NYU Law students and alumni claimed eight of Equal Justice Works (EJW)’s 76 fellowships for 2019. This two-year fellowship supports recent graduates while they work with public interest organizations to address unmet legal needs in communities across the country.
Mitchell Brown ’17 will work in North Carolina with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) on voting rights issues. Through educational outreach and advocacy, Brown will work to inform North Carolina residents with felony records of their right to vote and will help them become politically engaged. Through litigation, he will oppose state efforts to disenfranchise voters and expand advocacy efforts in Alabama and Texas where the SCSJ has sister organizations.
In New York, Gina Bull ’19 will provide representation for parents at risk of losing custody of their children due to housing instability and homelessness. Through the Center for Family Representation (CFR), Bull will contribute to citywide efforts to address child-welfare needs and provide resources for CFR attorneys in Queens and Manhattan.
Brittany Castle ’19 will defend immigrant rights with the Immigrant Defense Project in New York. She will advocate for detained immigrants with physical and mental health concerns and collect data on the practices and policies related to their detention.
Jeremy “Cody” Cutting ’19 will be based in Georgia with the Southern Center for Human Rights where he will address injustices in the pretrial diversion system. Cutting will work to ensure that lower-income individuals receive fair access to diversion services.
In New York, Juliet Eisenstein ’19 will be with Advocates for Children of New York addressing education and special education issues. She will work to remove educational barriers for high school students with disabilities through advising and legal representation.
Molly Griffard ’19 will work with the Legal Aid Society in New York to challenge police misconduct, representing clients seeking accountability for mistreatment. She will also gather data on rights violations by law enforcement and advocate for criminal justice reform.
At the Bronx Defenders in New York, Ranit Patel ’17 will represent Bronx residents at risk of having their driver’s licenses suspended because they are unable to pay traffic tickets. She will hold know-your-rights trainings and challenge the constitutionality of suspending licenses as a punishment for nonpayment of fines.
Viviana Bonilla López ’17 will work at Disability Rights Florida on the expansion of Supported Decision-Making (SDM), which allows people with disabilities to make independent decisions instead of having decisions made by a guardian. Her work will include client representation, drafting SDM agreements, and ending guardianship arrangements.
In addition, five NYU Law students earned Peggy Browning Fellowships—fellowships for 1L and 2L students who have demonstrated their commitment to advancing workers’ rights. The fellowships provide stipends for a 10-week summer term with labor law and workers’ rights organizations. The student recipients for 2019 have diverse backgrounds in organizing, activism, and unionization.
Terry Buck ’21 is spending his fellowship with the United Steelworkers; Carley Russell ’20 is working with the Communication Workers of America; Megan Staters ’20 is at the New York Hotel & Motel Trades Council, AFL-CIO; Matthew Stolz ’20 is working at Cohen, Weiss & Simon; and Jacqueline Uranga ’21 is spending her summer at the Partnership for Working Families.
Posted July 17, 2019