Lipou [lee-pu] Laliemthavisay was born and raised in Providence, RI and went to Tufts University, New York University and then Roger Williams University School of Law. While growing up, she always thought she would be an ambassador and allow all visa applications that came in. However, life took a different path. Coming from an immigrant family, she had a deep desire to work with and for marginalized communities, which then grew into a passion for public defense. She pursued criminal defense right after law school, and has been with the CPCS Public Defender Division in Bristol County since August 2013. She joined the criminal defense training team rotation in April of 2019 and recently returned to the Fall River PDD Office as a supervising attorney. She is on the board of the MA Bail Fund and RIOT RI!, and is a member of the RI National Lawyers Guild. She is also a part-time prelaw advisor and lecturer at UMass Dartmouth. Aside from being an active public defender & community member, she is a proud parent of two pitbulls, Kenya & Penny.