Fines and Fees Advocacy Through Direct Services

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Legal Aid clients often face staggering fines and fees - for everything from a traffic ticket to a felony conviction - for themselves or a loved one. But few legal aid organizations help their clients resolve court debt or help advocates reform fines and fees policies and practices. This session will feature legal aid lawyers from different states who do both.

Anna Odegaard, MPP, MA

Senior Advocacy and Campaign Strategist - Midwest

Fines and Fees Justice Center

Anna Odegaard is a Senior Advocacy and Campaigns Strategist for the Fines and Fees Justice Center. She leads FFJC’s work in Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois and Ohio and supports reform throughout the region. Prior to joining FFJC, Anna spent nearly a decade at the Minnesota Asset Building Coalition, leading MABC’s advocacy campaigns for state-level policies that support asset building opportunities, reduce barriers to economic mobility, and advance racial equity. Before joining MABC, she worked as a Policy Analyst for the Service Employees International Union, helping develop equitable and inclusive state policies for implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Earlier in her career, Anna led the Domestic Abuse Response Team in Fridley, Minnesota, supporting domestic abuse survivors on their path to safety. Anna received a Master of Public Policy from the University of Minnesota and a B.A. in Political Science and Rhetoric from Drake University. She lives in Saint Paul, MN with her partner and two children.

Rubina Mustafa

Rubina S. Mustafa is a Senior Staff Attorney with the Detroit Justice Center. She helps clients overcome barriers created by incarceration, chronic poverty, and homelessness. She has over twenty-nine years of legal experience, and she represents clients in driver’s license and family law matters. She trains and leads the volunteer attorneys for the Road to Restoration Clinics, which have successfully helped over 7000 Michigan residents with driver’s license issues. Before DJC, Rubina worked with the Michigan Children’s Law Center in Wayne County, representing children in the Juvenile Court. She also was a Staff Attorney at the Detroit Center for Family Advocacy, the first multidisciplinary legal aid practice focused on reducing the number of children in foster care. Rubina also worked with child welfare specialty court dockets and court improvement task forces. Before that, Rubina was proud to serve as an Assistant Defender with the State Appellate Defender, advocating for over 300 clients on appeal of their criminal convictions and sentences.

Ed Wunch

Justin Small, JD

EJW Fellow/Staff Attorney

Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County

Justin Small is an Equal Justice Works Fellow & staff attorney at Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County. As part of the Clean Slate Initiatives criminal reentry practice group, Justin's fellowship centers on providing citation and infraction level representation to low income individuals. His traffic ticket clinic provides assistance with court-debt mitigation and addresses collateral consequences like driver's license suspensions. Justin is 2022 graduate of Loyola Law School..