National Advisory Committee Members
Sabrina Andrus
Class of 2008
Seattle University School of Law
Seattle, WA
Malissa Barnwell-Scott
Student Programs Advisor, Office of Public Service
University of Southern California Law School
Los Angeles, CA
Laurie Barron
Director, Feinstein Institute for Legal Service
Roger Williams University School of Law
Bristol, RI
Kathleen Clyde
Class of 2008
The Ohio State University - Michael E. Moritz College of Law
Columbus, OH
Susan Feathers
Executive Director of the John and Terry Levin Center
for Public Service and Public Interest Law
Stanford Law School
Stanford, CA
Annie Goldman
Career Counselor
Tulane University School of Law
New Orleans, LA
Taylor Healy
Class of 2010
Villanova University School of Law
Bryn Mawr, PA
Shijuade Kadree
Class of 2010
Emory University School of Law
Atlanta, GA
Aliza Kaplan
Instructor of Law
Brooklyn Law School
Brooklyn, NY
Bridget Kenadjian
Assistant Director of Career and Professional Development
William Mitchell College of Law
St Paul, MN
Marni Lennon
Assistant Dean of Students
University of Miami School of Law
Miami, FL
Timothy Little
Former AmeriCorps Attorney
University of Montana School of Law
Missoula, MT
Ruth Lopez
Class of 2009
Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology
Chicago, IL
Tim McNutt
Class of 2010
California Western School of Law
San Diego, CA
Caroline Richardson
Class of 2009
Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis
Indianapolis, IN
Leslie Ross
Class of 2009
Phoenix School of Law
Phoenix, AZ
Ezra Rosser
Assistant Professor
American University, Washington College of Law
Washington, DC
Robert Salem
Clinical Professor of Law
University of Toledo College of Law
Toledo, OH
Cristen Sargent
Class of 2008
Washington University in St. Louis School of Law
St. Louis, MO
Daniel Zeno
Class of 2009
University of Iowa College of Law
Iowa City, IA
Sabrina Andrus
Sabrina Andrus is a cum laude graduate of Seattle University School of Law. During her time in law school she was a law clerk for a variety of local and national social justice organizations including Law Students for Reproductive Justice (where she also served as a director on the Board of Directors), Planned Parenthood Global Partners, and Northwest Justice Project. While in law school, Sabrina was the President of the Public Interest Law Foundation and the SU Chapter of Law Students for Reproductive Justice. She is currently the Project Coordinator for the Committee for Indigent Representation and Civil Legal Equality at Northwest Justice Project. CIRCLE coordinates and supports advocacy and identifies and helps to strategize on cases that raise rights to civil counsel and access to courts issues. Sabrina also sits on the Washington State Access to Justice Law School Relations Committee, a group dedicated to promoting workable unity among the Washington State law schools and the larger public interest community.
Malissa Barnwell-Scott
Malissa Barnwell-Scott is the Student Programs Advisor in the Office of Public Service at USC Gould School of Law. She provides support and counseling to student leaders and student organizations that have or want to develop pro bono and community service projects. She coordinates office sponsored programs and projects including the 100-hour Service Pledge Competition and annual orientation service project for incoming students. Whenever given the opportunity, Malissa talks to students about the importance and value of developing a strong service ethic and experiential learning while in law school. She has been a part of the law school community for over 9 years working in Career Services, Student Affairs and Public Service. She graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology with a B.F.A in Photography and earned her M.A. in Communication Management at USC’s Annenberg School of Communication.
Laurie Barron
Laurie Barron is the Executive Director of the Feinstein Institute for Legal Service at Roger Williams University School of Law. Her previous work includes representing children at the Juvenile Rights Division of the Legal Aid Society in New York City; working as a public defender and team leader at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem; and clinical teaching in an interdisciplinary Prisoners and Families Clinic at Columbia Law School, in a School-Based Legal Services Clinic at Rutgers-Camden School of Law, and in a Juvenile Rights Advocacy Project at Boston College Law School. She received a B.A. from Yale University, a J.D. from New York University School of Law, and an M.S.W. from New York University School of Social Work. Laurie has been at the Feinstein Institute since 2001. She directs the Institute and its Externship Program and teaches the co-requisite seminar on Public Interest Law in addition to other public interest courses.
Kathleen Clyde
Kathleen Clyde graduated from Wesleyan University with a B.A. in English. After graduation, she worked as a Program Assistant for two years at the Community Shelter Board in Columbus, Ohio. The Shelter Board is nationally recognized for its innovative approach to coordinating shelter and services to end homelessness in Columbus. Next, she joined the Ohio Kerry-Edwards campaign as their statewide College Coordinator. In this capacity, Kathleen coordinated campaign activities on all 120 college campuses in Ohio, including over half a million students. She then worked for various political campaigns, including Senator Hillary Clinton's Senate re-election campaign, until she enrolled in law school in the fall of 2005. Currently, Kathleen is a 3L at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law where she is the Symposium Editor of the Ohio State Law Journal and President of the OSU chapter of the American Constitution Society. Last year, she served as President of the Ohio State Public Interest Law Foundation.
Susan Feathers
Susan Feathers is the Executive Director of the John and Terry Levin Center for Public Service and Public Interest Law at Stanford Law School. She has also served for nearly a decade as Assistant Dean and Director of the University of Pennsylvania Law School's Public Service Program where she directed the pro bono, Public Interest Scholars, and student-run clinical programs. She was also the Founding Director of Public Service at Brooklyn and Yale Law Schools as well as a Clinical Staff Attorney for Hofstra Law School's Criminal Defense, Constitutional Litigation and Disability Clinics. She began her career as Associate Appellate Counsel at the Legal Aid Criminal Appeals Bureau in New York City. Susan received her B.A. and M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania – where she was a Benjamin Franklin Scholar – and her J.D. from Northeastern, where she was an Edward V. Sparer Fellow.
Annie Goldman
Annie Goldman is a Career Counselor at Tulane University Law School. She specializes in public interest, government and environmental law opportunities. At Tulane, Annie established the Public Interest Executive Committee - a group comprised of leaders from all student organizations substantially committed to public service. The group meets bi-weekly to collaborate on projects and share ideas and information related to public interest initiatives. Prior to her arrival at Tulane, Annie served as Staff Attorney and then Supervising Attorney for Legal Services of South Central Michigan, where she focused on family and housing law. While in law school, Annie held the position of student supervisor for a pilot project designed to train law students to assist pro per litigants in obtaining or defending against Personal Protection Orders. Annie received her B.A. from Barnard College and her J.D. from UC Hastings College of the Law.
Taylor Healy
Taylor Healy is a 2L Public Interest Scholar at the Villanova University School of Law in Villanova, Pennsylvania. She is a member of the Villanova Law Review and is the Solicitation Coordinator for the law school’s Public Interest Fellowship Program (PIFP). She was the recipient of a 2008 PIFP Summer Fellowship and spent this past summer working as a law clerk in the Guardian ad Litem Program at the Children’s Law Center in Washington, DC. Prior to attending law school, Taylor worked in Washington, DC on post-Hurricane Katrina legal services issues at the Legal Services Corporation. She was the recipient of a 2004 Fulbright Scholarship and spent her year abroad in both Osnabrück and Berlin, Germany where she examined the effects of the 2004 European Union expansion on German migration and immigration policy. Taylor received her B.A. in English and German from Boston College in 2004.
Shijuade Kadree
Shijuade Kadree is a 3L at Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia. At Emory, she is pursuing a joint degree with an MPH program, specifically focusing on Global Environmental Health. In 2007, she received the American Bar Association Fellowship for Minorities in Environmental Law which allowed her to work with the Natural Resources Defense Council in their Los Angeles office that summer. Before law school Shijuade served as a Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellow, where she worked on such issues as access to financial products and services for low-income families, financial education, federal and state anti-hunger programs, and comprehensive immigration reform. Through her work with the National Conference of State Legislatures during the fellowship, she published Bringing Legislators to the Table: Addressing Hunger and Nutrition in America, highlighting the achievements of programs across the states that effectively and creatively addressed hunger in their local communities. Ms. Kadree received her B.A. in Political Science and Sociology from Emory University in 2005.
Aliza Kaplan
Aliza Kaplan is a member of the Brooklyn Law School (BLS) faculty where she teaches writing and research. She is involved with BLS's Edward V. Sparer Public Interest Program and represents asylum seekers through BLS's Safe Harbor Project. She was previously the Deputy Director of the Innocence Project, an organization which represents prisoners in their efforts to obtain DNA testing to prove their innocence, and she co-founded the New England Innocence Project. She was formerly an associate at Testa, Hurwitz and Thibeault in Boston and served as a Law Clerk to Judge Joseph E. Irenas of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. She is a graduate of Northeastern University School of Law. Prior to law school, Aliza was a fundraiser and community organizer for NOW LDEF and NYPIRG. Kaplan is also a documentary film producer; My Country, My Country, a film she co-produced, was nominated for an Academy Award in 2007.
Bridget Kenadjian
Bridget Kenadjian is the Assistant Director for Career and Professional Development at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, MN. She is currently serving a fifth year on the Board of Trustees for the Minnesota Career Development Association and has been involved in various leadership roles for this and other professional organizations for over twenty years. Bridget’s entire career has focused on serving college and university students and alumni. She has worked as an Assistant Dean of Leadership Development, a Faculty Member, a Director of Service Learning and an Assistant Dean of Career Development at several colleges and universities across the country. Bridget received her B.A. from Gettysburg College and M.A. in Higher Education Administration and Counseling from Michigan State University.
Marni Lennon
Marni Lennon is the Assistant Dean for Public Interest and Pro Bono at the University of Miami School of Law. She is also the Founder and Director of the HOPE Public Interest Resource Center, which features over 25 outreach and advocacy projects across South Florida. Dean Lennon has worked at the University of Miami School of Law for 13 years, where she spent nine years as an Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Disability Services. She has been involved in the creation of the Public Interest Loan Reduction Program and the Public Interest Scholarship Program and she oversees the HOPE Fellows Program, which places students worldwide in public interest organizations. In addition, she directs the Miami Scholars Program for students with a commitment to public interest. Marni is the advisor to the Public Interest Leadership Board and works closely with student organizations engaged in community outreach and advocacy. She teaches Alternative Dispute Resolution and Mediation at the University of Miami School of Law and serves as a mediator in the criminal courts. Marni also serves on the executive committee of the AALS Pro Bono Section. She holds a B.A. from the University of Southern California and a J.D. and M.S.Ed from the University of Miami.
Timothy Little
Timothy Little is a Staff Attorney at Montana Legal Services Association (MLSA) in Missoula, Montana. He joined MLSA in 2006 as an Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Fellow assigned with the task of developing their Self-Help Law Project. Timothy assisted in the creation of a statewide program providing legal education, advice and self-help materials used to empower low-income individuals with the option of resolving their own legal problems. MLSA is a national leader in utilizing and developing new technologies such as automated document assembly, law help instant messaging and video conferencing clinics. He has spoken at a number of national conferences on the topic of using new technologies to enhance the delivery of legal services to low-income clients. Timothy was the recipient of a Public Interest Fellowship in 2008 through the American Constitution Society. In his current position, he recruits and trains law student volunteers and develops pro se legal materials and he directly represents legal services clients. He received his B.A. in history from the University of Montana and earned his J.D. in 2006.
Ruth Lopez
Ruth Lopez is a 3L at Chicago–Kent College of Law. During her first year at Chicago–Kent she became involved through student organizations such as the Hispanic Latino Law Student Association (HLLSA), Student Hurricane Network (SHN), Women in Law, Access 2 Justice and Kent Justice Foundation. During her second year, Ruth continued her involvement with the student body by serving on various boards of student organizations – she was external vice president for HLLSA and president of SHN. She is involved in creating a new organization at Chicago–Kent, the Student Immigration Law Association. Prior to attending law school Ruth worked as a community organizer in Chicago’s northwest side. As an organizer, Ruth assisted in creating community block clubs, improving police patrol, creating after school programs, and creating a third shift preschool program that services over 200 three- and four-year-old at-risk children. She holds a B.A. in Spanish and Latino Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Tim McNutt
Tim McNutt is a student at California Western School of Law. He first became interested in law during an undergraduate exchange program at the University of Cape Town South Africa in the spring of 2004. He was inspired by the profound role law had on the development of post-apartheid South Africa and the formation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Tim returned to the George Washington University (GWU) and continued his service as an advisory committee member for the Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Education. He served as the student representative of the committee aimed at curbing substance abuse on the George Washington campus. After graduating from GWU in 2005, Tim worked at the St. Louis City Public Defender’s office serving as the Drug Court Representative. He represented over 200 indigent clients in the Adult Felony Drug Court and advocated for the non-violent offenders’ placement in treatment facilities in lieu of incarceration. As a 1L Tim interned with the National Consumers League, where he researched and wrote a draft for the American Bar Association on the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005. The article is titled, “The Unintended Consequences of the Class Action Fairness Act” and is scheduled to be published in the August 2009 edition of Litigation Magazine. Tim received his B.A. in Sociology from GWU in 2005.
Caroline Richardson
Caroline Richardson is a 3L at Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis where she is President of a campus public interest student organization. She is concentrating her studies in the areas of housing, discrimination and civil rights advocacy. Caroline also serves as the law school’s student representative for iVote, an on-campus initiative through the IUPUI School of Political Science that will encourage political engagement and facilitate political participation in the 2008 election. Prior to beginning law school, she served as an Americorps*VISTA volunteer with Horizon House, a homeless day shelter in Indianapolis, where she worked on resource development projects including private and government grant applications and event planning. Following her service, Caroline was hired by Horizon House to continue her work in resource development. She spent her first summer in law school interning with the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana. She is currently a clerk with the Supreme Court of Indiana Disciplinary Commission. Caroline received her B.A. in English from Furman University in 2003.
Leslie Ross
Leslie Ross is in her final year at Phoenix School of Law in Phoenix, Arizona. At Phoenix School of Law, Leslie has served as the President and Founder of the Public Interest Law Project, an evening delegate on the Student Bar Association, a student liaison for the State Bar of Arizona Young Lawyers Division, a member of the Phoenix School of Law Pro Bono Committee, and a participant in the Phoenix School of Law Mediation Clinic. While attending law school, Leslie works full-time as the Public Legal Information Manager at the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services & Education. In this role, Leslie serves on the State Bar of Arizona Legal Services Committee, the Consumer Information and Education Task Force, and the Statewide Elder Abuse Coalition. Additionally, Leslie works to promote access to justice for all Arizonans by coordinating statewide legal services efforts.
Ezra Rosser
Ezra Rosser, an assistant professor at American University Washington College of Law, focuses his research on poverty and on tribal economic development and runs the popular Poverty Prof Blog. Ezra teaches poverty law, Indian law, and property. Previously, he served as a 1665 Fellow at Harvard University, a visiting scholar at Yale Law School, and a Westerfield Fellow at Loyola University New Orleans School of Law. While in law school, he clerked at the DNA-People’s Legal Services, at the Office of Native American Programs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and at the Native American Rights Fund. Ezra has an MPhil from the University of Cambridge (UK) in Land Economics (2004), a J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School (2003), and a B.A. in Economics and English from Yale University (2000).
Robert Salem
Rob Salem is a Clinical Professor at the University of Toledo College of Law. As a clinician, Robert teaches courses that provide students with the skills necessary to successfully practice law while advancing the law school’s social justice mission. He has also established several policy and law reform projects at the law school that have a broad impact on the community. Among the projects he currently directs are the Safe School Project, which addresses the detrimental effects of bullying in schools, and the Prison Project, which advocates for adequate healthcare for inmates in Ohio’s jails and prisons. Robert is a graduate of the University of Toledo College of Law. He currently serves on the Executive Board of the Ohio ACLU, the Board of Directors for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the Board of Directors for the Ohio Drug Assistance Program, and the Board of Directors for the Toledo Public Defender’s Office.
Cristen Sargent
Cristen Sargent is a J.D./M.S.W. dual degree graduate from Washington University in St. Louis. At Washington University School of Law, Cristen is a member of the Public Service Advisory Board, creating volunteer opportunities for other law students and spearheading an effort to establish a pro bono requirement. She founded the National Lawyers Guild law student chapter and enjoys volunteering as a child advocate for kids in foster care with Voices for Children. Cristen is committed to low-wage worker justice and hopes to work as an attorney in this field. She holds a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y.
Daniel Zeno
Daniel Zeno is a 3L at The University of Iowa College of Law. He is involved in various student organizations, including the Equal Justice Foundation, Black Law Students Association, Iowa Campaign for Human Rights and The University of Iowa Antiwar Committee. Daniel is also an editor for The Journal of Gender, Race and Justice. This past summer, Daniel worked at the Advancement Project, a policy, communications and legal action group committed to racial justice in Washington, D.C. The previous summer, he worked at the ACLU Drug Law Reform Project in Santa Cruz, CA. Prior to attending law school, Daniel worked at the U.S. Government Accountability Office in Atlanta, GA evaluating federal programs. Daniel received his A.B. from Wabash College in 2002 and his M.P.A. from Indiana University Bloomington in 2004.