The Irvin and Maggie Dagen Public Interest Fellowships provide stipends to students who obtain volunteer positions with public interest organizations for the summer. Funded by the School of Law, the Public Interest Law Group (PILG) and the Dagen Fellowship Fund, the fellowships are awarded to law students who are committed to working in public interest law.
This year, $94,000 was distributed among 60 students to work in positions at various judicial and government offices and nonprofit organizations across the country. Several of these fellowship recipients provided a glimpse into their summer away from SLU LAW.
The Legal Clinic joined with the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Outreach to sponsor a Naturalization Ceremony for 26 immigrants from 11 countries who became U.S. citizens on April 12. The ceremony capped off Atlas Week at the University. Lisa Taylor, Director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs, welcomed the new citizens, including several who have ties to the University, and Dean Michael Wolff addressed the new citizens during the ceremony in the Law School's Courtroom. The Law School has sponsored several Naturalization ceremonies, including one for 1,000 people at the Chaifetz Arena.
Third year student Ben Yousef prepares to argue before the Missouri Court of Appeals-Western District, which heard cases at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg this week. Ben argued a case on behalf of a Clinic client in an unemployment compensation case. More than a hundred students from UCM and local high schools observed the argument.
After his own experience returning from active duty, Desert Storm veteran Hence Forland decided to help other veterans in their often difficult transitions back to civilian life. Windsor Transitional House offers support, transportation, job placement services, aid for substance abuse, and other resources for veterans. Students from the Community & Economic Development Clinic represented this client in its corporate filings and in obtaining tax-exempt status, as well as in drafting bylaws and other internal documents.
Professor Susan McGraugh has been awarded the Faculty Commitment to Experiential Learning Award at the University's Annual Leadership and Service Awards Ceremony. Professor McGraugh was honored for her work in the Law School's Criminal Defense Clinic where she has developed an interdisciplinary and holistic clinic serving persons with mental illness who have been brought into the criminal justice system. She supervises students who represent criminal defenses, and assists them with accessing services which help them avoid incarceration.
Third year student Colin Clark recently completed his summer Judicial Externship Clinic experience with Magistrate Judge Philip Frazier in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. “Judge Frazier deals with all manner of inmate claims,” Clark said, “ranging from complaints about legal mail to prison violence, injuries, and violation of constitutional rights.” As an extern, Clark helped the court respond to these claims by drafting memoranda and orders for pre-trial motions. One of the highlights of his summer came when he accompanied other externs and law clerks from the Southern District on a tour of the United States Penitentiary at Marion, an institution whose population is responsible for many of the claims Clark encountered. He explained, “The tour was an opportunity for us to see the other end of the legal system – an inside look at the environment, rules, and routines that give rise to the claims we receive.”