List of all our attorneys. See Fellows page for fellowship attorneys.
Christine Chuang joined Disability Rights Advocates as a staff attorney in 2011. Since joining DRA, Ms. Chuang has advocated for the civil rights of persons with disabilities, including issues relating to education, voting access, veterans, immigration, and emergency preparedness. Previously, Ms.
Kara Janssen joined Disability Rights Advocates in 2010 as the John W. Carson / LD Access Fellowship Attorney and is currently a staff attorney. Her fellowship work focused on advancing equal rights and opportunities for people with print disabilities. Mrs. Janssen currently works on issues affecting individuals with all types of disabilities in the areas of transportation, education, emergency preparedness and criminal justice.
Mary-Lee Kimber Smith is a Managing Attorney at Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), having joined DRA in 2005 as a Disability Rights Advocates/Westrec Marinas Fellow. Mary-Lee's practice has been focused on complex class actions that have advanced the civil rights of persons with disabilities. She is an advocate for persons with all types of disabilities, and has litigated precedent-setting class action cases involving discrimination in all facets of life, from transportation to public services.
Kevin Knestrick joined Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) as a Disability Rights Advocates Fellow in 2003. Since becoming a staff attorney at DRA in 2005, Mr. Knestrick continues to practice in all areas of disability discrimination, enforcing civil rights through class action litigation in state and federal courts in the areas of public accommodations, public entities and employment.
Larry Paradis is the Executive Director and Co-Director of Litigation for Disability Rights Advocates. Mr. Paradis specializes in class action and other high impact disability rights litigation. He has handled many precedent-setting ADA cases in areas such as employment, housing, transportation, education, insurance, and public accommodations. Mr. Paradis was named by California Lawyer Magazine one of California's Lawyers of the Year for his victories in civil rights cases in 2011 and 2003.
Shawna L. Parks is the Co-Director of Litigation at Disability Rights Advocates. As the Co-Director of Litigation at DRA, Shawna takes a directing role in the organization's impact litigation.
Julia Pinover joined Disability Rights Advocates in 2007 as the David Boies/ LD Access Fellow in DRA’s Berkeley office. In 2010 Ms. Pinover opened the New York City office of Disability Rights Advocates. She is now the Senior Staff Attorney in charge of Disability Rights Advocates' New York office.
Stuart Seaborn joined Disability Rights Advocates as a staff attorney in 2011. Previously, Mr. Seaborn spent several years advocating for the civil rights of persons with disabilities at Disability Rights California, most recently as the Managing Attorney of Disability Rights California’s Sacramento Regional Office.
Rebecca Williford joined Disability Rights Advocates as the Learning Disability Access/Ryder Foundation Fellow in 2009, and is currently a staff attorney representing the rights of people with disabilities in class action litigation. She is also a co-editor of Lawyers, Lead On: Lawyers with Disabilities Share Their Insights (ABA Press 2011), Vice Chair of the ABA Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and a past Commissioner of the ABA Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law.
Sid Wolinsky is a co-founder of Disability Rights Advocates and its Director of Litigation. Mr. Wolinsky is a specialist in class action and high-impact litigation and rights of people with disabilities, both nationally and internationally. In recent years, he has particularly specialized in legal issues involving students with learning disabilities and health care rights of disabled people. He previously was the Director of Litigation and a co-founder of Public Advocates, Inc.