To encourage careers in public interest law, each year the Massachusetts Bar Foundation awards fellowships, including $6,000 stipends, to law students who intern at Massachusetts legal aid organizations during the summer months. Funded through the MBF Fellows Fund (from pledge payments of MBF Fellows) and the Smith Family Fund, the Foundation’s Legal Intern Fellowship Program (LIFP) serves as a springboard to public interest law careers for the area’s most promising law students. The MBF is pleased to announce the 2009 Legal Intern Fellows:
MBF Fellows Fund Fellows:
Erin Cox
Boston College Law School
Political Asylum Immigration Representation Project
Rachel Culley
University of Michigan
Greater Boston Legal Services Housing Unit
Martha Drane
New England School of Law
Harvard Legal Aid Bureau
Beth Goldstein
Boston University Law School
Massachusetts Advocates for Children
Kelly Samuels
Western New England College
Western Mass. Legal Services Family Law Program
Smith Family Fellow:
Heather O’Connor
Roger Williams University
South Coastal Counties Legal Services Homelessness Prevention Project
Chaired by MBF Trustee Robert Marchand, this year’s selection committee was heartened by the number and quality of the applications received. “We faced a difficult task of selecting just six students from this year’s pool of excellent candidates,” Marchand remarked. “It is very encouraging that there continues to be a significant number of law students committed to dedicating their careers to public service.”