Professional

Consultant, January 2023 - present

Provide consulting, research, and writing to select clients. Projects include research and writing about name, image, and likeness in college sports, consulting concerning establishing a professional certification institute, research and writing about judicial reform, and research, writing, and consulting regarding developing an app categorizing traditional herbal uses.


Part-time Faculty, DePaul University School of Law, January 2008 – Present

Design and teach Housing Law and Predatory Lending courses using traditional and experimental methods, including community service placement for students and synchronous and asynchronous online learning; prepare syllabi, lectures, and class materials; evaluate student performance; assign grades; prepare, coordinate, and present lectures to benefit the campus community, including a six-part symposium on foreclosure law; use online teaching portal; recruit and supervise guest lecturers; supervise students in volunteer experiences, and in writing for relevant journals.

December 2023: Completed DePaul Online Teaching Series to update online teaching, curriculum planning and assessment skills.

August 2015: ENGAGE Award nominee (student engagement).

January 2013: Recognition for developing, organizing, and presenting a training program (mortgage foreclosure symposium).

As needed:  Peer Reviewer for DePaul Journal for Social Justice.

Founder, Kelly Thompson Opportunity Fund, August 2007 – Present

Establish a scholarship fund for young women in a rural community; design and maintain an awards process to encourage applicants to apply to Ivy League institutions. Solicit contributions, determine policy, budget, and awards criteria.

Attorney/Owner, Law Office of Kelli Dudley, May 2003 – December 2022

Provide legal services, including civil rights with an emphasis on fair housing; defense of mortgage foreclosure; analyze bank records to determine compliance with applicable laws and regulations and whether payments and debits were properly credited; eviction defense; represent small corporations to comply with applicable regulations, review budgets, conduct strategic planning, prepare human resources policies, and serve as registered agent; examine title claims; conduct civil litigation, including substantive and procedural due process claims, premature eviction, and consumer fraud claims; manage law office, including advertising, budget, operations, and marketing; conduct appeals in Illinois and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, including oral argument; interact with press. Decisions affirmed at least twice by the Illinois Supreme Court. First chair in trials in front of Illinois Human Rights Commission, Circuit Court of Cook County, and 19th Judicial Circuit, Illinois. Lead attorney for appeals before the Illinois Court of Appeals, Illinois Supreme Court, and Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Executive Director, Resistance Legal Clinic, June 2012 – December 2022

Establish and administer small volunteer clinic; provide legal advice concerning foreclosure or eviction; raise funds, including grant applications, and administer budget; prepare online training materials, including videos; update materials to relate to eviction moratoria during pandemic; conduct training for community organizations; provide consultation to non-profit land trusts; train students and lawyers in foreclosure and eviction defense; conduct fair housing tests with community partners; provide support for non-profit organizations preserving housing; administer grant funds and write reports; lecture at law schools, including Harvard Law School; interact with press; supervise students and volunteers; prepare and publish a book on the causes and fair housing implications of the foreclosure crisis; provide community college and other educational lectures on finance, fair housing, foreclosure, and eviction.

Supervisory Attorney, Covid Eviction Prevention Project, Lawyers Committee for Better Housing, August 2020 – December 2020 (temporary Covid-19 program)

Supervise students and attorneys in a temporary eviction prevention program; train new attorneys in court procedure, online filing of legal documents, and client relations; provide substantive instruction and original research related to defending evictions and pursuing remedies for illegal evictions and lockouts; adapt all procedures to remote work environments.

Adjunct Professor, Brown Mackie College, August 2006 – May 2011

Teach paralegal (undergraduate) students in criminal, constitutional, property, business, and contract law, juvenile justice, litigation, civil procedure and legal writing and research; teach criminal justice students; teach law office management; track and report attendance and grades.

Director of Predatory Lending Program, Adjunct Professor and Guest Lecturer, The John Marshall Law School (now University of Illinois at Chicago), October 2006 - May 2014

Adjunct Professor, Elder Law,
May 2011 – August 2014

Teach Legal Writing IV and Preserving Dignity and Independence; teach courses; prepare and present materials to students; supervise student progress; evaluate student performance; assign grades; participate in departmental activities; coordinate educational programs and materials for the larger campus community. Serve on committees as appointed by program director, including International Elder Law Committee (founding member).

Coordinator, Predatory Lending Program, August 2009 – December 2011

Administer grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, City of Chicago, and Illinois Attorney General and prepare required budgets, grant applications, and reports; supervise students to provide service to community organizations providing housing counseling and foreclosure prevention services; provide in-class lectures and presentations as needed; consult with homeowners and non-profit organizations to provide free brief legal advice; prepare and present materials about predatory lending to the public and students; monitor student progress; administer grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, City of Chicago, and Illinois Attorney General and prepare required reports; respond to press inquiries; coordinate large annual training for foreclosure lawyers; prepare grant renewal applications; recommend student grades; provide student grades; prepare educational booklets for public distribution.

Guest Lecturer, Predatory Lending, October 2006 – August 2009

Provide guest lectures on predatory lending and foreclosure; conduct research and prepare materials, particularly with respect to civil procedure aspects that were not previously understood as helpful to foreclosure defense.

Supervisory Attorney, Attorney, and Student Intern, South Chicago Legal Clinic, September 2001 – January 2009

Attorney,
October 2007 – January 2009

Conduct litigation related to predatory lending, fraud, and mortgage foreclosure defense; recruit, train, and supervise attorney volunteers to provide pro bono representation on Chancery matters; conduct all training and outreach tasks set forth below for Supervisory Attorney position; analyze and improve referral relationships between non-profit programs providing free or low-cost legal services to homeowners.

Supervisory Attorney of Chancery Advice Desk, May 2003 – October 2006

Implement a groundbreaking advice desk in the courthouse as a collaboration between Clinic, private bar, non-profit organizations, and the courts; train attorney volunteers in mortgage foreclosure defense and other Chancery matters; supervise students in substantive research projects; prepare training materials for attorneys, students, and the public; coordinate advice desk program and maintain foreclosure defense caseload; communicate with judges, clerks, and referral sources to coordinate advice desk operation.

Law Student Intern,
September 2001 – May 2003

Appear in court, counsel clients, and negotiate settlements under supervision of supervisory attorney pursuant to Illinois Supreme Court Rule 711; prepare pleadings, court documents, and correspondence; conduct legal research; participate in all aspects of discovery.

Law Clerk, Nancy Moore Tiller and Associates, February 2000 – August 2001

Research and prepare memoranda of law, correspondence, pleadings, motions, and litigation documents; work on campaigns for elected office.

Owner, For Granted, August 1995 – August 2001

Provide consultation and advice to non-profit organizations; prepare budgets; write grant applications; prepare fundraising appeals; conduct media relations; coordinate political campaigns for state office, local office, and international non-profit board memberships for select clients; conduct research and present papers on best practices in grant management; audit internal compliance with grant program requirements; coordinate campaign for candidate for International Committee for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) board.