Executive Staff

Leslie Starr Heimov, Executive Director, has been with the Children’s Law Center of California (CLC) since 1992.  She began her legal career at CLC as a staff attorney, providing direct representation to parents and children in the dependency system, and later moved to a supervising attorney position. In 2004, Ms. Heimov became CLC’s first Policy Director, responsible for CLC’s legislative and policy agendas. In 2007, Ms. Heimov was named Executive Director and under her leadership, CLC expanded its programs to include representation of children in Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Placer counties utilizing a multidisciplinary model of representation. She has worked tirelessly to promote best practices for multidisciplinary legal representation and improve outcomes for children and their families in the child welfare system.

Susan Abrams is CLC’s Deputy Director. Ms. Abrams started in 2005 as an Equal Justice Works fellow and then worked as a staff attorney with a caseload of several hundred clients. She transitioned to focus on macro level policy work in 2011 and was responsible for developing and implementing CLC’s public policy priorities and legislative advocacy. Ms. Abrams has worked on over 20 pieces of legislation on such topics as extended foster care, relative placement, preserving sibling relationships and supporting young parents in foster care. She also managed the training program at CLC and provides child welfare related trainings throughout the state. Ms. Abrams co-founded and serves as Board President for Happy Trails for Kids, a non-profit that provides overnight summer camp for children in foster care. In her new role, Sue will expand her reach and advocacy targeting meaningful system reform and best practices. 

David Estep joined the Children’s Law Center of Los Angeles in 1994, serving first as a staff attorney representing both children and parents in juvenile dependency cases and subsequently working as writ attorney and attorney supervisor. In his current position, Mr. Estep primarily focuses on identifying areas for growth, improved practice, smarter more efficient practice and increased collaboration, consistency, and accountability.  He also participates in community partnerships within the greater Los Angeles child welfare community. Mr. Estep currently serves on committees working with community service agencies and tort representation for juvenile dependents while also assisting other court-appointed dependency law firms around the state.

Phyllis Stricklan joined Children’s Law Center in 1998 as a staff attorney where she was later promoted to Supervising Attorney, and in 2010, became Firm Director.  A Child Welfare Law Specialist, Ms. Stricklan’s many years of experience in dependency includes representing youth in the County of San Bernardino.  In addition to her legal background, she is also a Registered Nurse, and in that capacity she has been employed as a Head Nurse, Clinical Nurse Specialist and assistant professor of mental health nursing. Ms. Stricklan was honored as part of National Foster Care Awareness Month and the 2nd Annual Brightest Star Awards in 2012 as an “outstanding, unsung hero“  dedicated to serving the needs of abused, abandoned, and neglected children in a leadership capacity in the Inland Empire (San Bernardino & Riverside Counties) and Pomona Valley (Los Angeles County).  In 2017, Ms. Stricklan received the Game Changer Award from Project Fatherhood at the Children’s Institute, and in 2019, presented at The International Coalition for Children with Incarcerated Parents (INCCIP) at the University of Hudersfield in England. She serves on the Steering Committee of the Los Angeles County Eliminating Racial Disproportionality and Disparity workgroup. For the past several years, Ms. Stricklan has taught an educational program for family and friends of individuals with mental health conditions for the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI).

Roe Villalobos began her career at Alliance for Children’s Rights where she managed its Dependency Court Program and later became the Director of Intake and Social Services. In these roles, she advocated for Regional Center services, public benefits, special education services, and the rights of youth in foster care. She joined the CLC team in 1997 as a Social Work Investigator and in 2005 was promoted to Investigator Supervisor. More recently, she was a Program Supervisor overseeing CLC’s Peer Advocate Program and Transition Age Youth Program. In this role, she collaborated with stakeholders, judicial officers, and community advocates. She has presented at many conferences including Beyond the Bench, California Department of Social Services TAYCON, John Burton Advocates for Youth TAY Conference, and the California Coalition for Youth Empowerment Conference. Roe joined the Operations team in 2021 as the Associate Director of Operations. In her current role as Director of Operations, Roe works to ensure the smooth running of all aspects of the organization’s administrative functions including reviewing, analyzing, and evaluating business practices; implementing policies and procedures that improve day-to-day operations; and ensuring safe and welcoming work environments.

Stacie Hendrix has been practicing law since 2004. She first worked at Children’s Law Center from 2005 to 2008 as a trial attorney in CLCLA1. From 2009 to 2012, Ms. Hendrix served on the children’s conflict panel, and then spent three years working at a small plaintiff’s firm writing motions and other briefs. Ms. Hendrix returned full time to CLCLA2 in 2015, where she served as a trial attorney, coverage attorney, and then writ attorney. As a writ attorney for over five years, Ms. Hendrix summarized California Supreme Court and Court of Appeal cases, wrote emergency writs to the Second District Court of Appeal, and helped trial attorneys develop case strategies and make effective records for the court of appeal. In addition, Ms. Hendrix was the principal writer for the first ever amicus brief authored and filed by CLC, in the California Supreme Court case In re Caden C., in which the Court created the legal test for assessing the strength and quality of a parent-child relationship as the case moves toward creating permanency for children no longer in parental custody. Ms. Hendrix has also served on the Legislation and Training committees, has co-presented CLC’s New Attorney Training program for several years, and has helped create and present at numerous other attorney trainings. She was promoted to Firm Director of CLCLA1 in November 2022. Ms. Hendrix obtained her B.A. in Art History from U.C. Berkeley, and her J.D. degree from New York University School of Law. 

Brian Thompson is the Acting Director of Firm 2 at the Children’s Law Center of California. Mr. Thompson joined the CLC team in April 2004 as a trial attorney and in 2013 was promoted to supervising attorney. Brian has an extensive background in California juvenile dependency law and has over 10 years’ experience teaching trial skills and strategy at Whittier Law School as an adjunct professor. Brian is an active participant at CLC and leads the LA2 Care All unit. He also participates in the Dual Status/ Crossover Committee and Compassion Fatigue Committee. Brain regularly presents “Trial Skills for New Attorneys” at CLC, and most recently presented “Analyzing Nexus, Risk of Harm, and Removal in the time of COVID” for the attorneys at CLC. Prior to his work as an attorney, Brian taught elementary school for the Los Angeles Unified School District. He has played the piano and organ for more than 30 years.  

Nancy Sarinana joined CLC as a staff attorney in 2004 after graduating from Whittier Law School in 2003 where she was a fellow in the Center for Children’s Rights Program. Nancy became a Writ Attorney Supervisor in 2017 before being appointed to her current role as firm director. Nancy has spent the entirety of her legal career at CLC advocating for children and youth impacted by abuse and neglect. She is married and has three daughters. 

Princess Ramey has been with CLC for nearly 28 years. She previously served as an attorney supervisor, a role she has held since 2004. Princess has overseen the law clerk and extern program and was instrumental in CLC’s early outreach work, including event planning, donor development, and fundraising. In addition, she played a significant role in creating our Client Needs fund, which makes financial support available to address clients’ everyday needs that most of us take for granted. Princess also spent over a year on a special assignment where she served as the project manager for our Monterey Park headquarters’ vision, construction and design. Ms. Baltimore received her Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and received her law degree from Pepperdine University School of Law.