Elizabeth Ames

Elizabeth Ames

Elizabeth Ames is a civil rights lawyer who has focused her legal career on the abuses caused by the entirety of our criminal system. Elizabeth joined Pfeiffer Rudolf to help pursue civil rights suits on behalf of individuals wrongfully prosecuted, convicted, and incarcerated.

Before joining Pfeiffer Rudolf, Elizabeth clerked for the Seventh Circuit Staff Attorney’s Office in Chicago for two years. There, she advised all Seventh Circuit judges in their rulings on criminal and civil rights appeals, with a focus on civil rights cases filed by incarcerated individuals. As a Staff Attorney, Elizabeth studied the judges’ approaches to these issues, giving her a unique perspective that informs her advocacy on behalf of her clients.

In law school, Elizabeth cultivated her passion for protecting the rights of people in prison and working towards decarceration. She advocated for better treatment and education for children with disabilities in Illinois’s juvenile detention centers, represented LGBTQ+ people arrested and imprisoned in civil rights suits against various police departments and the Illinois Department of Corrections, and assisted in a class-action lawsuit against the Chicago Police Department for their brutality against protestors in 2020. She also provided legal advocacy services to activist organizations in Chicago fighting against racist police practices and represented several individuals seeking to have their lengthy prison sentences commuted by the Governor. Throughout this work, Elizabeth has found that her favorite part of being a lawyer is speaking with and learning from her clients, and believes it is one of life’s greatest honors to be entrusted with advocating for her clients as they navigate our unjust and inhumane criminal system.

Outside of work, Elizabeth loves to practice yoga and is a certified yoga instructor. She also enjoys hiking and camping with her husband, teaching her cat new tricks, and being an unwavering supporter of the Toronto Maple Leafs.