Congratulations to the 2012 Skadden Fellows

It's time for celebration of a different sort -- time to celebrate, and congratulate, the latest class of Skadden Fellows. The winners of these prestigious public interest fellowships were just announced, as they are every December. Who are the Skadden fellows for 2012? Which law schools produced the most fellows? And what's different about this year's program compared to past years?

It’s that time of the year again. No, we’re not talking about the Above the Law holiday party, which happened already. Or the ATL holiday card contest, which is now underway.

It’s time for celebration of a different sort — time to celebrate, and congratulate, the latest class of Skadden Fellows. The winners of these prestigious public interest fellowships were just announced, as they are every December.

As explained in the Skadden Fellowship Foundation’s press release, the 28 new fellows are graduating law students or judicial law clerks who are devoting their careers to public interest work. They’ll be working for organizations located in nine states and the District of Columbia, “focusing on issues ranging from the health and safety of low-wage immigrant workers in California to representing Russian-speaking victims of domestic violence and sex trafficking in New York.”

(Baby Jesus would be proud of what they do. Unless they work for the ACLU and try to ruin his birthday.)

Who are the Skadden fellows for 2012? Which law schools produced the most fellows? And what’s different about this year’s program compared to past years?

We’ll take the last question first — what’s different this year. From the press release:

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The 2012 class includes three additional fellowships: two funded in memory of partners Joseph H. Flom and Peter P. Mullen, and one funded by partner José Allen from the attorneys’ fees awarded in a pro bono case. Mr. Flom, a named partner who was the founding trustee of the Skadden Fellowship Foundation, and Mr. Mullen, who served as executive director of the firm and helped to create the Fellowship program, both passed away in 2011.

(We noted Joe Flom’s passing here and Peter Mullen’s passing here.)

Which law schools produced the most Skadden fellows? Harvard Law led the way, with six fellows. Other schools with more than one fellow were Stanford Law, with three, and Boalt Hall, Columbia, NYU, Penn, and Yale, with two apiece. Kudos to these schools on producing public-spirited graduates.

Finally, if you want to see all their names, the new fellows are listed on the next page, along with their sponsoring organizations. If you see a friend of yours listed, please do drop them a congratulatory note!

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