110 AUTUMN 2002
More Postgraduate Fellowships in Public Interest Law for NYU Law Students NYU Law students have enjoyed phenomenal success in competitions for postgraduate fellowships in public interest law. This year, 22 Law School graduates have been selected for one- and two-year positions with renowned public interest organizations across the country. Increasingly, a fellowship is the most prestigious first postgraduate (or post-clerkship) job for students interested in careers in public interest law. The fellowship application process is rigorous. For most fellowships, applicants are asked to partner with a public interest law organization and create a project that will
meet a pressing legal services need. The process begins during the Summer, when students research potential sponsoring organizations and meet with public interest attorneys who help them design projects that build on work that students have already done in their courses, clinics, and summer internships. Application essays are polished in the early Fall, and students work closely with their professors and the Public Interest Law Center to craft compelling applications. The next stage is interviews, where applicants are asked to demonstrate their legal acumen, commitment to public interest, and
knowledge of the issue their project seeks to address. Although the process is arduous, successful applicants often refer to their fellowship as a “dream job,” where they have the opportunity to work on issues about which they care deeply. Michelle Benedetto (’01), received a NAPIL/Equal Justice Works fellowship to work with the Legal Aid Society of San Diego on their Juvenile Outreach Project. “NYU served an integral role in the preparation of my fellowship application,” Benedetto said. “My NYU experiences, particularly in the Juvenile Rights Clinic, motivated me and shaped the development of my project. Professor Tony Thompson, Professor Randy Hertz, and PILC Director Vicki Eastus provided valuable feedback and support. Because I was clerking in the Southern District of California, I especially appreciated the willingness of NYU to coordinate time differences and distance in order to assist me.” ■
Public Service Fellowships Received in 2002 by NYU Law Students and Alumni ACLU Fellowship Gail Gove ’02, ACLU Litigation Project Seattle, Washington Dalia Hashad ’00, ACLU Foundation New York, New York Berkeley Law Foundation Fellowship Melissa Froehle ’02, NYU PILF Grant Central Minnesota Legal Services and the FATHER Project (Fostering Actions to Help Earnings and Responsibility) Minneapolis, Minnesota
Barbara Bolton, LL.M. ’99, Human Rights Watch New York, New York Gibbons, Del Deo, Griffinger & Vecchione Fellowship Jennifer Ching ’00, Newark, New Jersey Kirkland & Ellis Fellowship Kim Seelinger ’02, Lutheran Family & Community Services, New York, New York NAPIL / Equal Justice Works Fellowship Michele Benedetto ’01, Juvenile Outreach Project, Legal Aid Society, San Diego, California
Crowley Fellowship in International Human Rights Maria McFarland ’01, Fordham Law School New York, New York
Rachel Meeropol ’02, Center for Constitutional Rights, New York, New York
Equal Justice Initiative Fellowship Gerald “Bo” King ’01, Equal Justice Initiative Montgomery, Alabama
Christian Mendoza ’02, NYU Law Center for the Study and Practice of Community Justice New York, New York
Fried Frank Fellowship Olga Akselrod ’02, NAACP LDF New York, New York
Jennifer Werdell ’01, New York Legal Assistance Group, New York, New York
Furman Fellowship Laurie Berg, LL.M. ’02, Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, New York, New York
NYU Center for Environmental Law and Land Use Fellowship Joel Beauvais ’02, New York, New York
Skadden Fellowship Mallory Curran ’02, Legal Aid Society of Cleveland/MetroHealth Medical Center Cleveland, Ohio Omar Jadwat ’01, ACLU Immigrants Rights Project New York, New York Shina Majeed ’00, Urban Justice Center New York, New York Andrew Williams ’02, Bronx Defenders Bronx, New York Soros Justice Fellowship Sarah Xochitl Bervera ’02, Grassroots Leadership Atlanta, Georgia Marlee Ford ’02, Bronx Defenders Bronx, New York Peter Markowitz ’01, Bronx Defenders Bronx, New York Zubrow Fellowship Suzanne Meiners ’01, Juvenile Law Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania