Cedar Law’s experienced school law attorneys have diverse backgrounds and specializations but share a passion for equity, diversity, and education. Read more about our education attorneys below.

Lara Hruska, Founding Partner

Lara founded Cedar Law based on a holistic approach to school law informed by her unique background in education, social work, and the law. She is licensed to practice law in Washington and California. Lara received her JD from the University of Washington School of Law and also holds an MSW in Child and Family Welfare Policy from Columbia University, an MSEd in Special and General Childhood Education from Bank Street College of Education, and a BA in Peace and Conflict Studies from U.C. Berkeley. more  

 
Mike Smith is a Partner who joined Cedar Law in 2021, but has been practicing law – the vast majority of which is in the education realm – for over 20 years.  Upon relocating to Washington, he jumped at the chance to continue a practice dedicated to serving and supporting children, families and others in the education and school settings, as Mike has previously served as in-house counsel for the Oakland Unified School District (“OUSD”) in California for 14 years. Mike’s prior and recent work has provided significant experience in myriad areas of school law so that he is able to effectively advocate for the needs of children, students and families in all education settings. more.  

Elicia Johnson, Partner

Elicia joined Cedar Law in 2019. Prior to that, she spent 20 years as a corporate attorney with a focus on employment matters. She came to Cedar Law seeking to transition her career to one that serves children, students, and educators and advances civil liberties. She graduated from Harvard Law School in 1999 and received her BA in Communication Studies from UCLA in 1994. She came to the United States from Iran in 1979 and currently works with the Peyvand Youth Empowerment Program, which serves Iranian and Iranian-American youth in the Greater Seattle area. more

Ryan Ford, Partner

Ryan joined Cedar Law in 2023.  Prior to joining Cedar, Ryan spent the past six years managing his own law firm providing representation to students and parents in the public school, charter school, private school, college, and university settings. He is licensed to practice law in Washington and California.  Ryan received his Juris Doctor degree from University of San Diego School of Law, where he clerked in the Education and Disability Legal Clinic. Ryan works on a wide range of education legal issues with his primary focus being on special education and disability related matters. He is particularly experienced in handling federal appeals of special education matters and prevailed in a published state appellate decision on a Washington Public Records Act matter. more.

Whitney Hill, Partner 

Whitney has been an advocate for education access for over a decade. She was admitted to the Washington Bar in 2018 and received her JD from Seattle University. She also has a BA from Western Oregon University in American Sign Language/English Interpreting. She has been heavily involved in the Deaf and DeafBlind community since she was a small child and she started signing at the age of four. more  

Alex Hagel, Partner 

Alex brings years of experience working with students to his work at Cedar Law PLLC. Alex graduated from the University of Washington School of Law, where he worked in the Children and Youth Advocacy Clinic representing homeless and low-income children in the dependency system. During law school, Alex also interned with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Civil Rights Division, and with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, enforcing civil rights laws that protect students from discrimination. more

Luke Hackenberg, Senior Associate

Luke graduated cum laude from the Seattle University School of Law in 2021.  He joined Cedar Law immediately out of law school after working for the firm for three years when he was a law student.  During his time in law school, he also worked for the Housing Justice Project, assisting low-income clients facing eviction.  Prior to law school, Luke earned his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Reed College.  more.

Sydney Arizona Bay, Senior Associate

Sydney’s passion for educational justice stems from her time as a middle school science teacher in Arizona and Washington. Before joining Cedar Law PLLC, Sydney was an Assistant Attorney General in Everett, Washington practicing juvenile litigation. more.

Rachel Sugar, Associate

Rachel has advocated for equity and justice with marginalized groups for years. Prior to joining Cedar Law PLLC, Rachel was a staff attorney with Tacoma pro bono’s Housing Justice Project, where she defended low-income tenants from evictions.  more.
 
 

Kaitlin Leifur-Masterson, Associate

 

Kaitlin Leifur-Masterson has been working in the legal field since she moved to Seattle in 2012. After receiving her BA at Boston University. Kaitlin later earned an MFA in Creative Writing and Poetics from the University of Washington. In 2023, Kaitlin completed Washington’s APR 6 program under the supervision of her mentor, Chris Williams. more.

Sara Di Vittorio, Of Counsel

Sara has served for 20 years as an attorney in Washington’s public sector including seven years as a Snohomish County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney and nine years as an Assistant Attorney General handling public records requests, advice, and litigation. Sara has an extensive background in providing training on the Public Records Act, having given approximately 250 classes to government agencies and organizations throughout the state.  Sara was appointed by Governor Inslee to the Public Records Exemption Accountability Committee where she served for five years.  more.

Anna “Mickey” Moritz, Of Counsel 

Anna has a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Colorado and a law degree from the University of Washington School of Law where she graduated Order of the Coif. Aside from a passion for education law issues, she previously spent 10 years working in the area of nonprofit climate law. Anna sits on the executive committee of the Civil Rights Law Section of the WSBA. Anna is licensed in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and California. more.

Candace Wilkerson, Of Counsel

Candace’s primary focus is estate planning, guardianships/conservatorships, and probate/trusts litigation.
Her work includes, but is not limited to the following areas:

Estate planning: creating, amending, and reviewing individual and family wealth protection plans, including trusts, wills, powers of attorney for finance and healthcare, and healthcare directives; and consulting on the best legal strategies for providing for individual and family financial protection. more.

Michelle Mentzer, Emeritus

In 2001, Michelle C. Mentzer was appointed an administrative law judge with the Washington State Office of Administrative Hearings.  She served there for almost 17 years, the last 10 of which she worked solely on education cases.  In May 2018, Ms. Mentzer retired from OAH and worked as a volunteer attorney at the ACLU of Washington through the end of 2018.  She joined Cedar Law PLLC in January 2019. more.