Vera Institute of Justice

As senior planner, Lauren directed the training, supervision, and technical assistance of Vera’s National Qualified Representative Program (NQRP) attorneys to ensure zealous, person-centered advocacy on behalf of incompetent detained immigrants in removal proceedings. She also advised on post-conviction relief options and worked to advance the strategic priorities of the Center on Immigration and Justice.

Prior to joining Vera, Lauren worked as both a trial and appellate public defender for a decade. She spent her first two years after law school as a public defender in rural Kentucky, handling criminal cases across multiple counties. She went on to work as a trial attorney at Brooklyn Defender Services and Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem and as a post-conviction-relief attorney at Appellate Advocates.

She holds a BFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and a JD from the University of Michigan Law School.