in foreclosure prevention cases. 
Keith Ogden, Esq.Anti-Predatory Lending and Foreclosure Prevention Practice Program Attorney Keith Ogden earned his Juris Doctor from U.C. Hastings College of the Law, where he received a Public Interest Certificate and was a member of the Pro Bono Society. While at Hastings, he interned with Bay Area Legal Aid's Housing Division and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. Upon graduation, Keith worked at Housing and Economic Rights Advocates through a post-graduate Hastings Fellowship, focusing on loan servicing issues and foreclosure-related litigation. Keith joined CLSEPA's Anti-Predatory Lending and Foreclosure Prevention team in August 2011 to work with the collaborative Anti-Payday Lending Initiative and to assist clients in matters related to foreclosure prevention and post-foreclosure eviction defense. Keith is proficient in Spanish. 
Rebecca Pinger, Esq.Home Mortgage Modification Attorney 
Joel Valencia PerezAnti-Predatory Lending and Foreclosure Prevention Practice Program Coordinator Joel graduated in 2008 from Princeton University, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in philosophy. Upon graduating he returned to California to pursue work in both legal and academic fields. Before joining the CLSEPA team, Joel worked as an editorial assistant for the publications outfit of the Center for the Study of Language and Information at Stanford University. Joel's responsibilities as the Program Coordinator include organizing events for the practice's anti-payday loan campaign and maintaining contact with clients fighting to protect their homes. He has found the work to be fulfilling and hopes his experience at CLSEPA will allow him to continue helping impoverished and vulnerable communities in the future. Volunteers Susan Solomon, Esq. Susan has been a volunteer attorney in housing at CLSEPA since 2004 when she retired from a twenty-four year career as a civil and commercial attorney at a Palo Alto law firm. She is a graduate of University of Pennsylvania, has a Masters Degree in Social Work, and received her law degree, magna cum laude, from Santa Clara University in 1980, during which year she was an extern for California Supreme Court Justice Mathew Tobriner. She has also been a volunteer attorney at the ProBono Project in San Jose representing domestic violence victims, an advocate for the establishment of juvenile mental health courts, and a co-founder of a national mental health organization for children and adolescents. In 2008 Susan received the Award of Merit from the Legal Aid Association of California for her contribution to the work of CSLEPA. To schedule an appointment, please call our office at 650-326-6440. To volunteer, please send an email to volunteer@clsepa.org. Newsletters | ||||
