Lolita Fernandes is Staff Attorney and Program Manager of the Housing Rights program at ALC. Prior to joining ALC, Lolita worked at Bay Area Legal Aid as a Senior Staff Attorney in their Housing Preservation team that focused on the representation of subsidized housing tenants in unlawful detainer actions and administrative hearings. Lolita has provided trainings for law students, attorneys and housing providers in topics like eviction defense, and VAWA protections for survivors.
Lolita began her legal education in India and immigrated to the United States in 2010 and completed her LL.M. at the University of Southern California. Lolita then served several years as volunteer counsel with legal aid nonprofits before joining the Eviction Defense Collaborative as a Staff Attorney. She received the 2012 volunteer of the year award from Eviction Defense Collaborative and the 2016 pro-bono attorney of the year award from the California State Bar for providing direct legal services to low-income tenants in SF.