Faculty and Staff

Faculty

Prof. Debra Chopp (center) and Prof. Anne Schroth discuss the Pediatric Advocacy Initiative with a student.

Since joining the Law School in 1997, Professor Anne Schroth has been the principal faculty liaison to the Michigan Poverty Law Program, the state-supported legal services office operated jointly by Michigan Law and Legal Services of South Central Michigan. She has taught in a variety of clinical settings, including the Poverty Law Clinic, the Civil Clinic, and the Domestic Violence Clinic. Most recently, Prof. Schroth developed a new clinical course, the Pediatric Advocacy Clinic, in which students work in a medical/legal collaboration with pediatric health care providers to develop interdisciplinary strategies for improving the health outcomes of low-income children. She also has taught several non-clinical courses at the Law School, including the Domestic Violence Litigation Seminar and Access to Justice. Prior to joining the Michigan Law faculty, Prof. Schroth was a staff attorney with AYUDA in Washington, D.C., representing immigrant and refugee victims of domestic violence. She earned her BA from the University of Chicago, Phi Beta Kappa, and served as a student attorney and executive director of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau while earning her JD, cum laude, from Harvard Law School. After clerking for the Hon. Mary Johnson Lowe of the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York, she practiced as an associate with Bernabei & Katz in Washington, D.C.

Professor Debra Chopp has been teaching in the Pediatric Advocacy Clinic since 2007. Her legal practice focuses primarily on special education law and family law. Prior to joining the Pediatric Advocacy Clinic, Prof. Chopp was a staff attorney with the Pediatric Advocacy Initiative at Michigan Law. Prof. Chopp has represented survivors of domestic violence as an attorney for Sanctuary for Families: Center for Battered Women's Legal Services in New York and has lobbied Congress for improved highway safety laws as a legislative assistant at Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety in Washington, D.C. She earned her BA in political science from the University of Michigan and her JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Staff

Yasmina Assis is the supervising staff attorney at the Food Stamp Advocacy Project Immigrant Outreach Program at the PAI. Yasmina earned her JD from Washington University School of Law in Saint Louis. Prior to joining the Pediatric Advocacy Initiative, Yasmina volunteered at Legal Services of Eastern Missouri with the Immigration Law Project, where she focused on immigration law, helping to unify families through naturalization, adjustment of status proceedings, and petitioning for immigration relief as victims of crimes, including Violence Against Women Act self petitions and U-visas.

Kimara Thompson is the administrator and legal assistant of the Pediatric Advocacy Initiative. Prior to joining the PAI, Kimara worked for the University of Michigan Law School Child Advocacy Law Clinic. As the only support staff for the PAI, Kimara fills multiple roles, including orienting and supporting the law students and social work interns, supporting the faculty and staff attorney, conducting potential client intakes, communicating with medical provider partners on specific case referrals, and maintaining and monitoring the PAI case database. Kimara's prior experience with courts and attorneys included preparation of legal documents, working with court calendars, overseeing court filings, interacting with clients, and managing law office administration.

Contact Us

Pediatric Advocacy Initiative
University of Michigan Law School
701 S. State Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-3091
Phone: 734.763-1945
Fax: 734.764-8242
Email: pedlaw@umich.edu