Elizabeth Kelley

Elizabeth Kelley
Nationality	American
Occupation	Criminal defense attorney, editor
Known for	Nationwide criminal defense practice representing people with mental disabilities; editor of American Bar Association practice guides on defending clients with mental disabilities, autism, and dementia
Alma mater	Mills College; University of Chicago; Case Western Reserve University School of Law
Website	https://www.elizabethkelleylaw.com/

Elizabeth Kelley is an American criminal defense attorney whose nationwide practice is focused on representing people with mental disabilities. She is a longtime board member and life member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and the editor of a series of American Bar Association guides on defending clients with mental disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, and dementia.

Early life and education

Kelley is a fourth-generation resident of Spokane, Washington, and comes from a family of attorneys. Her father, Jon F. Kelley, was a Spokane attorney who died in 2003. Her ancestors were among the founders of Witherspoon Kelley, a longtime Spokane law firm established in the 1880s.

She graduated from Ferris High School in Spokane and earned an undergraduate degree in English and French from Mills College in Oakland, California, spending summers studying at Oxford University in England and at Paris-Sorbonne University in France. She went on to complete a master's degree in English literature at the University of Chicago before earning her Juris Doctor from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Cleveland in 1993.

Legal career

After law school, Kelley initially maintained a solo practice in Cleveland handling civil matters, before moving into criminal defense following a referral from the bench. Over time she developed a practice concentrated on defendants with mental disabilities and built a national clientele, with other attorneys retaining her as a consultant on cases involving such clients.

Kelley operates a solo practice, Elizabeth Kelley, Attorney at Law, and represents clients in state and federal courts across the country. Her firm describes a nationwide practice that has appeared in more than 25 jurisdictions, in courts ranging from Anchorage, Alaska, to Naples, Florida, with offices on both the East Coast in New York City and the West Coast in Spokane, Washington. Because much of her work is outside her home jurisdiction, she frequently appears through pro hac vice admission.

Her practice addresses clients living with a range of conditions, including autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disabilities, bipolar disorder, major depression, schizophrenia, dementia, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, and postpartum depression.

Reported matters in which Kelley has served as defense counsel include the case of Devlyn Thompson, a client with autism spectrum disorder who was prosecuted in connection with the January 6, 2021, breach of the United States Capitol and sentenced to a federal prison term; a homicide case in Ohio involving a client with bipolar and schizoaffective disorders; and a Florida homicide case involving a client with bipolar disorder.

Advocacy and professional service

Kelley has been active in bar leadership and disability-focused legal advocacy. She served three terms on the board of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, where she chaired the organization's Mental Health and Membership committees and is a life member. She has also served on NACDL task forces addressing problem-solving courts and body cameras.

Within the American Bar Association, Kelley has served as a vice chair of the Criminal Justice Section Council, on the editorial board of the section's magazine, and as an editor of the ABA publication The State of Criminal Justice. She has served as co-chair of the ABA Commission on Disability Rights and as co-chair of The Arc's National Center on Criminal Justice and Disability. She has additionally served as a non-governmental observer for the ABA at military commission hearings at Guantanamo Bay.

Kelley is a frequent speaker to attorneys and judges on representing people with mental disabilities, and her advocacy work extends internationally. In 2023 she was named a Fulbright Scholar. In 2026 she served as a Stephen Brogan-Jones Day Legal Fellow and visiting scholar at the Centre for Asian Legal Studies at the National University of Singapore, where she was in residence to help organize educational programs for legal professionals.

Writing and media

Kelley is the editor of a series of practice guides published by the American Bar Association for criminal defense lawyers representing clients with particular conditions. The series includes Representing People with Mental Disabilities: A Practical Guide for Criminal Defense Lawyers (first edition 2018; second edition 2024), Representing People with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Practical Guide for Criminal Defense Lawyers (2020), and Representing People with Dementia: A Practical Guide for Criminal Defense Lawyers (2022).

She hosts the podcast Mental Disabilities and the Criminal Justice System, in which she interviews judges, mental health professionals, parents, and advocates about representing defendants with mental disabilities. The program is distributed on platforms including Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, and iHeartRadio. She has also appeared as an autism specialist in documentary media on the subject.

White Collar Conference

In 2024, Kelley was a panelist on a session titled "Out of Isolation" at the White Collar Conference, where she spoke about dignity in the justice system.