Our Team

 

Julia R. Wilson

Executive Director

Julia R. Wilson serves as the Executive Director of OneJustice and the Legal Aid Association of California (LAAC). As Executive Director of the sister organizations, she is responsible for leading statewide advocacy efforts on behalf of the legal services delivery system, undertaking multiple statewide strategic planning initiatives, and serving as the legal services community’s liaison to key access to justice partners.

Julia is active in numerous national and statewide collaborations relevant to OneJustice and LAAC’s work and received a 2010 CLAY (California Lawyer of the Year) Award from California Lawyer magazine for her work on the successful passage of AB 590 (Feuer), which created the Shriver Civil Counsel Act to increase representation for low-income Californians in civil matters affecting basic life necessities.

 

Salena Copeland

Directing Attorney

As LAAC's Directing Attorney, Salena oversees most of LAAC programs. This includes everything from supporting the board of directors through their bylaws revision process to visiting California state legislators as a member of the Bench Bar Coalition to helping to plan Pathways to Justice, one of the largest statewide conferences for legal services attorneys. Salena sees her role at LAAC as helping to make sure that the community connects with each other, even when they may not see a connection.

 

Salena is a 2007 graduate of Stanford Law School. While there, she was a clinical student at the Stanford  Community Law Clinic and interned at two Bay Area Public Defenders' offices. Prior to law school, she was an AmeriCorps volunteer literacy specialist at an elementary school in Austin, Texas, and a preschool coordinator at a family shelter in Menlo Park. 

 

Please contact Salena at scopeland@laaconline.org or at 415-834-0100 ext. 303.

 

 

Denise Watt

Program Coordinator

Denise joined LAAC in October 2009. As program coordinator, she works on a variety of LAAC projects, but her main focus is working on Model Approaches, a grant partnership to improve coordination among senior legal services providers. She enjoys working with member programs to ensure that they have access to LAAC membership benefits, such as discounts on Westlaw and Ethnic Bridge, a language line service.

 

Prior to LAAC, Denise worked at La Raza Centro Legal in San Francisco. She is originally from South Dakota, where she graduated with degrees in Spanish and journalism.

 

Patrick Fodell

Program Associate

Patrick Fodell joined LAAC in July of 2011 as LAAC's Program Associate. In his position he is responsible for coordinating state-wide conferences, trainings, and webinars for legal service providers and their advocates. He also maintains and updates CALegalAdvocates.org and administers one of LAAC's membership benfits: Essential Forms.

Prior to working at LAAC, Patrick worked at the Watsonville Law Center as their Outreach and Education Coordinator/AmeriCorps VISTA. His time at the WLC inspired him to stay in the legal services field even after his service with AmeriCorps ended. Patrick graduated from the University of Michigan in 2008 with a B.A. in Sociology and Spanish.