Equal Justice Society Legal Director Mona Tawatao announced today that the American Bar Association named EJS Staff Attorney Alexandra Santa Ana as a 2022 Fearless Children’s Lawyer of the Month!
Every day, lawyers across the United States represent children in a variety of legal matters including education, child welfare, juvenile justice, and immigration cases. This representation is exceedingly challenging and mostly goes unrecognized. The ABA Fearless Children’s Lawyers of the Month spotlight series celebrates work from advocacy that results in a system wide change to advocacy that improved the life of one child client.
From the ABA article: “Alexandra currently works on impact litigation to disrupt the school to prison pipeline, working directly on behalf of Black and Brown youth harmed by racially discriminatory structures and practices. Her recent work includes a case filed against the California Department of Education on behalf of Black and Latinx students and families seeking to have the state monitor and address school districts with racially disproportionate school discipline and push-out rates.”
“All of us at EJS are so excited and proud to see Alex recognized by the ABA for her outstanding work,” said Mona. “Alex is our lead in R.W. v. Thurmond, the case highlighted in the ABA article, and plays a critical role in all of our litigation and advocacy. She is brilliant, creative, and uniquely committed to both advocating for and learning from the children and young people and community groups she represents.”
“These cases are difficult, but when you have seen it firsthand, you really have no choice but to embrace the challenge if you want to change the system,” said Alexandra to the ABA. “We need to take time to listen to youth because they know more than anyone what it is they need.”
Read the full article: https://bit.ly/3qcp1eB. Know a fearless lawyer? Let the ABA know by emailing cathy.krebs@americanbar.org and sharing their story.