Abigail K. Coursolle, Michelle Lilienfeld, Dipti Singh, Davida Silverman and Erin Armstrong, join NHeLP’s LA and DC offices
WASHINGTON D.C. – The National Health Law Program (“NHeLP”) has announced the addition of four staff attorneys to NHeLP’s growing ranks. The new hires come as health care services for low income individuals are increasingly threatened by state and federal budget cuts.
“We are thrilled and humbled by the addition of four accomplished attorneys to our practice,” said NHeLP Executive Director Emily Spitzer. “This is a time of uncertainty for Medicaid and other health care programs for low income people. Abigail, Michelle, Dipti, Davida and Erin will help NHeLP fulfill its mission to protect the rights of low-income and underserved people to access quality health care.”
Abigail Coursolle joins NHeLP from the Western Center on Law & Poverty. At the Center, she led a 58-county project to enforce safety net laws for low income Californians and worked to implement policy changes within administrative agencies in order to fully implement health programs for low income individuals. Her legal and policy experience includes summer law clerkships with the Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis; the law offices of Hadsell, Stormer, Keeny, Richardson & Rennick; and the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles. She received a B.A. with honors, summa cum laude, in Chinese language and literature from Yale University, a J.D. with honors from the UCLA School of Law, and a Masters in Public Policy with honors from the UCLA School of Public Affairs. Ms. Coursolle is fluent in Mandarin and will work out of NHeLP’s LA office.
Michelle Lilienfeld worked at Neighborhood Legal Services' Health Consumer Center of Los Angeles County (NLSLA) for eight years before joining NHeLP, first as a staff attorney and later as a supervising attorney. At NLSLA, she led attorneys and paralegals working on all aspects of health benefits law, especially health benefit programs such as Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, Medicare, and children’s health programs. Ms. Lilienfeld received her B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law. In 2005, she was selected as one of 12 scholars to the State Bar of California Access & Fairness Leadership Academy. Ms. Lilienfeld is fluent in Spanish and works out of NHeLP’s LA office.
Dipti Singh joins NHeLP from the Center for Reproductive Rights, where she served as a legal fellow. At the Center, Ms. Singh was a member of litigation teams that defended women’s rights to information about and access to comprehensive reproductive health care services. Her legal experience includes working as an associate at Williams & Connolly LLP and clerking for the Honorable Christina A. Snyder of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Ms. Singh received her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law and a B.A., summa cum laude, in political science from the University of California, Irvine. Ms. Singh is conversational in Hindi and will work out of NHeLP’s LA office.
NHeLP Reproductive Justice Fellow Davida Silverman has been promoted to staff attorney. Ms. Silverman joined NHeLP through the Georgetown University Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellowship Program and the Law Students for Reproductive Justice Fellowship Program. Prior to joining NHeLP, Ms. Silverman served as a student attorney at CUNY’s Elder Law Clinic and interned with the Honorable Bryanne Hamill in Kings County (Brooklyn) Family Court, the National Center for Youth Law, the Georgia Office of the Child Advocate and the ACLU of Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Project. Her professional work prior to law school centered on women’s rights, primarily domestic/sexual violence advocacy and reproductive justice. Ms. Silverman graduated with a B.S. in Political Science from Florida State University and a J.D. from the City University of New York Law School. She joins NHeLP’s DC office.
Erin Armstrong joined NHeLP in September as a Reproductive Justice Fellow. Prior to joining NHeLP, Ms. Armstrong was a clinical student in the East Bay Community Law Center’s Medical-Legal program, and held summer fellowships at both UCSF’s Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health and the Southwest Women’s Law Center, where she analyzed reproductive health care provisions in federal and state legislation and their impact on the women of New Mexico. Her professional work prior to law school included positions with the Society of Family Planning, the New Mexico Department of Health, and the Drug Policy Alliance. In addition to her professional activities, Ms. Armstrong is the past-president and current board member of the national board of directors of Law Students for Reproductive Justice, a former board member of NARAL Pro-Choice California Privacy PAC (ex-officio), and board member of the Pamoja Project. Ms. Armstrong is an alumnus of the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law and received her B.A., summa cum laude, in sociology and social welfare from the University of New Mexico. She is based in NHeLP’s DC office.
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Founded in 1969, the National Health Law Program works with and on behalf of limited-income people, people with disabilities, and children to improve their access to quality health care and to enforce their legal rights to health. NHeLP works with courts, government agencies, and Congress to ensure quality health care for the most vulnerable members of our society.