Staff

John W. Van Alst          Project Director

John is an attorney at the National Consumer Law Center.  His focus includes automobile fraud, deceptive practices law, rural issues, warranty, and manufactured home issues.  He is the co-author of several treatises published by NCLC including Automobile Fraud, Consumer Warranty Law, and Repossessions.  John has testified before Congressional committees and state legislatures about issues affecting low-income households. Prior to joining NCLC John was an Attorney with Legal Aid of North Carolina. He was also the Chair of the North Carolina Consumer Law Task Force. He spent one year as a Visiting Clinical Supervisor at the University of North Carolina School of Law's Civil Clinical Program.

Carolyn Carter

Carolyn is the Deputy Director of Advocacy at NCLC who has specialized in consumer law issues for over 30 years. From 1974 to 1986 she worked for the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, first as a staff attorney and later as law reform director. From 1986 to 1999 she was co-director of a legal services program in Pennsylvania. She was the 1992 recipient of NCLC’s Vern Countryman Award. She is admitted to the Pennsylvania bar.  From 2005 to 2007 she was a member of the Federal Reserve Board's Consumer Advisory Council.  She is a graduate of Brown University and Yale Law School.

Jon Sheldon

Jon has been a staff attorney with NCLC for over 30 years. Jon specializes in state unfair and deceptive trade practices statutes, automobile leasing, automobile fraud, collection actions, arbitration issues, and is very much involved in the production and editing of NCLC consumer law  publications.  Prior to joining NCLC, he was a staff attorney with in the Division of Special Projects within the Bureau of Consumer Protection in Washington, DC. Jon is a graduate of Harvard College (1970) as well as Harvard Law School (1973). He is also admitted to the Massachusetts bar.