Sinsheimer Service Scholars and Alumni

Class of 2019

Headshot Sean Eagan

Sean Eagan

Sean joins the NYU law student body after three years working in direct social services as a wrap care coordinator. In this role, Sean served the ten highest need students at a Washington, DC middle school, guiding them and their families through wraparound, an intensive case management and care planning process. Using a “families know best” approach, Sean worked with a variety of DC agencies, systems and mental health providers to ensure that children and their families received appropriate interventions, made progress toward their life goals, and avoided further sanctions from school, juvenile justice, and child welfare systems. Sean was first inspired to pursue a career in direct service while serving as a City Year AmeriCorps member. Working at the same school he would later serve in as a wrap care coordinator, Sean worked as a teacher’s assistant during the school day, a mentor during lunch time, and a tutor afterschool. Prior to joining City Year, Sean earned his B.A. in Political Science and Economics, magna cum laude, from the University of Massachusetts. As an attorney, Sean will continue in a direct service role, working for clients who need but cannot afford representation in civil legal matters. Through this work, he will continue to fight for his country’s poorest citizens, ensuring their voices are heard and their needs are met. Sean hopes to one day take these experiences into the policy arena, advocating for a broader social safety net that is created by and responsive to the citizens it seeks to protect.

Class of 2021

 

Headshot James deBoer

James deBoer
Rev. James deBoer is excited to apply his organizing and ministry experience to the practice of law. As an organizer he launched a statewide initiative to boost voting and civic engagement among people with disabilities; mobilized support for marriage equality, in-state tuition, and ending mass incarceration; and spearheaded passage of the first rent receipt ordinance in New Jersey. He earned a Master of Divinity at Yale, where he studied how congregational dynamics facilitate organizing and social change. After graduating, he and his spouse assisted congregations in Argentina and Paraguay with a yearlong strategic planning process. He was ordained in 2014 and served as pastor of the Federated Church of Livingston, NJ for four years, where he implemented a bilingual English/Spanish Bible study and convened a clergy task force to investigate inconsistent scheduling practices in the retail sector.

From a faith-based perspective, organizing, ministry, and the law address similar questions of how human beings can live together in society with freedom and justice, how people on the margins can access pathways towards meaningful inclusion, and how all of us can identify and act on shared values across dividing lines. Based on his experience and interests, James intends to provide civil legal services in the areas of immigration or employment law after completing his JD.

Alumni

Victoria Yee '18 - Skadden Fellow, Wage Justice Center
Jean-Luc Adrien '17 - Public Defender, Family Defense Practice, The Bronx Defenders
Annie Carney '16 (bio) - Attorney, Family Defense Practice, The Bronx Defenders (bio)
Diane Johnston ' 15 - Staff Attorney & Kirkland and Ellis Fellow, Domestic Violence Consumer Advocacy Project,  The Legal Aid Society
Rachel Hoerger '14 - Bay Area Legal Aid 
Jesse Rockoff '14 (bio) - Staff Attorney, Unlocal
Amanda Sen '12 (bio) - Acting Assistant Professor of Lawyering, NYU School of Law
Kosha Tucker '11 - Attorney, DeKalb County Office of the Public Defender
Sara Anne Zier '10 - Staff Attorney, TeamChild
Russell Curtiss Crane '09 - Staff Attorney, Tenants Rights Campaign, Bronx Neighborhood Office, Legal Aid Society
Ryan Downer '08 (bio) - Associate, Relman, Dane & Colfax, PLLC
Ani Mason '07 (bio) - Matrimonial Attorney and Mediator, Mason Law & Mediation, LLC
Gabe Freiman '06 (bio) - Supervising Attorney, Family Defense Practice, Brooklyn Defender Services
Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal '05 (bio) - Executive Director, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice
Sonja Shield '05 - President, Legal Services Staff Association 2320
Isaac Wheeler '03 (bio) - Attorney, Federal Defenders of New York
Claudia Flores '02 (bio) -  Assistant Clinical Professor of Law & Director, International Human Rights Clinic, University of Chicago Law School
Jessica Marcus '01 (bio) - Supervising Attorney, Family Defense Practice, Brooklyn Defender Services
Benjamin Wizner '00 (bio) - Director, ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project
Lisa Hoyes '99 (bio) - Assistant Dean for Public Service, NYU School of Law
Maisel Rodriquez-Vars '98 (bio) - Executive Director, Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence
Joanne Lin '97 (bio) - Senior Legislative Counsel, ACLU
Christopher Meade '96 (bio) - Chief Legal Officer, BlackRock