Allie Horwitz joined AARP Foundation Litigation as an Attorney in 2023. Allie previously served as a public defender in Maryland and New Hampshire, where she zealously defended hundreds of individuals accused of crimes, litigating all stages of their cases, including bail hearings, motions hearings, trials, and appeals. She was also a Fellow at AARP Foundation where she worked on cases involving housing discrimination, voting rights, and retirement benefits. Prior to her work as a Fellow, Allie was a Law Clerk for Justice Richard Bernstein on the Michigan Supreme Court. Allie holds a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School, where she received the Jane L. Mixer Award for her contributions to advancing social justice and where she was a managing member of the Michigan Journal of Race & Law. She received her B.A. from Amherst College in psychology. She is fluent in Spanish. *Admitted to practice in New Hampshire and Maryland. Not yet admitted in the District of Columbia. Practice is supervised by members of the D.C. Bar.
Contact Allie: ahorwitz@aarp.org
Ali Naini
Ali Naini joined AARP Foundation Litigation after a career in the District of Columbia Attorney General’s Office and the non-profit organization Mobilization for Justice (formerly “MFY”).
Ali, who speaks English, Farsi, and Turkish, has shown a keen interest in public policy since his early days at the University of Virginia, researching microfinancing in Cairo and later working with the Harlem Children’s Zone on health, financial, and housing projects.
In law school, he served as managing editor of the George Washington Law Review. He then earned his litigation spurs in a three-year stint at the D.C. Attorney General’s Office. He won 4 of 4 jury trials and 21 of 24 court motions, handling a wide variety of litigation tasks relevant to AFL’s work. In 2016, he again chose public interest work, serving as senior staff attorney at MFY’s Foreclosure Prevention Project in New York City. There, he tirelessly represented low-income clients facing loss of their homes, handling individual cases, lobbying for reforms, and first-chairing a trial.
Contact Ali: anaini@aarp.org
Lauren Naylor
Lauren Naylor joined AFL after seven years at a plaintiffs’-side employment law firm representing federal and private sector employees in complex discrimination and retaliation matters. Lauren has represented employees before administrative bodies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and in state and federal court. Lauren holds a B.A. in political science and public administration from Rhode Island College. She earned her J.D. from George Washington University Law School where she received the Ogden W. Fields Graduate Award for Excellence in Labor Law.
Contact Lauren: lnaylor@aarp.org
Julie Nepveu
Julie Nepveu is a Senior Staff Attorney at AARP Foundation Litigation. She advances the interests of older people nationwide in the areas of access to courts, consumer protection, mortgage and reverse mortgage servicing and foreclosure defense, fair housing, disability rights, and public utilities. Her work includes litigating cases, filing amicus briefs, and drafting comments on proposed federal regulation and legislation, and providing support to AARP state office staff. Julie previously worked as Staff Attorney at the National Lawyers’ Committee For Civil Rights Under Law in the Housing and Community Development Project. Prior to that, she represented low income and subsidized tenants at Legal Services of Northern Virginia. Julie also served as a judicial law clerk at the U.S. Claims Court to the Hon. Thomas J. Lydon. Julie earned her BA from the University of Vermont and her JD from the University of Maine School of Law. The Maine State Bar Association honored Julie with its Pro Bono Award in 1991.
Contact Julie: jnepveu@aarp.org
Rebecca Rodgers
Rebecca Rodgers joined AARP Foundation Litigation after ten years at Disability Rights Advocates, where she litigated complex disability rights class actions related to access to health care, emergency preparedness, transportation, and public programs and services. Her representative cases include lawsuits against the Metropolitan Transportation Authority challenging their failure to make the New York City subway system accessible for people with mobility disabilities. Rebecca received her J.D. from The George Washington University Law School and her B.A. in art history from The George Washington University. She currently serves as the chair of the New York City Bar Association’s Disability Law Committee.
Contact Rebecca: rrodgers@aarp.org
Sébastien Monzón Rueda
Sébastien Monzón Rueda came to AFL after four years as a Staff Attorney in the Tenant Advocacy and Support Practice at Legal Counsel for the Elderly (LCE) where he represented older adults with low to moderate income in housing-related cases before the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He also litigated reasonable accommodation cases and discrimination claims before administrative bodies, such as the D.C. Housing Authority and the Office of Administrative Hearings. Sébastien received his J.D., cum laude, from the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law (UDC Law) and his B.A. from the University of British Columbia. He clerked for the Honorable Tyrona De Witt and the Honorable Diane Lepley at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Sébastien is a Board Member of the Washington Council of Lawyers—the public interest bar association for DC—and serves as Co-Chair of its Advocacy Committee. He is fluent in Spanish.
Contact Sébastien: smonzonrueda@aarp.org
Stefan Shaibani
Stefan Shaibani is an alumnus of Stanford Law School, a former Law Clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and a former Trial Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, Commercial Litigation Branch. Mr. Shaibani is an attorney at the AARP Foundation Litigation, where he represents plaintiffs in disability, consumer, and employment class actions.
Prior to joining AARP Foundation Litigation, Mr. Shaibani operated a solo and small firm practice for 16 years representing plaintiffs in automobile negligence, premises liability, first-party insurance, and business tort cases in the DC metropolitan area. In this capacity, Mr. Shaibani conducted bench and jury trials, depositions, mediations, and worked with expert witnesses in fields such as orthopedics, neurosurgery, neurology, pathology, oncology, vocational rehabilitation, economics, accident reconstruction, and premises security. Mr. Shaibani has represented many indigents, disadvantaged and elderly clients who sustained harms and losses by the negligence of individuals and corporations defended by casualty insurers.
Contact Stefan: sshaibani@aarp.org
Mary William
Prior to joining AARP Foundation, Mary worked as a housing attorney providing direct client services at both the Neighborhood Legal Services Program in Washington, DC and Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid in Minneapolis, MN. She has represented defendants in eviction cases concerning non-payment of rent, lease breaches. She also litigated affirmative cases on behalf of tenants who were locked out of their homes and/or seeking repairs. Prior to her work in housing litigation, she was an attorney at Rainbow Health (then known as Justus Health) in St. Paul, MN where she represented clients appealing the denial of social security benefits. Mary received a B.A. in international relations from the University of Rochester and a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School.
Contact Mary: mwilliam@aarp.org