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Northwestern Law is pleased to announce the following 2007-08 recipients of several public interest and public service fellowship awards:

Post Graduation Fellowships:

Equal Justice Works
Equal Justice Works directs the largest postgraduate legal fellowship program in the nation, placing new lawyers in two-year assignments at nonprofit public interest organizations where they implement projects that address pressing community needs. The program was launched with seven fellows in 1992 to address the need for attorneys to work on behalf of traditionally underserved populations and causes in the United States and its territories. Recognizing that the shortage of entry-level jobs and large student loan debt may prevent committed attorneys from practicing public interest law, the program supports lawyers who work on much-needed legal projects nationwide. At any given time, the program supports approximately 100 fellows in nearly all parts of the country.

2007-08 recipients: Hayley Upshaw (JD ’08), Margie Wakelin (JD ’08)

Litt Fellowship
The firm of Litt, Estuar, Harrison & Kitson offers the Litt Fellowship Program in the field of civil rights litigation. Up to two law school graduates who have demonstrated an ongoing commitment to working in the public interest receive a one-year fellowship with the firm. Litt fellows gain practical legal experience by working on public interest and civil rights cases, including a number of class actions.

2007-08 recipient: Lindsay Battles (JD ’08)

Skadden Foundation Fellowship
The Skadden Foundation was established in 1988 by the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, based in New York City, one of the largest law firms in the world. The foundation was established in recognition of the dire need for greater funding for graduating law students who wish to devote their professional lives to providing legal services in public interest work serving the poor, the elderly, the homeless, and the disabled, as well as those deprived of their civil or human rights.

2007-08 recipient: Jennifer Hrycyna (JD ’08)

Soros Justice Fellowship
The Open Society Institute offers the Soros Justice Fellowships to fund outstanding individuals to implement innovative projects that advance OSI efforts to reform the U.S. criminal justice system. OSI’s criminal justice reform strategy takes aim at two issues the organization sees in the system: the over-reliance on incarceration and harsh punishment, and the lack of equal justice, especially for people of color and the poor. This year's recipient will work in the Bluhm Legal Clinic's Children and Family Justice Center on the issue of life without parole sentences for juveniles.

2007-08 recipient: Patricia Soung (JD ’08)

Renewable Energy Fellowship
The Environmental Law and Policy Center (ELPC) offers this fellowship to further ELPC’s goal to accomplish a transition from the region’s current resource portfolio, currently comprised almost exclusively of nuclear and older coal-burning plants, towards a more diverse, more sustainable and less polluting portfolio including wind energy, biomass and energy efficiency.

2007-08 recipient: Evan Eschmeyer (JD-MBA '08)

Summer Fellowships:

Howrey HELPS
Howrey LLP has a significant commitment to pro bono work, providing a number of HELPS fellowships to first-year students who are committed to careers in public interest law. The firm hopes that the summer internships will help interested students pursue public interest jobs after they graduate.

2007-08 recipient: Jesse Abrams-Morley (JD ’10)

Justice John Paul Stevens Fellowship
In 1996, in honor of U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens (JD ‘47), Skip Paul led a group of Justice Stevens’ former clerks, including several Northwestern alumni, to generously establish the Justice John Paul Stevens Public Interest Fellowship Program. Paul, head of IFILM Network and former chairman and CEO of Sega Gameworks, served as Justice Stevens’ law clerk first at the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and then at the United States Supreme Court. Stevens fellowships provide financial assistance to students who have secured volunteer public interest summer jobs.

2007-08 recipients: Sarah Agudo (JD ’08), Adair Crosley (JD ’10), Jeff Jarosch (JD ’09), Eva Lewis (JD ’09), Jonathan Schaan (JD ’09)

Mansfield Foundation Fellowship
The Albert and Anne Mansfield Foundation Fellowships were established in 1982 to encourage students to pursue a career in legal services programs representing low-income clients. This year, the foundation awards two summer fellowships to Northwestern students. The students will work at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago.

2006-07 recipients: Todd Belcore (JD ’10), Pamela Chan (JD ’09)

Michael Frances Lefkow Fellowship Program
The Chicago Chapter of the Federal Bar Association has endowed the Michael Francis Lefkow Public Interest Fellowshipsto create a fitting tribute to an outstanding lawyer and to establish a sustainable program to recognize judges, like his wife, the Honorable Joan Humphrey Lefkow of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, who have faced intimidation with courage and integrity. The Lefkow Independent Judiciary Fellowship provides a Northwestern student an opportunity to undertake work in furtherance of an impartial and independent judiciary at the Sandra Day O’Connor Project on the State of the Judiciary. The LAF Lefkow Fellowship provides a Northwestern student with the opportunity to undertake direct representation of the poor and underserved in Chicago at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago.

2007-08 recipients: Sam Yarbrough (JD ’10), Angelica Lopez (JD ’09)

Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI)
For nearly 30 years, PILI has pursued equal access to justice by creating opportunities for law students and lawyers to provide public interest and pro bono work in Chicago. PILI builds professional relationships into working partnerships, leveraging legal resources into legal services for the poor and disenfranchised. By engaging attorneys at every stage in their professional careers, from law student to firm partner, PILI generates thousands of hours of legal assistance each year. PILI offers internship and fellowship programs for law students and new law school graduates, respectively, to work at public interest law agencies in Chicago.

2006-07 internship recipients: Amy Myrick (JD ’09), Susanne Pringle (JD ’09)
2006-07 fellowship recipients: Nury Agudo (JD ’08), Jennifer Cassel (JD ’08), Kristine Devine (JD ’08), Hubert Fan (JD ’08), Jonathan Hunt (JD ’08), Daniel Kuehn (JD ’08), Aaron Lorber (JD ’08), Laura Nirider (JD ’08), Ferlillia Roberson (JD’08), Greg Ryckman (JD ’08), Hari Santhanam (JD ’08), Matthew Schiltz (JD ’08), Sarah Terman (JD ’08), Tia Trout-Perez (JD ’08), Denise Ware (JD ’08).

Sonnenschein Scholar Program
Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP has a long history of public service and is committed to programs that give back to its communities. In this tradition, and to celebrate their centennial in 2006, the Sonnenschein Scholars Foundation was created as a charitable foundation to fund, manage, and direct national programs promoting public service. By doing so, Sonnenschein supports law students who are committed to public service by providing financial assistance to help offset the cost of legal education that so often makes this type of service difficult. From 2006-2010, the foundation will identify 50 first-year law students each year to receive summer stipends to help make it possible for the students to participate in public service or public policy summer programs.

2006-07 recipients: Anthony Dinh (JD ’10), Amanda Hinckley (JD ’10)

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