June 24, 2008
Lisa Nichelle Pitts
Fisk University, B.A. '89
Case Western Reserve University School of Law, '98
Birthplace: Far Rockaway, New York
Current home: Far Rockaway, New York
Inspired by her mother to attend a historically black college, and recommended by her high school English teacher, Lisa Pitts came to the Nashville campus from a private boarding school in Ohio. Wanting to become an attorney, she majored in political science, believing it would offer the best foundation for her eventual career in law.
She joined Delta Sigma Theta sorority, and served as vice president of student government. Of Fisk, she says, "It was a place where I was nurtured, intellectually stimulated, and a place where I soared. I enjoyed all my classes and my professors." She graduated magna cum laude in 1989 and was a member of the W.E.B. DuBois Honor's Club.
She began work in the U.S. attorney's office in New York City. A visit to Cleveland and to the Case School of Law to meet her supervisor's father, a law professor, led to serious thought about attending the law school. "I was working in the legal arena and I knew I wanted to practice criminal defense and rid injustice everywhere. Law school was challenging, but I was grateful to be a Case student because of the school's reputation, prestige, and resources."
With her juris doctorate in 1998, Ms. Pitts sought a position where she believed she could assist people who needed legal services the most. She recalled her involvement as a teen in the protest marches against Apartheid. "I was tired of being a foot soldier. Law was my way to get involved."
She is a staff attorney with the Legal aid Society in Brooklyn, New York. In her few years as an attorney, she has litigated ten cases, losing only one. She remains inspired in her quest to meet the challenge of injustice head-on.
Posted by: Heidi Cool June 24, 2008 10:58 AM
Category: Alumni
, Legacy
, School of Law