Our Expert Panel

Karen Tse - Founder and CEO

A former public defender, Karen first developed her interest in the cross section of criminal law and human rights as a Thomas J. Watson Fellow in 1986, after observing Southeast Asian refugees detained in a local prison without trial. In 1994, she moved to Cambodia to train the country’s first core group of public defenders and subsequently served as a United Nations Judicial Mentor. Under the auspices of the U.N., she trained judges and prosecutors, and established the first arraignment court in Cambodia.After witnessing thousands of prisoners of all ages being held without trials, usually after being tortured into making ‘confessions’, Karen founded International Bridges to Justice in 2000 to promote systemic global change in the administration of criminal justice. A graduate of UCLA Law School and Harvard Divinity School, Karen was named by U.S. News & World Report as one of America’s Best Leaders in 2007. She has been recognized by the Skoll Foundation, Ashoka and Echoing Green as a leading social entrepreneur. Karen was the recipient of the 2008 Harvard Divinity School’s First Decade Award, and the 2008 American Bar Association’s International Human Rights Award. She also received the 2009 Gleitsman International Award at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government

Kellie Krake

Kellie Krake was the IBJ Training Director from October 2010 to June 2012 who oversaw the creation, development and implementation of IBJ’s training programs, after decades in service to indigent defendants. As a career public defense attorney, Kellie fulfilled many roles: Staff Attorney; Manager; Trainer; Director of Training and Development; and General Counsel. Kellie has been on faculty at various advocacy and management programs for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy, National Legal Aid and Defender Association, University of Wisconsin Law School, the Wisconsin State Public Defender’s Office and Justice Without Borders. She trained professionals in criminal justice systems and governments on negotiation skills and strategies, advocacy skills, and leadership and management skills. She authored various articles related to legal practice areas and organizational governance issues. She is an adjunct professor of law at the University of Wisconsin Law School. Her outreach efforts with national, state and local legal associations work to build justice system partnerships and networks. Kellie is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School and Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government.

Carole Amselem

Carole has been living in Europe for several years even though she is originally from New York. After graduating from Benjamin Cardozo School of Law, she specialized in Criminal law, working at a criminal defense firm in Manhattan and then as an Assistant District Attorney in the Bronx. Although her career took a more corporate path when she left the U.S, her volunteer work at IBJ reminds her of why she became a lawyer in the first place. While at IBJ, Carole is involved in the e-learning project and lawyer trainings

Christopher Leibig

Chris Leibig worked as a public defender in Alexandria, Virginia from 1996 until 2002, where he handled thousands of criminal cases of all varieties. He is currently a partner at Zwerling, Leibig, and Moseley, a nationally known law firm which practices exclusively criminal defense.

Larisa Wakefield

Larisa Dinsmoor is an attorney with the Orange County Public Defender's Office in Southern California, where she has practiced for four years. Her prior work experience includes working at the United States Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Office, and for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Larisa has lived in Russia, Uganda, and South Africa, and continues to be active in international development as a board member of a local nonprofit, The Africa Project. Larisa holds a J.D. from the Washington College of Law, Washington D.C., and a B.A. in International Studies from American University, Washington, D.C. She is licensed in California and Washington, D.C.

Anthony Natale

Anthony J. Natale, “Tony,” has been a practicing trial lawyer for 30 years. Presently, he is a Supervising Assistant Federal Public Defender in Miami, Florida and the training coordinator for the Federal Defender Office and the private panel attorneys for the Southern District of Florida. Previously, he was in private practice for more than 20 years concentrating in criminal defense and civil trials both state and federal. The hundreds of cases Tony has taken to trial include capital murder, terrorism, complex fraud matters, simple misdemeanors, civil rights violations and personal injury actions. Although the vast majority of his clients have been those too poor to afford an attorney his former clients include a Donald Trump enterprise and the rock group The Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Tony has been a member of the National Criminal Defense College faculty since 1982. He has organized and presented continuing legal education programs for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and lectures extensively throughout the United States on criminal defense topics such as jury selection, advanced cross-examination, cross-examination of experts and theory of the case. Tony has also taught in criminal defense training programs in China and Vietnam. He is a member of a Florida and District of Columbia bars and has been specially admitted to practice in several jurisdictions throughout the United States. He is a graduate of the School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University and the Antioch School of Law. Tony has done a number of trainings for IBJ in China and Zimbabwe since 2002.