Board Members

Karen Barker Marcou, a Volunteer Legal Advocates co-founder, transitioned to the Board of Directors in 2019 after 12 years as Co-Executive Director and Executive Director at Volunteer Legal Advocates. Prior to co-founding Volunteer Legal Advocates, Ms. Marcou was an attorney at Neighborhood Legal Services and has over ten years of experience handling family law cases and representing low-income individuals in the District of Columbia. Ms. Marcou received her J.D. magna cum laude from Washington College of Law, American University, and her B.A. from Middlebury College. She has served on the Board of Directors of School for Friends, Guy Mason Recreation Center, and the Rosedale Conservancy.

Tracey Coates, a Managing Partner at Coates Family Law, PLLC, has volunteered as a Volunteer Legal Advocates attorney for the past eight years. She has taken some of the most difficult cases on behalf of domestic violence victims and at-risk children.

“I cannot say enough positive things about Ms. Coates. Our clients have benefited enormously from her outstanding representation. We are lucky to have her,” says Sara Tennen, Executive Director at Volunteer Legal Advocates.

Prior to her role at her current firm, Ms. Coates was a Partner and Co-Chair of DMV Family Law Practice Group at Cipriani & Werner, P.C. and a Litigation and Family Law Partner at Paley Rothman. She has also served as a staff attorney with Maryland Legal Aid Bureau and clerked for a judge in Arizona. From 2019 to present, Ms. Coates has been designated as a Top Family Law Attorney by Washingtonian and Bethesda Magazines. Ms. Coates graduated from Smith College and Hamline University School of Law. She is also a certified mediator.

Hal Brewster is a Practice Group Manager at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP. Hal holds a bachelors and JD from Georgetown University and a masters in public affairs from Princeton University. Hal has been a volunteer with Volunteer Legal Advocates since 2015. Before law school, Hal spent four years serving as an active duty Army officer and deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Annette M. Stanley is intrigued by our human capacity to engender fairness, equality, and equity. Annette believes that we all recognize how fairness, equality, and equity can transform lives, communities, companies, and cultures, and how modeling these behaviors can create a new and positive dynamic. As a Principal at Gaillard Consulting, Annette looks to serve clients that allow her to stand in this truth and imbue these elements in the work that she does.

Before joining Gaillard Consulting, Annette held management positions in the chemical, pharmaceutical, and airline industries. She has consulted with and been a thought-partner to senior-level executives at numerous global firms, government agencies and non-profit institutions, including Pfizer, Southwest Airlines, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Columbia University, and the Ministry of Education in Lima, Peru. Annette was also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland, where she taught the capstone course in Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Alongside her work with Gaillard Consulting, Annette engages in various activities and forums that seek to uplift underserved communities. In this capacity, she has served on the Board of Directors to the YWCA-NCA. She is currently an advisor to Aspiring Women Now, an organization dedicated to empowering girls and women.

Annette has practitioner certifications in Change Management (Prosci) and Essential Facilitation (Interaction Associates). She has certifications in diversity, equity and inclusion, as well in design thinking. Annette has an MBA in Finance and an MA in International Affairs from Columbia University. Annette’s BA in Biology was conferred by Hampton University. Annette has also completed some graduate work in neurobiology, psychopharmacology, and non-profit management.

In her downtime, Annette enjoys the challenge and sereneness of sailing. Sailing lets her mind, body, and spirit imagine infinite possibilities and fulfills her sense of wanderlust.

Jessica Abrahams is a Partner at Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP where she provides comprehensive counsel to U.S. and international clients relating to contracting, regulatory compliance and dispute resolution in their business dealings with U.S. and foreign governmental entities. She serves as a trusted adviser to companies working across a broad range of industries, including aerospace and defense, transportation, information technology, telecommunications, health care, biodefense and professional services. She also is recognized for her extensive knowledge of the AbilityOne® Program, among the largest sources of employment in the United States for individuals who are blind or have significant disabilities. Jessica also advises government contractors on global compliance, including supply chain and risk mitigation techniques across the entirety of the business life cycle. Ms. Abrahams graduated from Wellesley College and Case Western Reserve University School of Law..

Matt Cohen is a Director & Associate General Counsel at Meta, where he leads a team responsible for counseling business groups on compliance with global anti-corruption laws and administering Meta’s anti-corruption compliance program. Matt joined Meta from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, where he worked as a Director & Managing Counsel, Anti-Corruption in HPE’s Ethics & Compliance Office. Before moving to the private sector, Matt served as an Assistant Chief Litigation Counsel at the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, as an Associate Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, and for over ten years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia. Earlier in his career, Matt worked as an associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and clerked for a United States District Court judge in the Eastern District of Virginia. Matt received his B.A. with distinction from the University of Virginia, and he received his J.D. from William & Mary School of Law, where he was an Articles Editor on the Law Review. Matt also has volunteered with Volunteer Legal Advocates, serving as a guardian ad litem in the Child Advocacy Program, and he previously served on the Committee on Grievances for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Alexis Collins is Vice President and Associate General Counsel at Amazon. In 2001, Alexis joined Cleary Gottlieb. Her practice at Cleary focused on complex civil and antitrust litigation, criminal and regulatory enforcement matters, and cybersecurity. In 2003, she joined the U.S. Department of Justice, where she served in numerous positions for more than a decade. She returned to Cleary Gottlieb as a senior attorney in 2015 and became a partner in 2019.

Phil Hurst is an Assistant General Counsel at Capital One, where he advises senior leadership and the business teams responsible for emerging payments, platforms, and commercialization. Prior to his current role, Phil was counsel for Capital One’s Card data sciences teams, where he helped his clients navigate legal issues applicable to applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Phil joined Capital One from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, where his practice focused on commercial litigation, internal investigations, and regulatory enforcement. Before Cleary, Phil served as a law clerk in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Earlier in his career, Phil worked as a Fellow for U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown. Phil received his J.D. cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School and his B.A. from Miami University. Phil has a long-standing commitment to pro bono work, and he has represented victims of domestic violence, as well as refugees seeking parole and asylum, doctors opposing solitary confinement, and the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide.

Heather Lamberg is a partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. She has experience handling worldwide internal investigations of cartel activity. She frequently represents companies and individuals in criminal cartel cases before the Department of Justice. Heather has launched Cartel Digest, a website that monitors international cartel enforcement and frequently counsels and speaks on anti-cartel compliance. In addition to antitrust litigation, Heather also represents clients in a variety of commercial litigation and arbitration matters, including bankruptcy cases, contract disputes, false advertising cases, judgment enforcement matters, and foreign corrupt practices act investigations.

David Last is a partner at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in the White Collar Criminal Defense and Investigations practice group. David’s practice focuses on government and internal investigations, including defending companies and individuals in a wide range of high-stakes domestic and international enforcement actions with a particular focus on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) matters. Prior to joining Cleary, David served as a federal prosecutor with the Department of Justice for 17 years, most recently as the Chief of the FCPA Unit at the DOJ, where he led a specialized group of prosecutors who investigated and prosecuted violations of the FCPA and other corruption-related offenses. For over a decade, David also served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C., where he investigated and prosecuted a wide variety of white-collar criminal cases and violent crimes, including those involving domestic violence, child abuse, and sexual offenses. David also served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Joan Zeldon of the D.C. Superior Court. David received his B.A. from Brandeis University and his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Ms. McDuffie is a Supervisory Community Supervision Officer in the Domestic Violence Unit at the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency in Washington, DC. She has spent years advocating for domestic violence survivors, both professionally and as a volunteer. She currently serves as a Commissioner for Women through the Mayor’s Office on Women’s Policy and Initiatives which fosters economic and social equity for women. She is also a board member at Imagination Stage and volunteers with the District Alliance for Safe Housing (DASH), which provides housing and services for survivors of domestic violence. Ms. McDuffie is looking forward to sharing her experiences working with batterers, victims and the court system to enhance Volunteer Legal Advocates’ programs.

Margarita (Maggie) Prieto has been an advocate for marginalized and underrepresented communities in Washington D.C.  A lawyer by training, Maggie began her career as a Skadden Fellow, working with Ayuda, Inc where she advocated for clients in immigration matters. After her fellowship, Maggie worked in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, Disability Rights Section.  She has served on the Boards of Directors of the Latin American Youth Center and the Rosemount Center, a dual-language early childhood education center located in the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Mary’s Center, a  community health center serving patients and clients in the D.C. metro area. Maggie holds an undergraduate degree from Stanford University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Steve Raptis is Counsel at Reed Smith LLP, where he is a member of the Insurance Recovery Group practice. Steve has a long-standing commitment to pro bono work, and has represented victims of domestic violence for more than two decades, as well as victims of human trafficking, clients with developmental disabilities, and African-American farmers subject to discriminatory loan practices. His private practice focuses on resolution of complex insurance claims on behalf of commercial policyholders, as well as counseling clients regarding a broad range of insurance-related issues. Before joining Reed Smith, Steve worked at major law firms in D.C. and Pittsburgh. Steve earned his B.A. and his J.D. from West Virginia University.

Kamil Shields is a partner in Sullivan & Cromwell’s Litigation Group. Her practice focuses on investigations and regulatory enforcement proceedings involving cybercrime matters, public corruption, and bank and wire fraud. Ms. Shields rejoined Sullivan & Cromwell in 2019 from the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, where she served as an Assistant United States Attorney in both the Cyber Crime and Fraud and Public Corruption sections. In her capacity as an Assistant United States Attorney, Ms. Shields served as lead prosecutor in 13 jury trials, investigated and indicted dozens of cases, drafted and argued procedural and substantive motions, worked with expert witnesses, and coordinated with victims of fraud and other crimes. Prior to her government service, Ms. Shields was an associate in Sullivan & Cromwell’s New York office, where she focused on complex financial litigation and investigations. While an associate at S&C, Ms. Shields was recognized as a “Rising Star” by New York Super Lawyers (2013, 2014). Ms. Shields received her B.A. from Harvard University and her J.D. from Yale Law School.

Ilene Weinreich started volunteering with Volunteer Legal Advocates in 2015. Since that time, she has represented domestic violence clients in protection order cases and family court matters and has also helped staff Volunteer Legal Advocates’ remote and community-based clinics. More recently, Ms. Weinreich has served as a Guardian ad litem in Volunteer Legal Advocates’ Child Advocacy Program. Ms. Weinreich began her legal career as an associate at Wiley Rein and has worked as an attorney at Victim Legal Services of DC. She is an experienced educator and has been involved with a variety of education non-profit organizations. Ms. Weinreich received her B.A. from Cornell University, her J.D. from Duke University, and a Master in Education from George Washington University.

Sara Tennen oversees the entire programmatic, operations, and development functions of Volunteer Legal Advocates, ensuring ongoing programmatic excellence, rigorous evaluation, and consistent quality of finance and administration, fundraising, and communications. She leads strategic outreach to law firms and community partners, and works with our Director of Development to oversee fundraising efforts. She started her legal career as a prosecutor with Maricopa County Attorney’s Office in Arizona, where she prosecuted sex crimes against children. Sara later practiced family law in Arizona, Maryland, and the District. Sara has served as a court appointed guardian ad litem on behalf of numerous children in DC Superior Court. Ms. Tennen serves on the Superior Court Domestic Relations Branch Subcommittee and was a member of the Best Practices in Child Testimony Task Force, alongside other legal services providers and Superior Court Judges. She has extensive litigation experience questioning experts, dealing with foundational issues in trial, and interviewing children, both inside and outside the courtroom. Ms. Tennen, a trained mediator and forensic interviewer, earned a law degree and a Master’s degree in Social Work from Case Western Reserve University and a B.A. in Psychology and Women’s Studies from the University of Rochester.