Five NYU Law students and recent alumni have joined the U.S. Department of Justice through the Attorney General’s Honors Program, a recruitment program that is the sole path to a Justice Department attorney position for new lawyers. The highly competitive program has hired fewer than 75 attorneys this year.
Rachael Dizard ’12, a Root-Tilden-Kern Scholar with a B.A. in politics and philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh, was part of the Juvenile Defender Clinic and a staff development editor for the Review of Law and Social Change. She interned in the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review for the Newark Immigration Court’s judges. Dizard will join the Executive Office for Immigration Review full-time.
Michael Pollack ’11, who was a Furman Academic Scholar and a Tikvah Scholar, served as an articles edtor of the NYU Law Review. He earned a B.A. in political science and a minor in economics from Swarthmore College, interned for the Justice Department’s Office of the Solicitor General, and is currently clerking for Judge Janice Rogers Brown of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Pollack will join the Federal Programs Branch.
Natasha Smalky ’10, who was part of the Criminal Appellate Defender Clinic, earned an A.B. in Romance languages and literatures at Harvard University. She worked as a trial preparation assistant for the New York County District Attorney’s Office, interned with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, clerked for Judge Nathaniel Gorton of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, and is currently clerking for Judge Jane Roth of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Smalky will join the Antitrust Division.
Justin Weitz ’11, who clerked with Orleans Public Defenders and was an articles editor of the Journal of Legislation and Public Policy, earned a B.A. in history and government from Cornell University. He interned for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in both the District of New Jersey and the Eastern District of New York, and is currently clerking for Judge R. Barclay Surrick of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Weitz will join the Criminal Division.
Allison Westfahl Kong ’10, who was a Furman Academic Scholar and a senior articles editor for the NYU Law Review, has a B.A. in mathematics and government from Claremont McKenna College. Westfahl Kong was a post-doctoral fellow at the Law School’s Institute for Policy Integrity, then clerked for Judge Jed Rakoff of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and is currently clerking for Judge Robert Katzmann of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Westfahl Kong will join the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
Posted on February 2, 2012