The Honorable Jeffrey Alker Meyer
U.S. District Court Judge
Project Youth CourtJudge Jeffrey Alker Meyer was sworn in as a United States District Judge on February 28, 2014. He graduated from Yale College in 1985, served as a Fulbright Scholar in Ecuador, and then graduated from Yale Law School in 1989. After graduating from law school, Judge Meyer served as a law clerk for Chief Judge James L. Oakes of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and for Associate Justice Harry A. Blackmun of the United States Supreme Court.
Read More Judge Meyer began his practice career in 1992 as a staff attorney with Vermont Legal Aid and later as a corporate litigator from 1993 to 1995 in Washington, D.C. From 1995 to 2004, Judge Meyer served as an Assistant United States Attorney with the United States Attorney’s Office in the District of Connecticut. He then served in New York from 2004 to 2005 as Senior Counsel to the Independent Inquiry for the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program in Iraq. From 2006 to 2014, Judge Meyer was a professor at Quinnipiac University School of Law, and from 2010 to 2014, he also served as a visiting professor at Yale Law School with the Yale Supreme Court Advocacy Clinic. Judge Meyer’s scholarship has focused on federal regulatory crimes as well as the extraterritorial application of United States law. His articles have appeared in the Georgetown Law Journal, the Minnesota Law Review, the Hastings Law Journal, the Pennsylvania Journal of International Law, and the Yale Journal of International Law. He presently co-teaches the Constitutional Litigation Seminar at Yale Law School. Read Less
Anthony Torres
Student Representative to the Board of Directors
Project Youth CourtI am 17 years old and a senior at High School in the Community. I serve as both an attorney and juror. I have been with PYC since 9th grade and I plan to continue with PYC as an adult volunteer once I graduate. PYC has given me many opportunities to be involved with the community and opened doors for my future. Our goal at PYC is to save the lives of juveniles and to give them a second chance after making a mistake.
Brianna Carmon
Student Representative to the Board of Directors
Project Youth CourtI am 17 years old and a senior at High School in the Community. I’ve been in Project Youth Court for 4 years now and I love it. I joined Project Youth Court because I wanted to make a difference with kids in my community; to let them have another chance at life. When they commit a crime they usually end up in jail but at Project Youth Court we give them another chance to succeed. We want all youth to achieve their dreams and I want to do what’s right and help others.
Remy Zimmermann
Retired Partner, Wiggin & Dana
Project Youth CourtJeremy (“Remy”) Zimmermann is a Youth Court volunteer and judge. He is a retired litigation partner of the Wiggin and Dana law firm. Since retirement he has taught products liability law as an adjunct professor at Quinnipiac University and the University of Connecticut law schools. He has also been certified as an arbitrator by the American Arbitration Association and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
Read More Remy was born and raised in New Haven, CT. He graduated from Hillhouse High School, Brown University and Georgetown University Law Center. He has lived in Branford, CT for more than 30 years. During his legal career, Remy tried more than 50 cases to verdicts in state and federal courts in disputes involving personal injury, employment termination, insurance coverage, legal malpractice, medical malpractice, product liability, price discrimination and breach of warranty. He has argued appeals before the Connecticut Appellate Court and Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the First and Second Circuits. Remy is a member of the New Haven County Bar Association and the Connecticut Bar Association and a past member of the American Bar Association, the Product Liability Advisory Council and the United States Supreme Court Bar. Read Less
Katie Self
Former President, National Association of Youth Courts
Project Youth CourtKatie Self was the executive director of Teen Court of Sarasota, Florida from 1989 to 2015. She was the first president of the National Association of Youth Courts from 2007 to 2009. She was also the first president of the Florida Association of Teen Courts and helped expand youth courts to 51 Florida counties
Read More The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention asked her to consult on a task force and the National Association of School Resource Officers has asked her to lead workshops for its members. In 2011, the Florida Bar Foundation awarded her their Medal of Honor in recognition of her service. Read Less
Laoise King
Education Policy Consultant
Project Youth CourtLaoise King is an Education Law and Policy expert with over fifteen years of experience in the practice of law, non-profit management, municipal government, legislative advocacy and education policy. Most recently, King served as Vice President of Education Initiatives at United Way of Greater New Haven where she was responsible for community investments, partnerships and programs related to education.
Read More King led the development and implementation of United Way’s education initiatives and agenda, including overseeing the expansion of the Boost! Initiative. King came to United Way after serving the City of New Haven in various capacities. She was Chief of External Affairs for New Haven Public Schools, Deputy Chief of Staff to Mayor John DeStefano, Jr., and Assistant Corporation Council for the City of New Haven. King previously prosecuted child abuse and neglect cases for the City and County of Denver and served as staff attorney for the National Association of Council for Children in Denver, Colorado. King received her Juris Doctor from University of Denver Sturm College of Law and her B.A. degree from University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is admitted to the Connecticut, New York and Colorado State bars. Read Less
Megan Ifill
Youth Court Parent
Project Youth CourtMegan Ifill is originally from Trinidad and relocated from Manhattan in 2001. She worked at McKinsey & Company as Technology Buyer and Project Teams member; consulted at Choate as IT Project Manager and worked 15 years in New York global corporations in company-wide systems administration and implementation. Read More Read Less Megan is currently in her third year serving on the Behavioral Health Advisory Council and second year on the Leadership Patient Experience Forum at YNHH. Megan is a member of the New Haven Citywide PTO and a parent leader at Teach Our Children.
Elizabeth Villarreal
Co-Founder and Law Student
Project Youth CourtElizabeth Villarreal is a third-year law student at Yale Law School and one of the original co-founders of Project Youth Court. At Yale Law School, Elizabeth is the student director of the Ethics Bureau, a legal clinic that assists in cases involving ineffective assistance of counsel, provides ethics counseling for public interest lawyers, publishes legal scholarship, and regularly submits amicus briefs, including to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Read More Her research interests include professional responsibility, empirical legal studies, and health law and policy. She’s also a volunteer for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program, the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), and the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) Project. Read Less
John M. Letizia
Partner, Letizia, Ambrose & Falls, P.C.
Project Youth CourtAttorney John Letizia is the Managing and Founding Partner of the workers’ compensation and employment defense firm of Letizia, Ambrose & Falls in New Haven, Connecticut. Attorney Letizia received his undergraduate degree from St. John’s University and his law degree in 1986 from Georgetown University Law Center.
Read More Attorney Letizia’s work includes employment law, healthcare and corporate counseling, mergers and affiliations, litigation defense, labor negotiations, arbitration, representation before the OSHA, DSS, DDS, DMHAS, EEOC and CHRO, personnel counseling, wage and hour audits, representation before the Federal and Connecticut Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board and Connecticut’s Supreme Court. Attorney Letizia is proud to serve on the Connecticut Bar Association’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, where he is on the Subcommittee for Education Programs. Attorney Letizia has received the Domestic Violence Services of Greater New Haven Legal Services Award for his pro bono work. He also received the Harbor Health Services Community Partner Award in honor of this work in the behavioral health community. Attorney Letizia is a volunteer Youth Court Judge which is a community based system that helps troubled inner-city youth. Finally, Attorney Letizia has been listed as a Super Lawyer in the areas of employment, workers’ compensation and healthcare law and was awarded the BV Distinguished Rating for very high Legal Ability & Ethical Standards by his fellow attorneys. Read Less
Joshua Feinzig
Co-Founder and Board Advisor
Project Youth CourtJosh co-founded Project Youth Court in the belief that restorative-based interventions can empower youth to become local leaders and build community trust. He has previously served on the New Haven Peace Commission, and has worked with various city and national governments on public interest project and legal reforms. Josh holds degrees from Yale and the University of Cambridge.
Contact Us
Jane Michaud
Executive Director
jmichaud@projectyouthcourt.org
Twitter @PYouthCourt
Mailing Address
Project Youth Court, Inc.
PO Box 9043
New Haven, CT 06532
Project Youth Court Thanks Our Partners
United Way, The Carolyn Foundation, The Foundation of the New Haven County Bar Association, New Alliance Bank, City of New Haven, New Haven Public Schools, Yale University, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, and Liberty Bank