Areas of Expertise: Litigation, Endangered Species Act, FOIA

Ellen Medlin Richmond is Defenders' General Counsel and Managing Attorney. As General Counsel, she counsels Defenders' leadership on nonprofit corporate and commercial issues, including governance matters, contract issues, risk management and compliance matters, and litigation practice issues. Her strategic and legal advice draws on years of experience in private practice advising corporations on a wide variety of commercial matters. As Managing Attorney, Ellen works with Defenders' Biodiversity Law Center to advance Defenders' conservation goals.

Ellen brings to the position fifteen years of experience across commercial and conservation law. She joined Defenders in 2021 and has built a practice making strategic use of administrative law to protect species and habitat, including through advocacy in the courts and before administrative agencies. For example, she is working to secure the future of iconic western wildlife such as the Canada lynx, gray wolf, and rare montane fox species.

Prior to joining Defenders, Ellen worked for seven years in private practice, where she counseled corporations--from startups to some of the nation's largest companies--on commercial law issues. She also maintained a vibrant pro bono practice; for example, while at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP in San Francisco, Ellen first-chaired two jury trials during a secondment to the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office and received a California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) award for a pro bono appellate victory. She began her litigation career as an associate attorney with the Sierra Club Environmental Law Program.

Ellen clerked for the Honorable Raymond C. Fisher on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She holds a J.D. from Stanford Law School, an M.S. from the Stanford Interdisciplinary Program on Environment and Resources, and a B.A. from Brown University.

Although still very fond of her native North Carolina, Ellen loves the West with the fervor of a convert. She spends her time outside work learning more about native plants and birds.