This summer, 49 Vanderbilt law students will pursue summer work in the public service sector or in government offices around the world, funded in part by public interest and Vanderbilt law stipends.
“We have students going all over the U.S. and to England, Ireland, Italy, Geneva, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Namibia,” Susan Kay, Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs, said. “They’ll be working on projects addressing civil rights, civil liberties, family law, criminal law, mental health advocacy, spousal abuse and general legal aid.”
Fifteen students received stipends through the student Legal Aid Society’s Public Interest Stipend Fund, and 34 received summer stipends from Vanderbilt Law School, including stipends funded by the Regulatory and Environmental Law programs.
Public Interest Stipends are available to students who pursue projects that support traditionally under-served populations. The stipends are awarded on a competitive basis. Students apply by submitting proposals detailing their projects, and recipients are selected by based on the merits of their proposals. Two students who will pursue public interest projects in Nashville this summer – Raymond Walther and Georgia Sims – received Bass, Berry and Sims Stipends, funded by the law firm. Remaining Public Interest Stipends are funded by annual contributions to the Vanderbilt Legal Aid Society from alumni, faculty and students as well as through endowment.
“We’re truly grateful to alumni, students, faculty and firms such as Bass, Berry * Sims, whose generous contributions to the Public Aid Stipend Fund make these summer grants possible,” Dean Kay said.
Students granted public interest stipends for summer 2007 include:
- Kristin Davis: Department of Justice, Office of Civil Rights, Special Litigation, Washington, D.C.
- Sarah Easley – Tennessee Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, Nashville
- Georgia Hamann – American Civil Liberties Union, Tennessee
- Laura Keane – New Orleans Legal Assistance, Family Law Clinic
- Blair Lazarus – Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation
- Lauren Lowe – Equip for Equality, Chicago
- Nora Lynch – Mental Health Advocacy Service, Los Angeles
- Cheyanne Mahoney – District Public Defender, Clarksville/Springfield Tennessee
- Safiya Morgan – Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area
- Cullen Newton – Legal Assistance Center of Windhoek, Namibia
- Amanda Porter – Battered Women Legal Advocacy Project, Minneapolis
- Georgia Sims – Office of the Federal Public Defender, Middle District of Tennessee (Bass, Berry & Sims Stipend)
- Kristin Stangl – Georgia Capital Defenders, Atlanta
- Rebecca Stubbs – Legal Aid Clinic of Kampala, Uganda
- Raymond Walther – Legal Aid Society, Nashville office (Bass, Berry & Sims Stipend)
To qualify for summer stipends from Vanderbilt Law School, students must pursue work in either not-for-profit or government agencies. The Regulatory Center also provides funding for students engaged in administrative and regulatory practice, and one stipend each year is awarded to a student who pursues environmental law.
Students awarded Vanderbilt Law School stipends include:
- Danny Agai – Dispute Resolution Services, Los Angeles County Bar
- Mavanee Anderson – U.S. Mission to the United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland
- Megan Bradt – Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Washington, D.C. (Regulatory Stipend)
- Ellen D’Angelo – International Institute of Humanitarian Law, Sanremo, Italy
- Francis James Dermody – Clerk,Judge Thomas Hardiman, US Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit
- Seth Erickson – Chicago Legal Aid Clinic-Immigration Project
- Benjamin Ford – Maine Attorney General’s Office
- Charles Gardner – Land Trust for Tennessee (Environmental Law Stipend)
- Rachel Gore – Irish Center for Human Rights, Galway, Ireland
- Nemer Hadous – Wayne County Corporation Counsel, Detroit
- Hugh Hill – British Institute of International and Comparative Law, London, United Kingdom
- Allison Holt – Department of Justice, Civil Division-Commercial Litigation, Washington, D.C.
- Emily Hoyt – Danforth Center, St. Louis, Missouri
- Fong Hsu – US Attorney’s Office, Salt Lake City, Utah
- Shaina Jones – National Security Archive, Washington, D.C.
- Jason Katz – Clerk,Judge Eugene Siler, US Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit
- Katherine Kelly – Clerk,Judge Clayton Greene, Jr., Maryland Court of Appeals
- Nicole King – U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Colorado
- Casey Kuhlman – Special Court for Sierra Leone, Office of Prosecutor
- Daniel Lanigan – Irish Centre for Human Rights, Galway, Ireland; District Attorney’s Office, Philadelphia, PA; Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
- Benjamin Mainzer – District Attorney’s Office, San Mateo County, California
- Robert McRight – Legal Aid of North Carolina in Wilmington
- Gary Montle – World Intellectual Property Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
- Joseph Murphy – Clerk, Chief Justice Fred Lewis, Florida Supreme Court
- David Olscamp – US Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Georgia
- Tarika Powell – Southern Environmental Law Center, Atlanta, Georgia (Regulatory Stipend)
- Bradley David Roush – Public Defender’s Office, Maryland
- Brett Sander – Special Court for Sierra Leone-Office of Prosecutor
- Jacquelyn Schell – Juvenile Defender’s Office, Atlanta, Georgia
- John Benjamin Schrader – US Attorney’s Office, Washington, D.C.
- Daniel Shim – Public Guardian, Chicago
- Justin Truesdale – Public Defender’s Office, Norristown, Pennsylvania
- Herman Webley – Office of Utilities and Regulation, Jamaica (Regulatory Stipend)