Kara Sheli Wallis ’15 (she/her) is a former public defender and civil rights litigator, who teaches courses in Civil Procedure and impact litigation, ethics and professional responsibility, and legal writing and client-centered lawyering skills, among others.
After graduating from CUNY Law, Kara was a staff attorney at Bronx Defenders, where she represented parents and caregivers in Family Court. In 2020, Kara then joined Florida Justice Institute’s 1983 practice. With Southern Poverty Law Center and Florida Legal Services as co-counsel, Kara primarily litigated class action challenges to Florida’s draconian use of solitary confinement in its state prisons. Prior to law school, Kara was a program and policy associate at Pregnancy Justice, a nonprofit focused on combating the criminalization of pregnancy and its outcomes.
Kara additionally holds an M.A. in Ethics and Society from Fordham University (’12), and a B.A. in Philosophy with Departmental Honors from Seattle University (’09).
Publications:
Kara S. Wallis, No Access, No Choice: Foster Care Youth, Abortion, and State Removal of Children, 18 CUNY L. Rev. 119 (2014).
Available at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/clr/vol18/iss1/7
Kara Sheli Wallis, Letters to the Editor: Finding the path toward dialogue around Israel’s war in Gaza, L.A. Times (Nov. 10, 2023)
Bar Admissions:
New York State; State of Florida; U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida.
