At Keller Postman, Elise’s practice focuses on antitrust, product liability, and consumer protection. She also works on pro bono criminal defense matters for the firm.
Before joining Keller Postman, Elise was a plaintiffs’ civil rights and criminal defense litigator in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she led twelve state criminal defense trials and one civil rights trial. Recently, she litigated a First Amendment case that is pending cert review before the United States Supreme Court.
Elise began her practice as a BigLaw general litigator in New York City at Kramer Levin, where she focused on white collar criminal defense; SEC and DOJ investigations; international arbitration; and pro bono bail reform, parole, clemency, and civil rights matters. She has also served as a state public defender and federal public defender in New Mexico as part of the federal Criminal Justice Act (CJA) Panel of appointed attorneys. She has briefed matters and argued twice before the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division and once before the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.
For over ten years, Elise consistently has been involved in civil rights advocacy, criminal defense, and restorative justice mediation. She has worked for eight different public defenders’ offices in three states. Additionally, she assisted five individuals facing potential life sentences in successfully securing parole. Elise has received multiple awards for her criminal, post-conviction, and restorative justice work. As a restorative justice mediator, she facilitated over 50 restorative family-group conferences for at-risk and criminally involved youth in Minneapolis, Minnesota and successfully diverted them from the criminal justice system. She has also litigated federal and state civil rights cases in New York and New Mexico concerning cruel and unusual punishment in prisons, police brutality, First Amendment violations, sexual assault in schools, gender discrimination, malicious prosecution, due process violations, false arrest, and unlawful retaliation.
Elise graduated with academic honors from Columbia Law School in 2017, where she was an articles editor for the Human Rights Law Review and served in leadership roles with the Suspension Representation Project and High School Law Institute. She also participated in the Latino/a Law Student Association Moot Court and the Challenging the Consequences of Mass Incarceration Legal Clinic. Elise earned her undergraduate degree, summa cum laude, from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, where she obtained a dual master’s degree in English and Linguistics. During her undergraduate years, Elise received multiple humanitarian and leadership awards, including the Delta Airlines National Leadership Award, Wendy Breen Kline Humanitarian Award, and Honors Fellows Research Grant Award.
Elise is licensed to practice law in the New York, New Mexico, and California.
"Over a decade ago, I attended law school so that could help give a voice, and power, back to those facing injustice at the hands of behemoth corporations and institutions—and I have stayed true to that goal throughout my legal career. As a mountaineer enthusiast, I thrive in situations where I’m faced with an enormous, daunting obstacle that I must confront and overcome head on, all while keeping a clear mind and without hesitation. I have trained myself to push the limits of my focus, resolve, and efforts to succeed in my mountaineering goals. The same holds true for the legal battles that I fight alongside my clients."