Elizabeth Kelley is a criminal defense lawyer with a nationwide practice focused on representing people with mental disabilities. She is editor of Representing People with Mental Disabilities: A Practical Guide for Criminal Defense Lawyers (2018), Representing People with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Practical Guide for Criminal Defense Lawyers (2020), and Representing People with Dementia: A Practical Guide for Criminal Defense Lawyers (2022), all published by the American Bar Association (ABA). She also serves as a Vice Chair of the ABA Criminal Justice Council and the Editorial Board of Criminal Justice Magazine. She was appointed editor of the ABA's annual publication, The State of Criminal Justice. She served as co-chair of The Arc's National Council for Criminal Justice and Disability and the ABA's Commission on Disability. She served as a Non-Governmental Observer on behalf of the ABA at the Military Commission Hearings at Guantanamo.
Ms. Kelley served three terms on the board of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), chaired its Mental Health as well as Membership Committees, and is a Life Member. She served on the Problem-Solving Courts and Body Camera Task Forces. She traveled to Liberia in 2009 and 2014 as part of a delegation sponsored by the U.N. Commission on Drugs and Crime and NACDL to train that country's criminal defense bar.
Ms. Kelley speaks and writes widely on the subjects of the intersection of mental disabilities and the criminal justice system as well as on Attorney Wellness. She completed her 500 hour Yoga certification through Semperviva Studio in Vancouver, B.C.. http://www.elizabethkelleylaw.com @MentalHealthEsq