Congratulations to our January Volunteer Attorney of the Month, Lily Ginsburg! Lily, an associate attorney at Reeves Amodio LLC, has been making great strides with her first ANDVSA pro bono case in Homer. Lily was looking for pro bono opportunities when she saw an ad in the Alaska Bar newsletter and felt compelled to help. She says that “ANDVSA went above and beyond” in making her feel that she had everything she needed to litigate the case, including being paired with an experienced family law mentor.
The best part of working on an ANDVSA case for Lily was creating a “huge sense of relief for the client.” Lily was able to receive an interim custody order granting her client sole legal and physical custody through a domestic violence protective order that will remain in place until the superior court reaches a final custody decision. That said, Lily expressed that a difficult part of taking on these cases is “working within a legal system that isn’t always designed for people who have experienced trauma.” Additionally, you must navigate working with the client’s abusive ex-partner who may attempt to use the same manipulative or oppressive tactics in court.
Lily was attracted to a career in law from an early age during the 2008 financial crisis that affected her family and friends. She was drawn to the stability and multitude of opportunities that a law degree offered, and she has found that being a lawyer complements her strong research and writing skills, confidence in public speaking, and ability to multitask. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Law and Political Economics from Sarah Lawrence College in 2019 and her Juris Doctor from UC Berkeley Law School in 2023, plus she spent her third year of law school at Harvard studying under Professor Christine Desan. After completing a clerkship with Justice Jennifer Henderson of the Alaska Supreme Court, she fell in love with Alaska and decided to remain!
Professionally, Lily is looking forward to giving her first oral argument before the Alaska Supreme Court in February. Being entrusted with the argument is a huge honor from her firm that Lily does not take lightly. Personally, Lily is planning a summer trip to France with her half-French partner to meet his family. Lily is quite the polyglot and is conversational (or close to) in Russian, Farsi, Spanish, and Swedish. She is currently learning French to prep for her trip!
In her free time, Lily enjoys snowboarding and is on the board of the Young Lawyers Section of the Anchorage Bar Association, where she recently helped organize a food drive. She is also part of the Alaska Lavendar Bar Association and occasionally volunteers with the Covenant House in Anchorage. She is a firm believer in giving back to the community! Thank you for all your hard work, Lily!