|
ADMISSIONS:
California State Bar, 2008
EDUCATION:
-
Columbia Law School,
J.D. 2008
-
Stanford Law School,
Visiting '07-08, Youth &
Education Law Project
-
University of Chicago,
A.B. (History and Law) 2005
-
Wellesley College,
2001-2002
After growing up
in Los Angeles, Alexis Casillas left
California to attend Wellesley
College and the University of
Chicago.
She took with her a knowledge
of Applied Behavior Analysis and
play therapies, and volunteered with
nonprofit advocacy organizations
like Best Buddies and Autism Speaks
throughout college. After graduating
with two A.B. degrees from the
University of Chicago—one in History
and the other in Law, Letters &
Society—Alexis moved to New York to
attend Columbia Law School.
During law school she was
trained to work with special-needs
families by Advocates for Children
of New York. She volunteered with
the Autism Legislation Project
during her summers, logging the most
pro bono hours of any student in her
class. Before graduating Alexis also
worked as a litigator for various
government offices, including the
New York City Taxi and Limousine
Commission, where she participated
in a forum on disability access for
public transit.
After spending a
summer working for the American
Civil Liberties Union in Orange
County on issues of educational
equity and discrimination, Alexis
returned to California to spend her
final year as a student at Stanford
Law School. There, she participated
in the Youth and Education Law
Project, a clinic devoted to
providing free legal assistance to
low-income special-needs students.
She also spent her final semester
externing with the Department of
Health and Human Services, where she
worked on Medicare access cases.
After law school
Alexis worked for the Santa Clara
County District Attorney’s office,
where she was a post-bar clerk with
the Battery, Assault and Theft Unit
and conducted research on the
admissibility of testimony by
individuals with language disorders
and disabilities. Alexis also served
as an extern to the Honorable Kim
Wardlaw on the Ninth Circuit. Since
graduating, she has remained
committed to special education law
by handling IEPs for family members,
following legal and policy
developments, and working with
groups interested in developing
programs for autistic adults.
Having
grown up with a developmentally
disabled sibling, Alexis has a
strong commitment to helping
children with special needs and a
unique perspective on the special
education process. She has
experienced firsthand many of the
emotions her clients confront every
day. Additionally, Alexis's
sister-in-law was adopted from
foster care at the age of thirteen,
and her mother-in-law works as a
foster parent adoption attorney in
Southern California. As such, she
has observed the myriad challenges
facing parents
seeking
to secure education, health care,
and other rights for their children.
She is uniquely sensitive to the
special education needs of foster
and foster-adopt families and their
children, and has a wide network of
contacts to assist in these cases.
Alexis vividly
remembers her family’s experience
with school districts, regional
centers, and other government
agencies.
She approaches
each case with the empathy born of
that experience.
|
