Students Receive Equal Justice Works Fellowships
Two University of Chicago Law School students will spend this summer serving with nonprofit public interest law organizations as a part of the Equal Justice Works Summer Corps program. Kent Qian and Emily Throop will each earn a $1,000 education award voucher through this national AmeriCorps-funded program. These students were among 592 applicants for 350 participant slots nationwide.
The 2007 Summer Corps members are first- and second-year law students from 117 law schools. They will each serve at least 300 hours in public interest projects, providing critically needed legal assistance to low-income and underserved communities in 37 states and the District of Columbia. Summer Corps members will also gain first-hand experience and legal skills in areas such as client intake, individual representation, research and writing
Summer Corps members work on a broad range of issues, including civil rights, community economic development, death penalty, disability rights, housing, domestic violence, education, public benefits and workers’ rights. In addition, 42 members are part of the Equal Justice Works Katrina Summer Corps, providing disaster-related legal services to populations affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Kent Qian will serve with Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta; Emily Throop with Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago in Chicago.
Equal Justice Works, a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization, was founded in 1986 by law students dedicated to working for equal justice on behalf of underserved communities and causes. Today, Equal Justice Works is the national leader in creating summer and postgraduate public interest opportunities for law students and lawyers as well as in urging more public interest programming at law schools. For more information about Equal Justice Works, visit www.equaljusticeworks.org.