Brandon came to the Atlanta SELC office during the pandemic. He answers research questions for supervising attorneys, investigates environmental justice issues, and participates in strategy calls with SELC colleagues. Before joining the staff full time, Brandon was the 2020 Glynn D. Key Fellow and helped compile SELC’s Citizen’s Guide for Environmental Law and Justice. He interned with the Innocence Project New Orleans and helped exonerate a client. With the ACLU of Georgia, he set up a court watching program. Brandon grew up in Philadelphia and lived in New Orleans before moving to Atlanta. He graduated cum laude from Emory School of Law, where he gained pro bono experience working at the Turner Environmental Law Clinic as a student attorney, helping represent individuals, groups, and nonprofits seeking to protect and restore the natural environment and promote environmental justice.

Ms. Siragusa received her B.A. in psychology, cum laude, with minors in biology and human development from the State University of New York at Geneseo in 1991. Ms. Siragusa graduated cum laude from Syracuse University College of Law in 1994 where she served as a member on the Legislative Research Bureau and also received an American Jurisprudence Award for Excellence in Trial Advocacy. While attending law school, Ms. Siragusa interned at the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office and for the New York State Supreme Court. Prior to joining Brown & Tarantino, LLC, Ms. Siragusa was an Assistant District Attorney for Monroe County. As an Assistant District Attorney, Ms. Siragusa’s assignments included the Rochester City Drug Court and the Special Investigations Bureau. She also was on the Drug Task Force for the Town of Greece Police Department. Ms. Siragusa then served as a Principal Law Clerk for New York State Supreme Court Justice David Michael Barry. Ms. Siragusa is currently on the Board of Directors for Cobblestone Arts Center, an organization for mentally and physically disabled persons, and Best Foot Forward children’s theater. She is a past member of the Board of Directors for the Webster Youth Football Organization. Ms. Siragusa is an Attorney Representative for the Rochester Chapter of Youth and Government. She has been actively involved in coaching through Webster Youth Baseball, YMCA, Catholic Youth Organization, Northcoast Basketball and is currently an AAU Liason for Rochester Lady Royals Basketball. Ms. Siragusa participates in the Attorneys for Children Program which is dedicated to the provision of the highest quality of legal representation for children in many kinds of court proceedings (such as juvenile delinquency, custody and visitation and child protective proceedings) in the twenty-two counties comprising the Appellate Division Fourth Department. In 2014, Ms. Siragusa was honored as a recipient of the Honorable Michael F. Dillon Attorney For Child Award for her work in the Attorneys for Children Program. Additionally, Ms. Siragusa has served on fundraising committees for Our Lady of Mercy and McQuaid Jesuit High Schools. Additionally, Ms. Siragusa is a parent representative for Rochester Volleyball Club and a consultant for Paradigm Volleyball. Ms. Siragusa and Brown, Gruttadaro & Prato, PLLC, were named Best Criminal Defense Firm by Rochester Business Journal’s Reader Rankings in 2018 In 2021 and 2022, Ms. Siragusa was named to the Daily Record’s “Power 20” for Family Law from 2021 through 2023. Lisa has received Avvo’s Client Choice Award from 2019 through 2023, and has been consistently designated a Martindale-Hubbell “Client Champion” from 2019 through 2022.

Hezekiah Sistrunk Jr., is a National Partner and President of The Cochran Firm, founded by legendary trial lawyer Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. He is also Chairman of the National Firm's Executive/Management Committee and the Managing Partner of the Firm's Atlanta Office. Mr. Sistrunk's practice focuses largely on the litigation of complex disputes involving common law, statutory law, contract law, physician and hospital liability law, product liability law, commercial, corporate and business issues, catastrophic personal injury cases and class action/mass torts/pharmaceutical litigation. Over the course of his career, in fact, Mr. Sistrunk has prosecuted and defended hundreds of litigated matters before state courts, federal courts and administrative agencies and has tried over 100 cases to verdict.

Sivaraman Immigration Law's founder, Heather Sivaraman, brings an exceptional level of initiative, creativity and dedication to the practice of Immigration Law. A 2008 graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Law, she is an active member of the North Carolina State Bar, the North Carolina Bar Association, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the American Health Lawyers Association and the International Medical Graduate Taskforce. Her practice focuses exclusively on employment and family based immigration, with particular expertise in assisting clients in the healthcare and education sectors. Heather began her career in immigration law as an immigration attorney in a prominent NC immigration law firm. She has since successfully advocated on behalf of hundreds of individuals, families, and businesses before state and federal agencies on complex immigration matters. Her practice emphasizes helping highly-educated and skilled workers obtain U.S. legal status and facilitating companies’ compliance with laws regarding the employment of foreign nationals. She has also raised awareness of immigration issues through engagement with local schools and universities, mentorship of law students and new attorneys, and by serving as a guest lecturer on immigration at the University of North Carolina and North Carolina Central University. Heather has been chosen by peer review to appear in The International Who’s Who of Corporate Immigration Lawyers each year from 2011 to 2015, and in The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers in 2012 and 2013.Heather is regularly invited to speak to professional organizations, public and private employers, and immigrant interest groups nationwide. In 2015, Heather was a finalist and the sole immigration practitioner nominated for the Chapel Hill Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Under 40 Award. In 2021 Heather was selected as a Thought Leader by Who’s Who Legal and became a member of the AILA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee. In addition to her exceptional work on behalf of her firm and clients, Heather has also demonstrated an abiding commitment to improving immigration services and policies at state and national levels. She is a former Chair the North Carolina Bar Association Immigration Law Committee and, at the national level, Heather served as the Legislative Advocacy Chair for the Carolinas Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), a professional organization comprising more than 150 immigration lawyers in North and South Carolina. As a result of her legislative advocacy efforts, Heather has established a reputation as a fierce advocate for immigrant rights, one who vividly articulates the many contributions of foreign-born individuals to their U.S. employers and communities, thoughtfully discusses the challenges many immigrants face in acquiring legal status, and crafts thought-provoking responses to immigration-related questions and concerns raised by Congressional members and staff.