ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Student registration for the 2010 Conference and Career Fair is now open.
- Tickets now on sale for our 2010 Annual Awards Dinner. Join us as we honor public interest law leaders.
- Please view our latest job postings and see how you can help mobilize the next generation of public interest lawyers.
- Now accepting applications for 2011 Fellowships. Jump start your career in public interest law!
Connect with us
Equal Justice Works Across America
A state-by-state, point-and-click roster of Members and Fellows
Current Fellows and Alumni Profiles
Anna-Elisa Mackowiak: AmeriCorps Legal Fellowships, 2009
Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Inc.
School: The University of Georgia School of Law
The Home Defense Program (HDP) provides advice, referrals and legal representation to low and moderate income homeowners victimized by home equity scams, including predatory mortgage lending practices. HDP saves clients' homes by negotiating cancellations of mortgage loans; restructuring of mortgage loans with substantially lower balances, interest rates and monthly payments; and short payoffs of mortgage loans with reverse mortgages for senior homeowners. .
Amy Magee: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2002
Texas Civil Rights Project
School: University of Texas School of Law
Amy Magee is a fellow with the Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP) in Austin. Her project, the Texas Equity in Education Campaign, addresses Title IX gender equity issues in predominantly rural Texas elementary and secondary school classrooms. Nationwide, young women face a number of barriers to classroom achievement, including sexual harassment and teacher and administration bias.
Jill Mahler: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2005
Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County
School: University of Florida Levin College of Law
.
Amrita Mallik: AmeriCorps Legal Fellowships, 2007
Public Counsel
School: The University of Michigan Law School
Amrita is a first-year Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Attorney working with Public Counsel's Consumer Law Project. She works to increase quality pro bono opportunities to expand legal resources servicing underrepresented populations in Los Angeles County to protect their rights as consumers. Her project focuses on issues surrounding fraudulent mortgage lending and foreclosure.
Marisa Mandujano: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2002
Legal Aid Services of Oregon
School: Willamette University College of Law
Marisa Salinas Mandujano is a fellow at Legal Aid Services of Oregon (LASO), located in Woodburn, Oregon. Her project focuses primarily on extending legal representation to farmworkers along the Columbia Gorge, an area that extends over two hundred miles. Over 20,000 workers migrate to this area to pick cherries and pears.
Sonia Mansoor: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2003
Sanctuary for Families
School: Columbia University School of Law
Sonia Mansoor works in the greater metropolitan area of New York City, addressing the multiple needs of South Asian immigrant women who, as a result of domestic violence, are in need of assistance regarding immigration, family law, matrimonial, public benefits and criminal justice matters. Sonia’s project coordinates the resources of service providers and community organizations and furthers education and training activities. Many South Asian immigrant women who are victims of domestic violence are not only unaware of the legal remedies available to them in the United States, but also face a host of cultural and linguistic barriers that obstruct their access to legal services and support structures.
Judy Marblestone: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2003
Asian Pacific American Legal Center
School: University of California at Los Angeles School of Law
As a Fellow at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) in the Workers’ Rights Unit, Judy Marblestone advocates with and on behalf of garment workers. Her work includes outreach to garment workers about their rights under a new California law, AB 633, that holds garment manufacturers jointly liable for wage and hour violations. In concert with a statewide anti-sweatshop coalition, Judy’s project seeks to ensure effective implementation and enforcement of AB 633 in order to achieve its full potential.
Jessica Marcus: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2001
South Brooklyn Legal Services Corp. B
School: New York University School of Law
Jessica Marcus represented parents who have children in foster care and assisted them in reunifying their families. The vast majority of parents whose children are involuntarily removed from their homes and placed in foster care in New York City are subject to allegations of neglect, very often stemming from poverty and lack of access to social services. The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA), passed by the federal government and New York State, imposes time limits on parents seeking to reunify their families, shifting the focus of child welfare law away from family reunification to permanency and adoption.
Jody Marksamer: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2003
National Center for Lesbian Rights
School: Northeastern University School of Law
Jody Marksamer works on the Safe Homes Project at the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR). The goal of his project is to improve the treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth in foster care, group homes and the juvenile justice system. Between 4% and 10% of the nearly one million children in these placements are LGBTQ, and most of these youth experience anti-gay abuse and discrimination while in these systems, Jody reports.
Michael Marsh: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2004
California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc.
School: University of California at Los Angeles School of Law
Tens of thousands of farm workers report for backbreaking work each day in greenhouses and nurseries in California. Most workers are mono-lingual Spanish speakers from Mexico, with the vast majority living in poverty. Michael maintains that this population is highly vulnerable to unsafe work conditions and unscrupulous employers who rob them of their pay; few workers know anything about state or federal laws established to protect them.
Amy Marshall Mix: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2001
National Consumer Law Center
School: University of Houston Law Center
Amy Marshall Mix’s fellowship was hosted by the National Consumer Law Center’s (NCLC) Washington, DC office. The NCLC is a nonprofit corporation founded in 1969 and specializes in low-income consumer issues. The Center assists consumers, advocates and public policy makers nationwide who use the powerful and complex tools of consumer law to ensure justice and fair treatment for all.
Julia Martin: AmeriCorps Legal Fellowships, 2009
Advocates for Basic Legal Equality
School: University of Dayton School of Law
To help create and facilitate pro bono opportunities for law students and lawyers in order to provide essential legal services in underrepresented communities. Read more
Suma Mathai: Equal Justice Works Fellowships, 2000
Harriet Buhai Center
School: University of Southern California Law School
Suma Mathai Mathew focused on domestic violence at the Harriett Buhai Center for Family Law, an agency that provides family law and domestic violence assistance to low-income families in Los Angeles. The mission of the Center is to assure these families access to the courts, reduce poverty among children and single parents and stop domestic violence directed towards women and children. As an Equal Justice Works Fellow, Suma returned to the Harriett Buhai Center, where she had worked with the Pro Bono Panel as a Trope & Trope Summer Fellow.
Stacey Mathews: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2005
Southwest Regional Juvenile Defender Center
School: University of Houston Law Center
Stacey Mathews works with the Southwest Juvenile Defender Center (SWJDC) in Houston, Texas. Her project focuses on providing educational and advocacy tools and strategies to parents, children and educators regarding special education laws and services. Her project combines community outreach to families with direct advocacy for children who are not receiving mandatory educational services.
Mandi Matlock: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2001
Legal Aid of Central Texas
School: University of Texas School of Law
Mandi Matlock worked to address the needs of low-income consumers in Texas and throughout her host organization’s sixty-eight county service area. Her commitment to low-income consumer issues stemmed from her own experiences being raised in a family of very modest means. “I am intimately aware of the pressures and circumstances that force low-income consumers to do business with sub-prime lenders, rent-to-own establishments, check cashing outfits and others in the fringe credit industry,” Mandi said.
Natalie Maxwell: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2005
Southern Legal Counsel, Inc.
School: American University Washington College of Law
Natalie Maxwell is combining legal advocacy, public policy advocacy and public education to increase access to accessible and affordable public housing for low-income persons with mobility impairing disabilities in Florida. National studies have documented that the lack of adequate housing presents the most substantial barrier to people with disabilities living in the community rather than in institutional settings. As such, the project includes conducting outreach to individuals residing in institutions and in the community who need publicly funded housing to achieve or maintain their independence.
Presita May: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2000
First Defense Legal Aid
School: Loyola University Chicago School of Law
Presita May was an Equal Justice Works Fellow at First Defense Legal Aid, an organization that provided free legal representation to individuals being investigated by the Chicago police. Her fellowship was based at the First Defense branch office in Englewood, a predominantly African-American community, where she worked to bring legal representation to this underserved community. Presita is a native of Englewood and enjoyed working closely with Englewood residents conducting community education workshops and providing legal representation.
Sandy Mayson: Equal Justice Works Fellowships, 2009
Orleans Public Defenders
School: New York University School of Law
This project aims to keep immigrants in New Orleans out of jail, and to ensure basic justice for those arrested. In collaboration with Orleans Public Defenders—founded after Katrina and now an innovative office dedicated to client-centered representation—the project will create community support structures for immigrant defendants and their families; advocate for adequate interpretation in New Orleans jails and courts; train defense attorneys in relevant immigration law; and provide direct representation to immigrant defendants in criminal court. .
Demetria McCain: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2003
National Housing Law Project
School: Howard University School of Law
Demetria McCain concentrates on the Rural Rental Housing Preservation Project at the National Housing Law Project, helping preserve rural rental housing stock while protecting low-income tenants from displacement. The Department of Agriculture’s Rural Housing Service directly financed construction of nearly 450,000 units of assisted rental housing for low- and very low-income households under its Section 515 program, much of which is deeply subsidized. Unfortunately, a large number of owners seek to prematurely convert the subsidized housing to private, market-rate housing.
Phyra McCandless: AmeriCorps Legal Fellowships, 2008
Public Interest Clearinghouse
School: University of San Francisco School of Law
As coordinator of the local law student pro bono project at the Public Interest Clearinghouse, I manage relationships with nonprofit organizations and place students in projects that fit the needs of the organizations and the interests of law students. I organize and publicize events, trainings and legal advice clinics for the students at the University of San Francisco and McGeorge Schools of Law. I intend to maintain and enhance these relationships and hope to expand the program to involve more schools in the Bay Area and throughout California.
Traci McClellan: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2001
Northern Plains Indian Law Center
School: University of Wisconsin Law School
Traci McClellan worked with Indian tribes across the country to establish culturally appropriate justice forums. The lack of tribal courts present growing jurisdictional concerns within Indian country and frustrates both tribes and individuals in their attempts to seek justice. Traci furthered the work of her host organization by providing nationwide training and technical assistance to tribes seeking to implement their own court systems, so that no dispute remained unresolved for lack of judicial forum.
Abby McClelland: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2003
Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County
School: University of California at Los Angeles School of Law
Abby McClelland works on the Mental Health Project within the Administrative Law Advocacy Group at Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County. The Mental Health Project addresses the needs of the many welfare recipients in Los Angeles County with mental illnesses or disabilities. The Project provides direct legal services to recipients with mental illnesses or disabilities, monitors the performance of a recently created policy for participants with learning disabilities and works with county administrators to implement the protections provided by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Jessica McCormick: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2002
Harlem Legal Services, Inc.
School: Fordham University School of Law
Jessica McCormick provides representation to HIV positive women who are charged with abuse and neglect in family court. Through research, Harlem Legal Services (Legal Services) has discovered a strong correlation between poverty, HIV and foster care placements in Harlem. Jessica’s project supplies women fitting this description with comprehensive representation in family court matters.
Anna McCrary: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2004
Georgia Legal Services Program
School: Northeastern University School of Law
Anna McCrary is continuing the work of the Central State Hospital Olmstead Project initiated by Atlanta Legal Aid Society (ALAS), the Disability Law and Policy Center (DLPC), and Georgia Legal Services Program (GLSP). The project began in 1999 to enforce the Olmstead v. LC decision, which held that states violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when they require persons with disabilities to receive services in institutionalized placements if they are able to receive the services and support they need in the community.
John Ross McCullough: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2005
Council on Crime and Justice
School: University of St. Thomas School of Law
John Ross McCullough is working with the Council on Crime and Justice in Minneapolis. Its mission is to build community capacity to address the causes and consequences of crime and violence through research, demonstration and advocacy. At the Council on Crime and Justice, John Ross is developing an expungement clinic in order to facilitate rehabilitated ex-offenders in their transition back into society.
Renee McFarland: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2004
Alaska Civil Liberties Union
School: Harvard Law School
Renee McFarland works on the Alaska Prison Project, a new project at the Alaska Civil Liberties Union (AkCLU) in Anchorage. The Project aims to (1) advise and assist individual prisoners with problems associated with their incarceration; (2) address systemic problems through impact litigation; and (3) further community outreach and education about prisoners’ rights and other criminal justice issues within the state. Due to the fact that Alaska does not have an extensive nonprofit network and does not have a law school with clinical and student practice organizations, the few nonprofits that are able to assist prisoners have been overwhelmed in the past with requests for assistance.
Kelly McGovern: AmeriCorps Legal Fellowships, 2007
Legal Assistance of Western New York
School: Syracuse University, College of Law
Kelly co-administers the Law Students in Action Project (LSAP) with Natalie Pincus and Tahira Bland. LSAP is hosted by Legal Assistance of Western New York Inc. (LAWNY).
Alexis McLeod: Equal Justice Works Fellowships, 2007
Public Law Center
School: William and Mary College School of Law
As part of the AIDS Legal Assistance Project, the Legal Check-up program focuses on providing preventive legal assistance to low-income Orange County residents living with HIV/AIDS. The project seeks to unearth areas of legal instability and confront them before they become serious, thereby holistically ensuring the well-being of clients. Through direct representation, community clinics and the distribution of educational materials, I assist clients with a diverse array of legal issues related to their HIV status.
Kathleen McNelis: AmeriCorps Legal Fellowships, 2006
Louisiana Bar Foundation
School: Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University
Kathleen works at the Louisiana Bar Foundation (LBF) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Baton Rouge is home to two law schools in the state of Louisiana, Southern University Law Center and Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University.
Kyla McSweeney: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2003
Greater Boston Legal Services
School: Suffolk University Law School
Kyla McSweeney works as the Child Care Specialist at Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS). Her project addresses both the consumer and supply sides of child care in order to ensure that low-income families have access to high quality child care options. Her project assists low-income families in accessing and using child care subsidies by representing and educating parents who have been denied such subsidies.
Sara McVicker: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2003
Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center
School: Villanova University School of Law
Sara McVicker is working with her host organization, the Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center (PIRC), to develop a program assisting particularly vulnerable immigrants detained in rural Central Pennsylvania, including children, families, individuals with mental health issues and victimized women. The program provides direct legal services to these immigrants, while also creating a model to evaluate specific needs and to organize resources, including recruitment and training of pro bono attorneys. Sara's project will establish a lasting program that coordinates attorneys and resources in an organized and dedicated system providing legal services for particularly vulnerable immigrants.
Oscar Medellin: AmeriCorps Legal Fellowships, 2006
Public Counsel
School: University of Southern California School of Law
Oscar works in the Real Estate Fraud Justice Project at Public Counsel where he collaborates with law students and community organizations to assist victims of real estate fraud in Los Angeles. Each year, the Department of Consumer Affairs, Adult Protective Services and countless other agencies and senior centers refer hundreds of consumer victims to Public Counsel. Oscar's goals are to train, supervise and collaborate with law students in the Los Angeles area to perform required pretrial work on real estate fraud cases that are referred to Public Counsel by government and social service agencies.
Rachel Meeropol: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2002
Center for Constitutional Rights
School: New York University School of Law
Rachel Meeropol is a fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in New York City. CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization dedicated to protecting and advancing the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Ever since the Attica Rebellion in 1971, CCR has been involved in litigation and political organizing in opposition to the infliction of cruel and unusual punishment and the denial of equal protection behind bars.
Michelle Mendez: Equal Justice Works Fellowships, 2008
Catholic Charities Immigration Legal Services
School: University of Maryland School of Law
My project will provide representation to immigrants in removal proceedings on account of civil rights violations on the part of local police and ICE agents. The project seeks to educate immigrant families, many of which have mixed immigration status, on their legal rights and how to protect themselves in case of immigration enforcement threatening to separate them. Finally, the project will work with local law enforcement agencies to maintain/develop immigrant friendly policies and convince these agencies to solely focus on enforcing state criminal law.
Christian Mendoza: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2002
Washington Square Legal Services
School: New York University School of Law
.
Tiffany Mercado: Equal Justice Works Fellowships, 2007
School: University of New Mexico School of Law
My project seeks to change New Mexico's Workers' Compensation Act so that it will include mandatory coverage for agricultural workers. Currently, these workers are excluded from mandatory coverage so when they are injured at work there is very little recourse. Their families are often already living well below the poverty line and when someone is injured or disabled the whole family suffers.
Julie Mercer Ingram: AmeriCorps Legal Fellowships, 2009
Public Interest Clearinghouse
School: Golden Gate University School of Law
In California, people who live in rural areas have little-to-no access to legal services. My project at the Public Interest Clearinghouse seeks to fill the legal services gap in rural California through the Rural Education and Access to the Law (REAL) Program. REAL Trips take urban law students to rural areas to volunteer at free legal clinics for low-income clients.
Natasha Merle: Equal Justice Works Fellowships, 2009
Gulf Region Advocacy Center
School: New York University School of Law
I'll be representing former death row inmates who are granted new sentencing hearings due to constitutional violations. If these defendants are simply resentenced to death, prosecutors will strengthen their argument that these errors are harmless. My project seeks to prevent the creation of this dreadful precedent.
Lauren S. Michaels: Equal Justice Works Fellowships, 2009
Education Law Center
School: Harvard University Law School
My project is focused on securing appropriate special education services for children in foster care in New Jersey. In addition to personally representing clients, I train and mentor private attorneys to enable them to advocate for individual children, will create and distribute a guide for state agencies, and serve as a special education law resource for attorneys and state agencies, as well as biological parents, foster parents and educational surrogates. .
Abja Midha: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2005
Sanctuary for Families
School: Yale Law School
Abja Midha provides legal services to women who have fled to the United States to escape gender-based persecution in their native countries. As part of her project, Abja represents asylum seekers with gender-based claims, supervises pro bono attorneys and educates community based organizations about gender-based asylum. Thousands of women flee to the United States each year to escape gendered violence and many settle in the immigrant communities in New York.
Thomas Miller: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2001
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
School: Lewis and Clark, Northwestern School of Law
Tom Miller advocated on behalf of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon and of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and the Nez Perce Tribe. Tom’s project sought environmental justice for the tribes by advocating that the federal government and state governments of the Pacific Northwest protect and enhance salmon runs currently threatened with extinction. Each tribe has a treaty-based right to salmon, dating back to 1855, which the U.
Keith Miller: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2000
Legal Aid Society
School: City University of New York School of Law at Queens College
Keiths secured services for and protected the rights of workfare participants, people who are currently moving from welfare to work and others who work in low wage jobs. .
David Miller: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2003
Mississippi Center for Justice
School: Yale Law School
David Miller's host organization, the Mississippi Center for Justice, is a nonprofit public interest law firm committed to advancing racial and economic justice. The Center was founded in June 2002 by civil rights advocates, trial lawyers, social service advocates and other Mississippians committed to pursuing systemic advocacy strategies to combat discrimination and poverty, particularly in the areas of public education and other needs of children, consumer rights, including fair credit and housing access, and welfare to work. The Center is committed to community-centered advocacy and pursues a wide range of advocacy strategies in multiple forums.
Carrie Miller: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2004
South Brooklyn Legal Services
School: City University of New York School of Law at Queens College
Carrie Miller’s project with South Brooklyn Legal Services (SBLS) addresses the economic issues of domestic violence victims who are working to turn their lives around. These issues include the protection of domestic violence victims who are currently employed, who have lost their jobs because of the violence, or who have no job and must find a way to sustain themselves and their children until they find employment. SBLS provides legal services to the poor and working people of New York.
Vivek Mittal: Equal Justice Works Fellowships, 2009
National Immigration Law Center
School: University of California at Los Angeles School of Law
Recently, many states have passed laws limiting workers’ rights. At their core is E-Verify, a federal program intended to “authorize” workers but actually restricts workers and immigrants from working while facilitating employer discrimination. Through outreach and education in collaboration with immigrants’ and workers' rights groups and business associations, as well as multi-state litigation and policy advocacy, my project will challenge these laws through as-applied challenges to protect the rights of all workers.
Justin Mixon: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2002
Virginia Justice Center
School: University of Minnesota Law School
Justin Mixon works to combat the abuse of low-wage immigrant workers in Northern Virginia. As in other parts of the country, day laborers, many from Central and South America, wait on street corners for the chance to perform strenuous physical labor and work long hours. They contribute immensely to the U.
Stephanie Moes: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2004
Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati
School: University of Cincinnati College of Law
Stephanie Moes works with the Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati on a project to revitalize two inner-city neighborhoods facing years of destabilization. In recent years, these neighborhoods have been hard-hit by predatory real estate practices that have resulted in the communities losing residents and businesses and experiencing an upsurge in blighted and abandoned properties. Although the Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati has consistently provided individual representation to people in these neighborhoods, this project involves a systemic community law approach to strengthening these neighborhoods and aiding in their comeback.
Eugenio Mollo, Jr.: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2006
Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc. (ABLE)
School: University of Iowa College of Law
Eugenio Mollo is a Fellow at Advocates for Basic Legal Equality (ABLE), a nonprofit organization that provides legal assistance to help low-income individuals achieve self reliance, economic opportunity and equal justice. Eugenio's Immigrant Worker and Detainee Advocacy Project will assist immigrant workers and immigrant detainees throughout Ohio to ensure that these populations are aware of their rights and that proper legal procedures are followed. In an attempt to address the legal needs of the immigrant population in Ohio, ABLE began operating a Migrant Farmworker Program in 1978.
Lia Monahon: Equal Justice Works Fellowships, 2007
Children's Law Center of Massachusetts, Inc.
School: Northwestern University School of Law
I work for sentencing reform on behalf of Massachusetts youth. Despite their developmental immaturity and relative lack of resources, children in the U. S.
Amanda Moore: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2001
Appalachian Citizens Law Center, Inc.
School: Yale Law School
Amanda Moore, a Kentucky native, worked with a new organization to address the needs of low-income people living near coal mining operations. The Appalachian Citizens Law Center was formed to handle the coal-related work previously performed by legal services offices, including black lung benefits claims and mine safety cases. Amanda focused on environmental and land use cases across the high-poverty coal fields region.
Celina Moreno: Equal Justice Works Fellowships, 2010
Texas RioGrande Legal Aid
School: University of Houston Law Center
My goal is to obstruct the school-to-prison pipeline that channels youth from classrooms to alternative schools and later to juvenile and adult jails. While many dynamics place students at risk, school disciplinary referrals are the best indicator of future entry into the juvenile justice system, leading to higher school dropout rates. The project will seek to decrease alternative school referrals, establish a community-school partnership model, and expand access to legal resources for students and families.
Jon Morgan: AmeriCorps Legal Fellowships, 2006
Montana Legal Services Association
School: University of Montana
Jon is working with the Montana Legal Services Association (MTLSA) on its Indian Wills Project to provide a much-needed service to Montana’s low-income Indian population. There is currently no consistent resource within Montana to prepare wills for low-income tribal members, leaving them at risk of losing their family lands. Jon will work to recruit and train law student volunteers as well as members of Montana’s pro bono community, develop community education and pro se materials and provide direct representation to low-income clients of MTLSA.
Leisa Morrill-Wintz: Equal Justice Works Fellowships, 2008
Legal Aid of South Florida
School: Nova Southeastern University - Shepard Broad Law Center
Sponsors: The Florida Bar, The Florida Bar Foundation
Many teens – who are experiencing both parenthood and teenage domestic, dating, repeat and sexual violence at astounding rates – have little understanding of their rights, responsibilities and options in these matters. This program will deliver mobile legal education, advice and representation directly to teens on these vital issues. By reaching out to teens in this way, we provide them with choices for protecting themselves and their children.
Joy Moses: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2001
NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc.
School: Georgetown University Law Center
Joy Moses worked to become a vital part of the legacy of her host organization, the oldest civil rights legal organization in the United States. Joy’s project addressed the negative impact of high-stakes testing on minority primary and secondary school students. Through litigation and policy work, she advocated for fair testing policies that discourage the use of a single test score to determine whether or not an individual student graduates, is promoted or is placed in a particular educational track.
Lisa Mottet: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2001
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
School: Georgetown University Law Center
As the legislative lawyer for the Transgender Civil Rights Project, Lisa Mottet assisted state and local activists working to pass or amend civil rights laws to include transgender people. "This project begins with the expectation that in a free society an individual's gender identity and gender expression should be a matter of free choice," Lisa said. "The enactment and interpretation of law should reflect this ideal.
Anya Mukarji-Connolly: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2002
Urban Justice Center
School: City University of New York School of Law at Queens College
Anya Mukarji-Connolly is a fellow at the Peter Cicchino Youth Project (PCYP) of the Urban Justice Center (UJC). She represents lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) teenagers and young adults who are experiencing homophobia and violence in their families and are therefore in danger of being taken out of their homes and being placed in foster care. Anya is also working to bring about reform through systematic advocacy.
Amy Mulzer: Equal Justice Works Fellowships, 2006
The Legal Aid Society of New York
School: Columbia University School of Law
Amy Mulzer is a Fellow with the Legal Aid Society of New York, the nation's oldest and largest provider of legal services to the indigent. Her project aims to improve access to public benefits for homeless individuals and families in New York City through direct representation, education and outreach. While all low-income individuals face difficulties obtaining and retaining the public benefits to which they are entitled, these difficulties are often especially pronounced in the case of homeless claimants.
Hugh Mundy: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2000
Tennessee Justice Center
School: Catholic University of America-Columbus School of Law
Hugh Mundy’s project served individuals with disabilities participating in TennCare, Tennessee's Medicaid managed care program. His project focused specifically on the needs of TennCare enrollees with severe disabilities who have been inappropriately institutionalized in nursing homes. Through legal advocacy, community organizing and collaboration with community groups and service providers, Hugh worked to ensure that TennCare provided adequate home and community-based services for chronically ill and disabled persons throughout Tennessee.
Sandra Munoz: Equal Justice Works Fellow, 2001
inMotion, Inc.
School: City University of New York School of Law at Queens College
As an Equal Justice Works Fellow, Sandy Munoz was responsible for the development of Poder Latina (Latina Power). Poder Latina offers immigrant Latinas legal and advocacy clinics in the areas of family law, immigration and domestic violence. Sandy conducted a free legal walk-in clinic in the predominantly Latina community of Corona, Queens.
Tami Munsch: AmeriCorps Attorney, 2006
Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project
School: Mississippi College School of Law
Tami Munsch is serving her first term as an Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Attorney at the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project (MVLP) in Jackson, Mississippi. At MVLP, Tami is currently managing a state-wide, pro bono attorney membership drive. She is developing innovative recruitment techniques to increase law student and attorney participation.
Chuck Munson: AmeriCorps Legal Fellowships, 2007
Montana Legal Services Association
School: University of Arkansas School of Law
Chuck is an Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Attorney at the Montana Legal Services Association (MLSA) in Helena, Montana. The focal point of his work involves the Montana Self Help Law Project, which provides legal education, advice and materials in order to empower low-income individuals to represent themselves in court. “Montana is one of the largest states in the country,” Chuck commented, “Yet it is also one of the poorest and most rural, which provides unique and sometimes overwhelming challenges to the state’s legal services community.
Joshua Murnen: Equal Justice Works Fellowships, 2009
Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc.
School: University of Pittsburgh School of Law
I am working to establish and promote land banking systems to further affordable housing in Toledo, Ohio and Dayton, Ohio. I will identify existing properties and vacant parcels suitable for restoration and development, identify funding sources, and work with community development corporations, local public officials, HUD and other parties to develop sustainable affordable housing. .