Biglaw, Fabulosity, Law Schools, Pro Bono, Public Interest

Congratulations to the 2011 Skadden Fellows

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Biglaw isn’t all about high-stakes mergers and bet-the-company litigation. Many Biglaw firms take their commitment to pro bono very seriously. Obviously, these firms need to pay the bills, first and foremost. But when they can, many firms do try to give back.

As many of you already know, Skadden takes that commitment quite a bit further, with its Skadden Fellows program. We highlight this worthy program every year. The Skadden Fellowships are for law school graduates who want to devote their lives to public service, and the firm makes a major financial commitment to its fellows. From the Skadden Fellows website:

Fellowships are awarded for two years. Skadden provides each Fellow with a salary and pays all fringe benefits to which an employee of the sponsoring organization would be entitled. For those Fellows not covered by a law school low income protection plan, the firm will pay a Fellow’s law school debt service for the tuition part of the loan for the duration of the fellowship. The 2011 class of Fellows brings to 620 the number of academically outstanding law school graduates and judicial clerks the firm has funded to work full-time for legal and advocacy organizations.

It’s a sweet gig if you can get it.

And if you take a look at the list of Fellows — perhaps you know some of them? — you’ll notice that quite a few of them attend the top law schools in the country….

The Skadden Fellowships program is one of those things people should remember when they think “I don’t need to get a high LSAT score or go to a prestigious law school unless I want Biglaw.” While it’s undeniably true that success stories come from everywhere, it’s not true that going to a prestigious law school is antithetical to a career in public interest. This year, five Harvard Law School students, three Stanford Law students, two Michigan Law students, two Penn Law students, and one Yale Law student were among the 29 Skadden Fellows.

Sponsored

In all, 20 of the 29 Fellows went to top-15 law schools. So yeah, going to a top law school can be helpful even if you want to go into public service.

Check out all the new Skadden Fellows and the organizations they’ll be working with. You can read more about what they’ll be doing over here. Congratulations to the students and kudos to Skadden for continuing this program.

SKADDEN FELLOWS 2011

Sheerine Alemzadeh
University of Pennsylvania Law School
Working Hands Legal Clinic
Chicago, IL

Laurie Ball
Yale Law School
Public Counsel Law Center
Los Angeles, CA

Sponsored

Elizabeth Benton
Harvard Law School
Legal Services Center
Jamaica Plain, MA

Larisa Bowman
Stanford Law School
Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County
San Mateo, CA

Amy Cahn
University of Pennsylvania Law School
Public Interest Law Center
Philadelphia, PA

Stephen Cha-Kim
Harvard Law School
Make the Road New York
Brooklyn , NY

Paulina Davis
Howard University School of Law
Advocates for Children of New York
New York, NY

Charles Gillig
Georgetown University Law Center
Casa Cornelia Law Center
San Diego, CA

Katherine Greenberg
New York University School of Law
The Legal Aid Society
New York, NY

Jeree Harris
University of Virginia School of Law
Just Children, Legal Aid Justice Center
Charlottesville, VA

Liza Hirsch
Northeastern University School of Law
Medical Legal Partnership/Boston
Boston, MA

Margaretta Homsey
Boston College Law School
Greater Boston Legal Services Health and Disability Unit
Boston, MA

Alvaro Huerta
Stanford Law School
National Immigration Law Center
Los Angeles, CA

Sushil Jacob
University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall)
East Bay Community Law Center
Berkeley, CA

Daniel Lang
Widener University School of Law
Community Legal Aid Society, Inc.
Wilmington, DE

Samantha Leflar
University of Arkansas School of Law
Legal Aid of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR

Shirley Lin
City University of New York School of Law
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund
New York, NY

William Mobley
University of Michigan Law School
Legal Services of Eastern Missouri Children’s Legal Alliance
St. Louis , MO

Shareese Pryor
University of Chicago Law School
Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago
Chicago, IL

Devi Rao
Columbia University School of Law
National Women’s Law Center
Washington, DC

Stephanie Rudolph
Stanford Law School
New York Lawyers for the Public Interest
New York, NY

Dustin Saldarriaga
Harvard Law School
Community Legal Services and Counseling Center
Cambridge, MA

Meredith Shytles
University of Texas School of Law
Advocacy, Inc.
Austin, TX

Lindsey Siegel
American University Washington College of Law
Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation
Atlanta, GA

Sarah St. Vincent
University of Michigan Law School
The Advice on Individual Rights in Europe (AIRE) Centre
London, UK

Aisa Villarosa
Wayne State University Law School
Michigan Children’s Law Center
Detroit, MI

Marni von Wilpert
Fordham University School of Law
Mississippi Center for Justice
Jackson, MS

Emily Werth
Harvard Law School
Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
Chicago, IL

Michael Zabelin
Harvard Law School
Rhode Island Legal Services, Inc.
Providence, RI

Earlier: Congratulations to the Newest Class of Skadden Fellows

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