Champions for Justice

Lynette Labinger, Esq. LH'21

Lynette Labinger is a career civil rights litigator in Rhode Island. After completing a clerkship with U.S. District Court Judge Raymond Pettine, she worked in private practice with renowned civil rights attorney Milton Stanzler, and then for most of her career with her long-time law partner John M. Roney. She also served for 15 years as an Associate Judge and then Chief Judge of the Providence Housing Court. Since 2018, she has worked as a sole practitioner, limiting her practice exclusively to cases sponsored by the ACLU of Rhode Island.   

She has litigated a wide range of cases championing constitutional and civil rights.  Most notably, she represented the plaintiff class in a landmark Title IX sex discrimination case challenging the treatment of women athletes at Brown University and successfully challenged a local high school’s refusal to permit a male student to bring a male date to his senior prom. She also has litigated many other high profile civil rights cases in Rhode Island, including cases involving discrimination based on race, gender, age, disability, reproductive rights, and First Amendment rights. Currently, working on behalf of the ACLU of Rhode Island and along with attorneys from other organizations, she is litigating cases challenging the adequacy of behavioral health services provided by the State to Medicaid-eligible children and the legality of grant restrictions requiring that nonprofit organizations curtail or modify their activities, services, and statements to satisfy the current administration’s policy agenda. Lynette is also a founding member of the Lawyers Committee for Rhode Island, “a group of attorneys that has come together to hold the government accountable to the law, and protect people, groups and institutions in Rhode Island, by organizing an effective and rapid response by Rhode Island lawyers.” 

She has received numerous honors for her civil rights advocacy, including recognition in 2019 by the Roger Williams University Law Review as “Gender Equity Champion.” She holds an A.B. from Mount Holyoke College, a J.D. from New York University School of Law, and an honorary Doctor of Laws from Roger Williams University School of Law. 
 

Amy Greer, Esq. L'20
Associate Attorney, Dratel & Lewis

Amy E. Greer is an associate attorney at Dratel & Lewis. She is a member of Mahmoud Khalil's legal team, and one of the lead attorneys in a jawbone First Amendment suit against Columbia University, the House Committee on Education and Workforce, and the federal agencies. She has also recently served as a discipline defense advisor for students facing discrimination and disciplinary charges at Columbia University and Barnard College. Additionally, Amy assists in handling state and federal trial and appellate cases involving extradition, RICO, terrorism, drug trafficking, and sexual assault. She previously worked as an assistant public defender and as a research attorney for death-sentenced clients. Greer earned her J.D. from Roger Williams University School of Law in 2020, receiving the Public Interest Award. Admitted in NY, NJ, DC, and multiple federal courts, she has experience in capital defense and holistic representation. She holds a B.A. from Wheaton College, an M.A. in Theater and Performance Studies from the University of Pittsburgh, and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Library Science and Administration Science from Simmons College focused on race and policy in the United States. 

Rhode Island Supreme Court Access to Justice Office

Since its creation in 2021, the Rhode Island Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Office, under Attorney Tamera Rocha’s leadership, has worked in collaboration with departments across the Administrative Office of State Courts to pilot projects aimed at better understanding court users’ needs and providing resources to increase accessibility. The Office launched the Rhode Island Judiciary’s first Access and Fairness Survey as a means to measure court users’ perceptions of access to the courts and fairness within the courts and produced a comprehensive report, which the Judiciary is utilizing to inform future projects. From its inception, the Access to Justice Office has worked collaboratively to incorporate RWU Law students into the work of the Office. Students assisted with the Access and Fairness Survey and several law students have benefited from the Judiciary’s Access to Justice internship program. Most recently, at the end of 2024, the Office launched the Judiciary’s first court-based Resource Center at the Noel Judicial Complex, and RWU law students have volunteered alongside Center staff to help court users better access the courts.   

Tamera Rocha, Esq. 
Director, Rhode Island Supreme Court Access to Justice Office 

In October 2021, Chief Justice Paul A. Suttell appointed Tamera to serve as the Director of the Access to Justice Office at the Rhode Island Supreme Court.  In this role, she manages several key Access to Justice programs. Attorney Rocha oversees compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, compliance with state and federal laws applicable to language access services in state courts, and the expansion of services and resources for self-represented litigants.   

Attorney Rocha is an active member of the legal community, serving as a member of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island Court Advisory Council, co-chair of the Rhode Island Bar Association’s Government Lawyers Committee, and as a board member of the Rhode Island Women’s Bar Association and the Center for Mediation Collaboration Rhode Island.  She recently joined the board of the RI Center for Justice. 

Attorney Rocha graduated from Central Michigan University and the University of Toledo School of Law.  In her free time, she loves to travel and spend time with her husband Ernesto and two children, Ernesto Jr. and Audrianna.  Her favorite quote is, “The time is always right to do what is right” by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  

2026 Lynette Labinger, Esq. LH'21
2025 Michelle Alves, Esq. L’03, Chief of the Criminal Trial Division, Rhode Island Public Defender’s Office
2024 The Hon Christopher K. Smith L'07
2023 Robert B. Mann, Esq. LHD’15
2022 The Honorable O.Rogeriee Thompson'10HL
2020 Amato “Bud” DeLuca and Miriam Weizenbaum
2019 Robert J. McConnell, Esq., Motley Rice, LLC
2018 The Honorable Edward C. Clifton
2017 Stephen M. Prignano, Esq., McIntyre Tate, LLP
2016 The Honorable Judith Colenback Savage
2015 Linn Foster Freedman, Esq., Robinson + Cole

2026 Amy Greer, Esq. L'20 Associate Attorney, Dratel & Lewis
2025 Christine K. Castro, Esq. L’16, Women’s Law Project
2024 John Karwashan, Esq. L'15, Rhode Island Center for Justice
2023 Joy C. Dingle, Esq. L'03, Street Law, Inc.
2022 Akin Adepoju L '07
2020 Weayonnoh Nelson-Davies, Esq. L’07, Community Legal Aid
2019 Diana deGroof, Esq. L’03, Rhode Island Legal Services
2018 Luis Mancheno, Esq. L’13, The Bronx Defenders
2017 Swapna Yeluri, Esq. L’07, Homeless Persons Representation Project
2016 Dena Castricone, Esq. ’98 L’02, Murtha Cullina, LLP
2015 Deborah Gonzalez, Esq. ’04 L’07, Gonzalez Law Offices, Inc.

2026 Rhode Island Supreme Court Access to Justice Office presented to Tamera Rocha, Esq., Director
2025 Common Cause Rhode Island
2024 City of Central Falls, Rhode Island
2023 House of Hope CDC
2022 Rhode Island Legal Services, Inc.
2020 Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General
2019 Rhode Island Public Defender
2018 Barton Gilman, LLP
2017 Rhode Island Medical-Legal Partnership
2016 Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island
2015 Committee for Public Counsel Services