Nathan Arrowsmith

he/him

Nathan Arrowsmith works as Senior Litigation Counsel in the Special Litigation and Government Accountability section of the Solicitor General’s Office within the Arizona Attorney General’s Office where he focuses on constitutional litigation. Prior to joining the Attorney General’s Office, Nathan worked in private practice at both a small and mid-size firm. Nathan has been a long-time advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community. In private practice, Nathan regularly advised corporations, educational institutions, and private fraternal organizations on issues around LGBTQIA+ inclusion. He also represented LGBTQIA+ clients in a variety of settings including assisted reproduction, estate planning, employment discrimination, and discrimination in places of public accommodation. Additionally, Nathan worked with a local non-profit to host quarterly name change clinics for transgender and non-binary youth and young adults.

Bernardo Rafael Cruz

He/Him

Bernardo Rafael Cruz is the first Affirmative Litigation Attorney at the El Paso County Attorney’s Office. Bernardo has spent his legal career advocating for the basic human and civil rights of all persons through impact litigation, amicus support, legislative advocacy, and public education. Prior to joining the El Paso County Attorney’s Office, Bernardo worked for five years as an attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas representing immigrants in their struggle for humane treatment and the protection of their civil rights. Bernardo also worked for two years at the Columbia Legal Services office in Yakima, Washington, representing immigrants and farmworkers in their civil rights and employment law cases. Bernardo obtained his B.A. from the University of Texas at El Paso and J.D. from Seattle University School of Law.

Andrew Cutillo

He/Him

Andrew Cutillo is the Deputy Solicitor of the City of Scranton. Andrew’s work primarily focuses on housing, including regulating rental housing and spurring development of affordable, achievable housing. His portfolio also includes community development, digital transformation, government ethics, tax reform, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Outside the office, Andrew serves on the nonprofit boards of the NEPA Youth Shelter and NeighborWorks NEPA and is a member of the Truman National Security Project. Before arriving at Scranton City Hall, Andrew served as a Legal Honors Law Clerk at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and as a Regional Voter Protection Director in Northeast Pennsylvania, where he grew up. Andrew received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School, where he was a Darrow Scholar, and his B.A. from the University of Rochester. Prior to law school, Andrew served for several years at the White House, including on the National Security Council staff.

What does Equitable Enforcement mean to you?

Equitable enforcement means treating all subjects of enforcement equally, including those that may be harder to hold accountable, and prioritizing enforcement that truly protects the health, safety, and welfare of the entire community.

Terrah A. Dews

She/her

Terrah A. Dews is an Associate County Attorney in Charles County, Maryland. Ms. Dews attended Morgan State University and the University of Baltimore School of Law. After completing a judicial clerkship in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County, Maryland, she practiced law in the Prince George’s County Office of Law, representing the County and its employees in various types of litigation including child abuse and neglect, premise liability, automobile negligence and excessive force cases. Ms. Dews also worked several years in the federal sector with the Medicare Program at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Currently, she provides legal advice and representation to Charles County agencies, boards and commissions. On behalf of the County, Ms. Dews works with outside counsel, pursuing affirmative litigation where corporate defendants have allegedly harmed the residents or environment of Charles County. A couple of examples include the National Opioid Settlement and the Monsanto PCB Settlement.

She also serves as counsel to the Charles County Resilience Authority, established to mitigate the effects of climate change within Charles County. Ms. Dews is a member of the Maryland Bar Character Committee that conducts investigations and interviews into the character and fitness of applicants to the Maryland Bar. Her interests include writing, traveling, and tracing her ancestry.

Jaclyn C. Grieser

She/her

Jaclyn C. Grieser is a life-long civil servant and has practiced law from the federal to local municipality levels. A native of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Jaclyn joined County's Law Department in 2022 as their Chief Litigator. As the Law Department grows, Ms. Grieser is responsible for handling a diverse portfolio of civil actions and managing the portfolios of litigators within the department, as well cases sent to out-side counsel. She manages the initiation of lawsuits brought by and defends all lawsuits brought against the County, its subdivisions, and employees. Defensive actions include matters in employment, premise liability, civil rights, Right to Know and election law. Jaclyn pursues affirmative litigation at the behest of the County Commissioners and that are focused on improving the health, welfare, and well-being of Bucks County's residents.

Ms. Grieser has tried hundreds of jury trials to verdict and is a frequent invited speaker and trainer for continuing legal education courses on both trial tactics and veteran topics. Jaclyn joined the U. S. Army's JAG Corp in 2005. After serving as Prosecutor, in Germany, Defense Counsel at West Point, and Senior Defense Counsel, in Iraq, Jaclyn was then selected as one of the Army's first Special Victim Prosecutors and assigned to Fort Stewart, GA. Ms. Grieser received her L.L.M. from the Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School in Charlottesville, VA. Before resigning her commission in 2017, Jaclyn served as Chief Prosecutor at Fort Leonard Wood, MO. Jaclyn has tried cases in over four countries and twenty-seven military installations. She has spoken before the Congressional Women's Caucus, the Joint Service Committee on Military Justice and testified before the Response Systems to Adult Sexual Assault Crimes Panel. Upon her resignation from the U. S. Army and prior to joining the County, Ms. Grieser ran her own civilian practice.

Elizabeth Jordan

She/her

Elizabeth Jordan is an attorney from Chicago’s South Side. Elizabeth is an Assistant Attorney General in the Special Litigation Bureau of the Public Interest Division of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. Her work centers on breaking down systems of oppression through litigation, primarily focusing on attacking discriminatory policing and the school-to-prison pipeline. Elizabeth is also litigating the State’s first civil hate crimes case. In 2022, Elizabeth was named as one of Chicago's 40 Gamechangers Under 40 by WVON and Ariel Investments in Illinois for her work, and she is a frequent guest lecturer at local law schools on topics involving the constitutionality of policing. Prior to joining the Attorney General’s Office, Elizabeth was a Staff Attorney in the Police Practices Project at the ACLU of Illinois. She is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis and the Georgetown University Law Center, and she served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Matthew F. Kennelly on the Northern District of Illinois.

Andrew Magida

he/him

Andrew Magida is the Managing Attorney of Policy for the City of Albuquerque. Andrew’s portfolio of projects and duties is constantly shifting, but he has worked on several initiatives related to housing policy and the unhoused. Andrew also serves as legal counsel for Albuquerque’s Mental Health Response Advisory Committee. Prior to joining the City Attorney’s office, Andrew spent the first seven years of his legal career as a criminal litigator—five of those as a public defender. Andrew was born and raised in New York, NY.

What does Equitable Enforcement mean to you?

Equitable enforcement is the use of government authority to mitigate rather than perpetuate the harms that have historically impacted marginalized communities.

Holly Mariella

she/her

Holly Mariella is a Deputy Attorney General in the Consumer Protection Section at the California Attorney General’s Office. In that role, she conducts investigations and prosecutes complex civil cases to enforce state laws that prohibit unfair or unlawful business practices and false advertising. Prior to joining the Consumer Protection Section, Holly was assigned to the Corporate Fraud Section with a focus on government contracting and securities fraud. Holly clerked on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. She is a graduate of Stanford Law School and UC Berkeley.

Joe Mellis

he/him

Joe Mellis is a Deputy County Counsel for the Los Angeles County Counsel, and has been with the office for five years. Prior to County Counsel, Joe worked for Los Angeles Dependency Lawyers as court-appointed counsel for poor and indigent parents subject to allegations of neglect or abuse of their children. At County Counsel, Joe has worked on a variety of consumer protection cases, including against the vaping company, Juul, and against Monsanto for its role in PCB contamination of the County's public water ways. He has also worked on smaller consumer protection cases, code enforcement cases, and has been focused on human trafficking as a consumer protection and public health issue since 2019.

Divya Musinipally

She/her

Divya Musinipally is a Deputy City Attorney in the Community Lawyering and Civil Rights Unit of the Affirmative Litigation Division. She works on litigation and investigations addressing economic, environmental, and racial justice impacting the people of Oakland.

Prior to joining the Oakland City Attorney's Office, Divya was an associate at the law firm of Keker, Van Nest & Peters where Divya litigated a variety of complex cases. Divya went to trial on behalf of an environmental non-profit to protect an important migratory bird habitat in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, challenged a Trump Administration regulation that limited access to reproductive and family planning services, and represented an inmate who was shot in San Quentin State Prison. Divya has litigated a variety of trade secret, patent, and contract disputes.

Before joining Keker, Van Nest & Peters, Divya clerked for Judge John Owens on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Diego. Before law school, Divya was a paralegal in the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division where Divya participated in two major criminal price-fixing trials. Divya graduated from Yale Law School and holds a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in Political Science and Rhetoric from UC Berkeley.

Katie Nichols

she/her

Katie Nichols currently serves as the Division Chief for Litigation for the Salt Lake City Attorney’s Office. She manages a team of litigators who represent the City and its officials in a broad range of civil matters in federal and state courts, including constitutional and statutory challenges, civil rights and employment litigation, real property disputes, and personal injury suits. Prior to joining Salt Lake City, Katie worked in private practice in Chicago and Salt Lake, where she represented clients in complex commercial litigation, internal investigations, and government investigations. Katie also served as a law clerk for Justices Deno Himonas and Ronald Nehring of the Utah Supreme Court. She graduated with honors from Georgetown University Law Center and serves on the board of the LGBTQ & Allied Lawyers of Utah.

What does Equitable Enforcement mean to you?

Equitable enforcement means utilizing public resources for the benefit of all residents, including by recognizing and specifically addressing the ways in which vulnerable populations have experienced systemic injustices.

Michael Pfautz

he/him

Michael Pfautz is a Deputy City Solicitor with the Affirmative and Special Litigation Unit of the City of Philadelphia Law Department. His practice includes affirmative impact and public policy litigation on behalf of the City of Philadelphia, defending City laws and programs against federal and state constitutional challenges, representing the City's Board of Elections in election matters, and general commercial and real estate litigation. Prior to joining the Law Department in 2018, he clerked for Judge Paul Gardephe of the Southern District of New York and was the 2015-2016 Corporation Counsel Honors Fellow at the New York City Law Department. He received his J.D from Columbia Law School and received his B.A. in Public Policy from the University of Chicago.

Lubna Qazi-Chowdhry

she/her

Lubna Qazi-Chowdhry is a legal specialist with the Strategic Initiatives and Enforcement Unit (SIE) Unit at the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (DCR). She currently leads on the topics of religious discrimination and immigrant communities and co-leads on health equity and justice.

Prior to DCR, she served as the Ethics Liaison Officer at the New Jersey Department of Health. Prior to state service, she served as an attorney handling matrimonial, and estate matters, primarily in minority communities and served as a municipal public defender.

Lubna helped draft regulations on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) as part of her appointment to the NJ Supreme Court Committee on ADR. At DCR, she works on proactive ways to help New Jerseyans learn about their rights under the Law Against Discrimination (LAD). She assists in drafting public facing materials and regulations in ensuring minority concerns are addressed at all levels of rulemaking and in delivery to the public.

She also works with DCR’s Community Relations Unit (CRU) in delivering Know Your Rights presentations to Immigrant communities. Lubna has always been active in minority attorney organizations and continues to help minority communities in accessing civil rights.

Lubna emigrated from Kuwait and currently resides by the Jersey Shore with her family.

Ezekiel Rediker

he/him

Zeke currently serves as the Executive Advisor on Legal Policy to Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey. In this role, he serves on the Senior Executive Team, where he advises the Mayor and Chief of Staff and works on policy, enforcement, and compliance. Zeke focuses on workers’ rights, civil rights, and public health and safety. Prior to joining the Mayor’s Office, Zeke worked at Reed Smith LLP, where he was a litigator, and clerked at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Detroit. Zeke is a graduate of Michigan Law School (J.D.), the University of Oxford (M.Sc. African Studies), Cornell University (B.A. College Scholar Program), and Pittsburgh Public Schools.

Mitchell Rishe

he/him

Mitchell Rishe is Deputy Attorney General in the Land Use and Conservation Section of the California Attorney General’s Office. Mitchell’s practice includes the representation of state agencies that manage public land and regulate private development. In addition to his litigation work, Mitchell serves as liaison counsel to the California Coastal Commission, which ensures that coastal development does not disrupt sensitive habitat, remains resilient to climate change, and protects the public’s right to access the coast. Mitchell is also a member of the Office’s Bankruptcy Practice Group which, among other things, aims to prevent oil companies and other polluters from escaping their environmental cleanup obligations through use of the bankruptcy laws. Mitchell received his B.S. from the University of Pennsylvania and his J.D. from UCLA School of Law. Mitchell lives in West Los Angeles with his wife and two children.

Maggy White

she/her

Maggy White is a Divisional Deputy City Solicitor in the City of Philadelphia Law Department’s Code & Public Nuisance Litigation Unit. She has served as continuing legal education faculty in the areas of code enforcement and historic preservation law. Prior to joining the Law Department, Maggy served as a law clerk to the Honorable James Gardner Colins of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, an intermediate appellate court for state and local government issues and court of original jurisdictions for suits brought by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Maggy is a graduate of Temple University’s Beasley School of Law, where she was a member of the Rubin Public Interest Law Society and received the Milton C. Sharp Memorial Award in Land Use Planning. While in law school, Maggy was a research assistant to Professor Louis M. Natale and interned for the Honorable Marjorie O. Rendell of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

Torrey Dixon

he/him

Torrey Dixon is Special Deputy Attorney General for the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office. At the Attorney General’s office, Torrey primarily works to protect North Carolina consumers from financial harm in the motor vehicle industry. Prior to joining the Attorney General’s office, Torrey worked as a civil rights attorney for the University of North Carolina Center for Civil Rights where he worked to protect voting rights and education rights throughout the state of North Carolina. He was also the State Director of FairVote NC where he worked to advance legislation to expand election participation throughout the state, including achieving legislation which permitted the preregistration of 16-and 17-year-olds for voting when they reach 18. Having worked as a community organizer, civil rights attorney, and in government, Torrey believes that government works best when everyone has a real vote, voice, and stake in the process and there is authentic collaboration between community organizations and enforcement agencies. He enjoys working at the Attorney General’s Office where he has a concrete impact on the lives of everyday persons throughout North Carolina.

Sarah Jane Utley

SHE/HER

Sarah Jane Utley received a B.S. with a major in Animal Science from Texas A&M University; a Master’s in Environmental Toxicology from Texas Tech University and earned a J.D. with honors from Texas Tech School of Law.

Sarah worked as an enforcement attorney for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and joined the Natural Resources Division of the Texas Attorney General’s Office in 2005, where she represented various client agencies including Texas Parks and Wildlife, the General Land Office, the Texas Water Development Board, and the TCEQ.  The majority of her docket consisted on environmental enforcement matters and natural resource damage actions.  In 2011, Sarah joined the Harris County Attorney’s Office, where her practice focused on environmental regulatory matters.  In 2021, Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee named her Environmental Division Director, which handles environmental regulatory and enforcement matters for Harris County, Harris County Flood Control District, and Harris Health.

Pete Cavanaugh

HE/HIM

Pete currently serves as an Assistant Corporation Counsel in the City of Chicago Law Department's Affirmative Litigation Division. In this role, Pete works to protect the residents of Chicago through the enforcement of the City’s ordinances, including consumer protection, labor, construction code, and other regulations. Before joining the Affirmative Litigation Division, Pete worked in the Constitutional and Commercial Litigation Division, where he primarily focused on defending the City’s ordinances in Federal Court. Prior to joining the City, Pete clerked in the Northern District of Illinois and began his legal career in private practice at a large international law firm.

Matt Sturtz

HE/HIM

Matt currently serves as the Deputy Solicitor General for the City of Columbus Attorney’s Office.  He handles affirmative and defensive civil litigation and advocates at the appellate level on the city’s behalf.  Prior to serving in his current role, Matt was an appellate and trial prosecuting attorney for the city.  For a portion of his time as a trial prosecutor, he served in the office’s designated Domestic Violence and Stalking Unit and exclusively prosecuted intimate partner violence and related criminal offenses.  Matt is a graduate of Capital University Law School and the Ohio State University.

Elliot Min

he/him

Elliot Min serves as a Deputy County Counsel for the Los Angeles County Counsel's Office, Affirmative Litigation and Consumer Protection Division, where he represents Los Angeles County as a plaintiff in public nuisance abatement, code enforcement, unlawful business practice, and environmental remediation matters.  Prior to working for the County, Elliot served as a Deputy City Attorney for the cities of Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Jose, where he worked on a wide range of matters, including city prosecution, civil litigation, writs and appeals, transactions, and advisory work.  Elliot is a proud Los Angeles County native, received his B.A. from the University of California Los Angeles, and J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law in 2014.  He is married with one daughter, Chloe (3).

Leslie Ross

she/her

Leslie Ross is the Unit Chief Counsel for the Arizona Attorney General Division of Civil Rights Section, Chair of the Arizona Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and legal advisor to the Arizona Civil Rights Advisory Board. Prior to working for the Attorney General’s Office, Ms. Ross served as in-house counsel for state agencies and in private practice. Prior to becoming an attorney, Ms. Ross worked for the State Bar of Arizona on the Arizona Attorney magazine and for the Arizona Bar Foundation.