Kelly K. Waterfall

Kelly K. Waterfall is an associate at the Law Office of Ryan J. Villa LLC in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she focuses on civil rights and children’s law. Her work includes representing people with mental disabilities, children and youth, and other clients whose rights are affected by government systems and institutions. Kelly is licensed in New Mexico and the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico and has been with the firm since 2017.

Kelly earned her J.D. cum laude from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 2005. She received the Jerrold L. Walden Memorial Award, Clinical Honors Award, Bondurant Merit Scholarship, and a Bergstrom Child Welfare Law Fellowship. She previously earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois in 1988 with University Highest Honors and the Bronze Tablet. Her law school writing also addressed juvenile sentencing under New Mexico law.

Kelly began her legal career representing children and youth in child welfare and custody matters through Pegasus Legal Services for Children. She later represented grandparents and relatives in kinship guardianship proceedings and helped draft proposed changes to the New Mexico Children’s Code. At the Law Office of Peter Cubra, she represented people with mental disabilities and adjudicated youth in federal civil rights class actions. Her current work includes the long-running McClendon litigation concerning conditions at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center.

Kelly K. Waterfall has served on the boards of the Children’s Justice Act Advisory Group and the Children’s Law Section of the State Bar of New Mexico. She is also associated with the National Association of Counsel for Children. Her career combines civil rights litigation, child advocacy, legislative work, and institutional reform, with substantial experience in class actions, settlement negotiations, and monitoring compliance with federal consent decrees affecting vulnerable populations.

Law Office Affiliations

• Associate, Law Office of Ryan J. Villa LLC
• Member, State Bar of New Mexico, Children’s Law Section
• Member, National Association of Counsel for Children

Licensed State

• New Mexico

Education

• University of New Mexico School of Law
  Juris Doctor (JD)
• University of Illinois
  BA in Economics & Political Science

Awards & Badges