Read the bios of our Board of directors below. If you are interested in joining us as a Director or otherwise getting involved in Community Lawyers, Inc., please see our Get Involved section.

Monique C. Chavoya serves as treasurer of Community Lawyers, Inc. She graduated from Smith College and completed a masters of arts in Urban Planning at UCLA. Ms. Chavoya's interest in community development has landed her positions as a city council field representative, a fellow at the Greenlining Institute, and a project manager at the East LA Community Corporation. She currently works on affordable housing projects at McCormack Baron Salazar, Inc. Ms. Chavoya grew up in Pico Rivera, California.

Joel Estrada

Luz E. Herrera is the president and co-founder of Community Lawyers, Inc. She is an assistant professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, California. She serves on the American Bar Association's Delivery of Legal Services Committee, the board of California Rural Legal Assistance, and on the Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel Act Implementation Committee.  In 2009, the ABA Journal identified her as one of the 50 professionals remaking the legal profession. Before joining academia, Ms.. Herrera was a solo practitioner in Compton, California. She is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School. Ms. Herrera grew up in Whittier, California.

Wendelyn Killian is the organization’s secretary. Ms. Killian has worked at the private law firms of Troop Steuber Pasich Reddick & Tobey, LLP and Katten Muchin Zavis, as well as Community Coalition, a non-profit organization that organizes African American and Latino residents to build a prosperous and healthy South Los Angeles. Currently, Ms. Killian is the Executive Director of InsideOUT Writers, a non-profit organization that recruits volunteers who teach creative writing to youth incarcerated in Los Angeles County juvenile halls. InsideOUT Writers also provides case management and mentoring support to alumni of the writing classes once they have been released to support their successful re-entry. Ms. Killian graduated from Stanford University and Harvard Law School. She grew up in Lancaster, California.

Francine J. Lipman is a professor at Chapman University. Prior to entering academia, Ms. Lipman practiced in the tax department of Arthur Young & Company and as an attorney with the law firms of O'Melveny & Myers LLP and Irell & Manella LLP.  Professor Lipman’s academic interests include working with low-income taxpayers and researching and writing about the challenging issues they face that undermine the quality of their daily lives. Ms. Lipman graduated from New York University School of Law with an LL.M. in Taxation. She received her Juris Doctor from U.C. Davis. She has an M.B.A. and a C.P.A. Ms. Lipman grew up in St. Louis, MO and San Diego, California.   

Eva Plaza is principal of Sylva, Plaza Law Group.  Ms. Plaza’s work experience includes working as trial counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice, Deputy Assistant Attorney General and head of the Torts Branch in the U.S. Department of Justice and as Assistant Secretary of Fair Housing & Equal Opportunity at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Before serving in the Administration, Ms. Plaza was a trial attorney in the Washington, D.C. law firms of Seyfarth, Shaw, Fairweather & Geraldson and Arent, Fox, Kinter, Plotkin & Kahn. Ms. Plaza has received numerous awards for outstanding achievement, including the Albert Arent Pro Bono Award, 1989; the National Conference for College Women Leaders, Woman of Distinction Award in 1998; and the Hispanic Bar Association’s Equal Justice Award in 2002. She has been recognized as one of the 100 most influential Hispanics in America, and is a lifetime member of the American Bar Association’s American Bar Foundation. Ms. Plaza graduated from Harvard College and Berkeley School of Law. She grew up in El Paso, Texas.

Michael Salanick is a solo practitioner dedicated to serving consumer clients in Los Angeles and across southern California.  Mr. Salanick is committed to developing a brand of legal services founded on the principle of “Healing Lives through the Law”.  His humanistic approach to law practice has proven invaluable for his clients, including individuals, families and small business that are facing financial and emotional challenges alike.  In addition to his bankruptcy work, Mr. Salanick has directed multiple discovery projects for prominent law firms in the Los Angeles area.  Mr. Salanick is an alumnus of both Michigan State University and the University of Michigan Law School where he earned his M.P.P. and J.D.  He grew up in Monroe, Michigan.