
Court of Appeals
Staff Biographies
Aletheia V.P. Allen, Chief Appellate Attorney
Aletheia grew up in Packer Country where winters are cold and cheese is plenty. She moved to Bears Nation for college, graduating from the University of Chicago with a bachelors degree in the humanities major, Law, Letters & Society (a/k/a pre-law). A couple years...
Michelle Haubert, Supervising Appellate Attorney
Michelle received an undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of New Mexico and graduated from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 2005. Following graduation, Michelle was an associate attorney with Hinkle, Hensley, Shanor & Martin,...
Cyndi Madrid, Supervising Appellate Attorney
Cyndi was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. She received her undergraduate degree in Political Science from Texas State University and her Master of Public Affairs from the University of Texas Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. She graduated from the...
James Mahlum, Associate Staff Attorney
Jim was born and raised in Minnesota. He graduated in English and environmental studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He then worked as an intern for Senator William Proxmire in Washington, D.C. before heading to Alaska. In May 1990, Jim graduated from the...
Rebecca Montaño, Associate Staff Attorney
Lucy A. Curry, Associate Staff Attorney
Lucy was raised in Shaker Heights, Ohio. She earned her undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Colorado at Boulder and graduated summa cum laude from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. Inspired by her public service work for a nonprofit law...
Jennifer Byrns, Associate Staff Attorney
Jenny grew up in Colorado and received her undergraduate degree in Anthropolgy from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1996. She received her law degree, magna cum laude, from Notre Dame Law School in 2002, where she served on the Notre Dame Law Review and...
Eric Shimamoto, Associate Staff Attorney
Eric received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Missouri at Kansas City in 2003 and 2006. Following graduation, Eric clerked for the Honorable Ronald R. Holliger at the Missouri Court of Appeals. After his clerkship, he maintained a commercial...
Katharine Peña, Associate Staff Attorney
Stephanie L. Latimer, Associate Staff Attorney
Ellen Venegas, Associate Staff Attorney
Ellen received an undergraduate degree in Sociology from the University of Minnesota. In 2013, she graduated from Mitchell Hamline School of Law (formerly William Mitchell College of Law), summa cum laude. Following graduation, Ellen practiced Indian law and tribal...
Seth McMillan, Associate Staff Attorney
Seth was born and raised in New England. He obtained a B.A. in Geology from Amherst College in 1997, moved to New Mexico the same year, and worked in the sciences prior to attending law school. In May 2007, Seth graduated from the University of New Mexico Law School,...
Courtney Schumacher, Associate Staff Attorney
Courtney graduated magna cum laude with a B.S.M. from Tulane University in 2007. While there, Courtney majored in Marketing, Consumer Behavior, and Psychology. She received her law degree, cum laude with exceptional service honors, from American University Washington...
Amanda Miera, Assistant Staff Attorney
Amanda was born and raised in New Mexico and obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of New Mexico in 2014. She received her law degree, summa cum laude, from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 2018. After graduation, Amanda clerked for the...
Kathryn Jochems, Assistant Staff Attorney
Kathryn received an undergraduate degree in Art History from the University of Illinois in 2010 and a master’s degree in Art History from Northern Illinois University in 2013. Kathryn discovered her appreciation for the law while completing her master’s thesis on the...
Geri Chavez, Administrative Assistant
Geri is a native Santa Fean. She has an Associates Degree in Paralegal Studies. She joined DACA in January 2003.