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Darryl Apperton, Staff Attorney, Family Law
Darryl Apperton, a seasoned family law attorney in Chicago, re-joined CGLA's staff in September of 2006 as the Director of Family Law. Darryl served as Supervising Attorney at CGLA from 1994 to 2001, practicing in both our Housing and Family Law Programs. In 2001, Darryl left CGLA to open a private family law practice and serve as the Clinic Director of the Zeke Giorgi Legal Clinic at the Northern Illinois University - College of Law. After three years serving in that capacity and three years as a solo practitioner in family and housing law, Darryl has returned to CGLA to rededicate his talents to public interest law.
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John Bauters, Housing Law Director, Staff Attorney
John Bauters joined CGLA in February 2011 as the Director of the Housing Law Program. Previously, John spent three three years with Prairie State Legal Services, where he represented clients under the agency's Homelessness Prevention and Advocacy Program in Lake County. Prior to that, he served as Judicial Clerk to the Hon. Patricia D. Steele of the Superior Court of the United State Virgin Islands, Division of St. Croix. John graduated from Boston College Law School in 2006. As a law student, he served on the board for the Public Interest Law Foundation. He obtained his bachelor's degree in International Studies and Psychology from the University of Notre Dame in 2002. John is committed to redressing social injustice and is grateful that he can follow this calling while contributing to the mission of CGLA. Outside the office, John can typically be found on the ball diamond where he works as a softball umpire in his free time.
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Marissa Claxon, Staff Attorney, Criminal Defense
Marissa Claxon joined CGLA in September 2007 after graduating from the University of Southern California's Gould School of Law. She also holds a bachelors degrees in psychology and political science from the University of Illinois ('04). Marissa received the 2007 Irmas Fellowship, funded by long-time USC public interest supporters Sydney and Audry Irmas, which provides one year's salary for a graduate embarking on a career of public service. She also received USC's Miller Johnson Equal Justice Award, given to a graduating student who has demonstrated a strong commitment to serving underrepresented communities. While in law school Marissa was an intern at both Public Counsel Law Center and the Los Angeles County Public Defender. She was also part of USC's Post Conviction Justice Project, which gave her the opportunity to represent battered women in parole hearings and post-conviction matters. Marissa went to law school with a passion for criminal defense work and a commitment to serving impoverished communities. She is thankful for the opportunity to do both through her work at CGLA.
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Felipe Fernandez del Castillo
Felipe comes to CGLA as a full-time volunteer with the Amate House, a one-year service program sponsored by the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Felipe graduated from the University of Chicago in2010 with a BA in Classics. He is excited to work with CGLA's volunteer attorneys, law students and community members, and hopes to expand CGLA's volunteer recruitment program. In his spare time, Felipe enjoys distance running, reading and hanging out with his eight siblings.
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Paul Haidle, Staff Attorney, Criminal Records
Paul Haidle joined CGLA in March 2008 as a Staff Attorney in the Criminal Records program. Paul oversees the Expungement Help Desk, a pro se advice desk that serves 5,000 people per year seeking to clear a criminal background. Paul regularly speaks on criminal records issues and this year he trained and supervised over 100 volunteer attorneys for the 2011 Cook County Expungement Summit. Paul also represents clients before the Prisoner Review Board, handles contested objection hearings, and represents clients in employment discrimination matters related to criminal records. In 2010, Illinois Legal Aid Online recognized him as an Advocate of the Month.
Paul graduated cum laude from Wheaton College with a B.S. in Environmental Sciences. His undergraduate research on climate change was published in the Journal of Climate and was cited by Judge Richard Posner.
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JaShawn Hill, Office Manager
JaShawn Hill joined the CGLA family in August of 2007 as CGLA's receptionist. In 2008, with hard work and dedication to CGLA, she became our Office Manager. JaShawn comes to CGLA through The Cara Program, a job training and placement program. JaShawn has experience working in customer service in both Iowa and Chicago, and is eager to bring that experience to her position at CGLA. Most recently, JaShawn has enrolled in Harold Washington College to pursue a degree in Social Work. The inspiration to advance her education came from the vision of our organization. Our vision states that we want clients to leave us stronger than they came, and JaShawn is anxious to become an advocate for those who desire needs outside of their legal problems.
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Beth Johnson, Staff Attorney, Criminal Records
Beth Johnson has been an attorney with CGLA since 2005 and serves as Director of the Criminal Records Program. In addition to providing direct representation to clients, she is engaged in community outreach, education and advocacy work, partnering with community based organizations throughout the Chicagoland area. Through the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education, she provides trainings on criminal records related issues and recently authored an article on Expungement and Sealing (“Expungement and Sealing: A Lawyer’s Guide). She has worked successfully with other advocacy groups to pass expansions and clarifications to criminal records laws in the General Assembly.
Beth has been recognized for her public interest work, receiving Loan Repayment Assistance Awards through the Chicago Bar Foundation Sun-Times Fellowship and DePaul University’s Center for Public Interest Law. She has received an award for her work from State Representative Constance Howard and was one of the 2010 recipients of the Safer Foundation’s Visionary Award. She was recently recognized by the Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court as one of the 2011 Outstanding Women in Non-Profits. She is a 2005 graduate of DePaul University’s College of Law, receiving a Certificate in Public Interest Law.
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Dierdre Johnson, Client Specialist
Dierdre joined CGLA’s staff in the summer of 2002. As the first person clients meet when they contact CGLA for legal assistance, Dierdre’s welcoming manner establishes the personal touch that is so highly valued within our organization. Additionally, Dierdre coordinates CGLA's satellite intakes at St. Sabina Church on Chicago's south side. Before becoming a part of the CGLA team, Dierdre worked in retail store management and the nursing home industry. She has three children and actively serves as a parent representative for the local school council.
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Shannon McDonnell, Client Services Coordinator
Shannon joined CGLA in 2011 as a full-time volunteer from the Amate House. Originally from Spokane, WA, Shannon graduated from the University of Portland (OR) with a Bachelors of Science in Nursing.
Deciding not to pursue a career in nursing, she moved to Boston and worked for a staffing agency for two years. Shannon decided to apply to Amate House after wanting to pursue a more fulfilling career path, and was extremely grateful to be given the opportunity to work at CGLA. Outside of work, Shannon enjoys exploring Chicago with her Amate community.
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Joseph Mole, Director of Operations & Client Support Services
Stepping into a dual role as Director of Operations and Client Support Services, Joe brings nearly 15 years of experience working in faith and community-based social service organizations, both large and small.
During his 10-year career with The Salvation Army, Joe provided training, oversight and program evaluation to a wide range of social service programs in over half of the United States. His career-defining accomplishment was the development and implementation of a comprehensive child abuse prevention program which utilized education, policy alignment and compliance monitoring to orchestrate large-scale organizational change around issues of safety for vulnerable children and youth.
Joe received his Master of Social Work degree from the University of Michigan in 2001, where his studies focused on management of human service organizations. Prior to that, he earned a BA in Philosophy/Religion & Sociology from Spring Arbor University. Joe is a licensed social worker, an active member of LaSalle Street Church, and also served as an inaugural member of CGLA’s Young Professionals Board. On the weekends you’ll find him out walking his dog, an 85-lb Rhodesian Ridgeback named Savannah.
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Sarah Pegman, Development Associate
Sarah Pegman joined CGLA’s team in September, 2010 bringing development experience from her previous role working with a homeless shelter on the south side of Chicago. She earned her Bachelors in Social Work from Calvin College in Michigan and completed her Masters in Social Work from UIC, with a concentration in community and administrative practices.
Sarah learned of CGLA by attending the 2008 annual benefit and was immediately impressed with the agency’s commitment to working with clients not only on their legal issues, but on bettering their lives as a whole. She is excited to use her social work background, and development experience to help CGLA carry out this mission for many more clients.
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Gretchen Slusser, Executive Director
Gretchen comes to CGLA from thredpartners, a Chicago-based management consulting firm she co-founded in 2004. She first became involved with CGLA as a volunteer and a donor, and has a long history of volunteerism and service both locally and internationally. Gretchen graduated from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse with a degree in Marketing and minor in Political Science. She also earned her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute.
Gretchen has over 18 years of experience in designing and implementing project-based, technology and business solutions. Her industry focus has been education, financial services and high-tech. A subject matter expert with a passion for developing creative solutions that drive change has contributed to her success in the Management Consulting arena.
A passion for community and people and the desire to provide opportunities for the people of Chicago is what drives Gretchen today. She believes that CGLA is making a difference in the lives of those they serve and she is thrilled to be a part of the organization.
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Jill Roberts, Staff Attorney, Family & Housing Law
Jill Roberts represents clients in both Family and Housing law cases at Cabrini Green Legal Aid. Before becoming a CGLA staff attorney in November 2010, Jill interned at CGLA in the summer of 2006 as a law student and continued to volunteer and remain active in the CGLA family. She previously served as an AmeriCorps VISTA Attorney at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago representing clients living in poverty in multiple areas of law as part of the Chicago Medical-Legal Partnership for Children. Jill completed a judicial clerkship with the United States Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review, Detroit Immigration Court in September 2009. Jill graduated from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 2008 with a certificate in public interest law. She also earned a bachelors degree in sociology from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana in 2005. Jill spent a semester during college in Seville, Spain and now utilizes her Spanish language skills to serve CGLA’s Spanish speaking clients.
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Mark Rogers, Part Time Staff Attorney, Criminal Records
Mark Rogers' first experience with CGLA was as a De Paul law student in 2006 when he volunteered for an Expungement Summit. While at De Paul, Mark earned a Certificate in Criminal Law and participated in a Criminal Appeals Seminar. He also was a panelist for the Chinese Constitutional Conference in Beijing in 2006. After graduation Mark regularly volunteered at CGLA's Expungement Help Desk and was named the 2009 Help Desk Attorney Volunteer of the Year. Prior to becoming a Help Desk Supervisor in January 2011, Mark had donated over 400 hours of his time to helping CGLA clients.
Mark is looking forward to expanding his role with CGLA in the coming months. In his free time, he is an avid volleyball player and enjoys cooking. His two best recipes are for BBQ ribs and Black Bottom Pie.
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Tim Wallace, Director of Development
Tim came to CGLA through his involvement with the ministries of LaSalle Street Church. Hired part-time to do fundraising in 2004, Tim was promoted to Director of Development in November of 2006. A graduate of the University of Virginia with a degree in English (rhetoric) and a minor in Philosophy, Tim is fascinated by language and persuasion. He is thrilled to be able to use his skills in the service of justice and mercy and is deeply committed to CGLA’s mission and vision.
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Betsy Wilson, Legal Director
Betsy joined CGLA's staff in 2011, but her relationship with our organization began many years ago. First serving as a volunteer and then as a member of the Board of Directors, Betsy’s current position is the most recent iteration of her passion for and commitment to CGLA’s work.
Since graduating from Harvard Law School in 1998, Betsy has spent her career working for those living in deep poverty. She spent five years as a trial attorney at the New York Capital Defender Office, representing indigent defendants facing the death penalty. After moving to Chicago, she then formed a private sentencing-advocacy practice (SAGE) in which she investigated her clients’ life histories in an effort to help explain not only their crimes, but to also represent their humanity. She sees her work as at CGLA as a continuation of her work as an advocate, and is proud to be part of an organization that sees our clients as more than just a legal problem, but as whole and complete human beings worthy of our care and compassion.
Betsy is a national leader in the field of sentencing advocacy and is Vice Chair of the National Alliance for Sentencing Advocates and Mitigation Specialists. She is the 2011 recipient of the NASAMS’s President’s Award in recognition of extraordinary dedication to the work of the Alliance. If you drop into her office, there’s a good chance you will find her doing sun salutations or a head stand.
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