LEAF was established by attorney, Kim E. Ferraro to empower Indiana citizens with legal resources needed to fight polluting industry and complicit regulatory agencies.

Before earning her JD from Valparaiso University School of Law, Ms. Ferraro was a litigation paralegal for  20 years and was inspired by attorneys  who were able to achieve social justice by forcing powerful corporate and government entities to answer for their action in a court of law. As an environmental activist, she recognized that these same entities can and should be held accountable for causing and allowing ever increasing toxic pollution to degrade our air, land and water with serious implications for human health. 

During law school, she received several scholarships and awards including the Dean W. Kohlhoff Memorial Award for Excellence in Environmental Law, the Corpus Juris Secundum Award, and the Charles R. Gromley Scholarship that was given to one member of the class of 2007 for outstanding academic achievement and community service. Also while in law school, Ms. Ferraro clerked for the U.S. EPA Region 5 Office of Regional Counsel, the City of South Bend Legal Department and Lake County Superior Court Judge, John Pera. Finally, Ms. Ferraro was an elected officer of the Valparaiso Environmental Law Society, a teaching assistant in the law school’s legal writing program and graduated in the top quarter of her class.

Ms. Ferraro lives in Valparaiso, Indiana with her husband, Dennis Ferraro, also an attorney and her two daughters, Andrea and Alexandra.

ADMITTED:

Supreme Court of Indiana
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Indiana
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS:

American Bar Association, Section of Environment, Energy & Resources Law

Indiana State Bar Association

Indiana Trial Lawyers Association

National Association of Women Lawyers

Contact Email:  kim.ferraro@leafindiana.org