Talk Justice: Episode Forty Seven

Guest Speakers

Dori Rapaport is the Executive Director of Legal Aid Service of Northeastern Minnesota (LASNEM). Since 2017, Dori has led LASNEM through continuous transformation to effectively serve its 27,000 square mile region of Minnesota through use of technology, process improvement, and coordination with statewide justice partners.

Her passion for public interest law began while clerking for nonprofits such as the Minnesota ACLU and Standpoint while she attended Hamline University School of Law. She began her practice as a staff attorney at Indian Legal Assistance Program, a small but busy nonprofit in Duluth, Minnesota, that provides civil and criminal law services to the indigent and Native American communities. In 2011, Dori was hired as the Executive Director of the Volunteer Attorney Program (VAP), where she worked to revitalize the pro bono commitment of the private bar in the Northeastern region.

In 2020, Dori helped establish Minnesota’s statewide Reach Justice Project, where the Minnesota Legal Services Coalition received CARES Act funds to invest in technological initiatives, such as Minnesota’s Legal Kiosk Project. Dori currently serves on multiple statewide committees focused on access to justice, including serving as co-chair of Minnesota’s Civil Justice Committee, where she is currently working on initiatives that embrace virtual services and coordination with the courts to help legal aid continue serving more individuals than they have historically been able to, particularly in rural areas.

Dori has received recognition for her leadership and commitment to public service: the Bernard P. Becker Award from the Minnesota State Bar Association, (2016); a 20 Under 40 Honoree from the Duluth News Tribune (2014), and the Arthur T. Pfefer Memorial Award from the Twin Cities Cardozo Society (2008).

David T. Estep has served as a Staff Attorney for Legal Aid of West Virginia since 2013. David earned a bachelor’s degree from West Virginia University in 2010 and a J.D. from West Virginia University College of Law in 2013. He has always been passionate about providing legal services to advocate for the needs of West Virginians who needed a voice. Throughout law school, he positioned himself to work for his community by interning for Mountain State Justice and as a Student Attorney for the West Virginia Innocence Project. He joined LAWV immediately after passing the bar exam and is now a supervising attorney in the Princeton WV office overseeing the legal staff.

David’s passion is landlord-tenant law, and he will continue to advocate for clients with housing issues, as well as taking on family law clients.

Judge Jeanne Robison has served the Salt Lake City Justice Court since 2005. Prior to taking the bench, Judge Robison worked as an assistant city prosecutor for Salt Lake City from 1995 through 2005. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Brigham Young University in 1986 and a J.D. from the University of Utah College of Law in 1994. Judge Robison has been an adjunct professor for the University of Utah and University of Phoenix. She has served as a member of the Utah State Bar’s Needs of Children Committee and the Board of Directors of the Multi-Cultural Legal Center. Judge Robison currently serves as chair of the Justice Court Education Curriculum Subcommittee. She presides over cases referred through Passages, which is a collaborative restorative justice program. She is also the Presiding Judge for traffic matters for the Salt Lake City Justice Court, where she is working to reform practices on the issuance of warrants in traffic cases.