PILA Provides $378,000 to Fund Summer Public Service Work 2011 PILA Grantees
The Public Interest Law Association will distribute about $378,000 to students working in public service jobs this summer, according to PILA organizers.

The total is up from last year and reflects a growing interest in public service work, said PILA president Peggy Nicholson '11.
We've really got an abundance of people here who are interested in public service," Nicholson said. PILA's next big challenge will be to figure out how to accommodate that growing community, and that's a great problem to have."
The organization will distribute approximately 81 grants to first- and second-year students. First-year recipients will each get $3,500 and second-year recipients will get $6,000.
PILA raised about $91,000 through various events. The Law School Foundation and Dean's Office contributed more than $209,000 and the Program in Law and Public Service contributed about $63,000. The remainder came from PILA's reserves and donations directed to PILA through the Law School Foundation.
PILA was able to increase its fundraising total for the year despite continuing difficulties presented by the economic downturn, Nicholson said. Though some fundraising efforts that have traditionally been fruitful were less so this year, others were much more successful, she said.
The fundraisers that provide a service to students, like the book sales, exploded this year," Nicholson said. The fundraising team worked really hard on the book sales, and it's also something we can really promote to students by saying 'You're getting a discount on the book, and you're helping PILA.'"

Second-year law student Leily Faridzadeh will use her PILA grant to help fund her summer work in Tanzania with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
It's something that I've always wanted to do, and now I have the opportunity," Faridzadeh said. I will be working with international judges on the cases of people who committed genocide throughout Rwanda."
The work will include helping judges with opinions, as well as attending trials and working on legal research and writing, Faridzadeh said.
I am very interested in the international law field, so I think this will give me some concrete practical experience," she said.
First-year student James Allred will use his PILA grant to work with the American Cancer Association's Cancer Action Network in Washington, D.C., splitting time between their legal and policy arms.

He plans to help the legal office draft proposed legislation that would govern cancer treatments and nanotechnology, and to help the policy arm develop amicus briefs related to the assorted judicial challenges to the Affordable Care Act.
It wouldn't have been possible without the PILA grant," he said. It's so helpful to have a grant that can help support my housing needs while I'm there."
First-year law student Gloria Mak will work in the Boston office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, where she plans to work on alleged violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disability Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
I previously interned in the Massachusetts state agency for employment discrimination, and currently I'm taking Employment Discrimination with Professor Kim Forde-Mazrui," she said. It's definitely an interest of mine and it's exciting to see it from a different perspective on the federal side."

Mak will begin her 10-week position in May, shortly after the end of the semester, and said she looks forward to the experience.
Without the PILA grant, I don't know how I could have afforded to do it," she said.
Nicholson said organizers worked this year to make the process more transparent, developing a rubric for how to gauge applications and making applicants more aware of how the process works.
As always, Dean Mahoney, the faculty and the Public Service Center have been incredibly supportive of PILA's efforts," Nicholson said. As president, I wasn't really sure what to expect from this process, but it's actually been kind of a breeze because of the law school community's support of PILA."
Civil Legal Services | ||
ACLU of Georgia | Atlanta | Foster, Paige |
ACLU of Georgia | Atlanta | Okuma, Ese |
Blue Ridge Legal Services | Harrisonburg, Va. | Sirvaityte, Egle (Elle) |
Central Virginia Legal Aid Society | Charlottesville, Va. | Silverstein, Thomas |
Community Legal Services | Philadelphia | Brown, Ashley |
Community Legal Services | Philadelphia | Solomon, Alex |
Legal Aid Justice Center - Civil Advocacy Program | Charlottesville, Va. | Rolla, Kimberly |
Legal Aid Justice Center - Civil Advocacy Program | Charlottesville, Va. | Frank, Nicole |
Legal Aid Justice Center - Civil Advocacy Program | Charlottesville, Va. | Saniuk, Madison |
Legal Aid Justice Center, Immigrant Advocacy Program | Charlottesville, Va. | Singh, Anisha |
Legal Aid Justice Center, JustChildren | Charlottesville, Va. | Murashige, Lance |
Legal Aid Justice Center, JustChildren | Charlottesville, Va. | Ochu-Arthus, Priscilla |
Legal Aid of North Carolina - Battered Immigrant Project | Raleigh, N.C. | Reynolds, Kate |
Legal Aid Society of Roanoke Valley | Ronaoke, Va. | Burke, Salima |
Legal Services of Northern Virginia | Northern Virginia | McFadden, Megan |
National Prison Project of the ACLU | Washington, D.C. | McDermott, Thomas |
clinic | ||
UVA Law Immigration Clinic | Charlottesville, Va. | Changwesha, Mercy |
Federal Government | ||
Department of Defense | Virginia | Cole, Jared |
Department of Homeland Security, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties | Washington, D.C. | Sanderson, Joel |
Department of State, Claims and Investment Disputes | Washington, D.C. | Stern, Amy |
Department of Homeland Security | Washington, D.C. | Rish, Diane |
Department of Justice - Baltimore Immigration Court | Baltimore | Jensen, Lara |
Department of Justice - Environmental Enforcement Section | Washington, D.C. | Chang, Kelly |
Department of Justice - Executive Office of Immigration Review | Arlington, Va. | Riggan, Jennifer |
Department of Justice - National Security Division, Counterterrorism Section | Washington, D.C. | Humphrey, Thomas |
Department of Justice - Tax Division, Civil Appellate Section | Washington, D.C. | Maximous, Cassandra |
Department of Justice Civil Division | Washington, D.C. | Guarnera, Daniel |
Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, Employment Litigation Section | Washington, D.C. | Schwartz, Nina |
Department of Justice - Office of Enforcement Operations | Washington, D.C. | Brooker, Lindsay |
Department of Justice - Office of Professional Responsibility | Washington, D.C. | Balachandran, Manu |
Environmental Protection Agency - Office of Enforcement and Compliance | Washington, D.C. | Jordan, Katherine |
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission | Boston | Mak, Gloria |
Navy JAG Corps | Chicago | Rosinski, Daniel |
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York | Brooklyn, N.Y. | Radzinschi, Julian |
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York | Brooklyn, N.Y. | Radzinschi, Julian |
U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia | Washington, D.C. | Achuko, Ogechi |
U.S. Attorney's Office for the Distric of Columbia | Washington, D.C. | Harrison, Michelle |
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 1 | Boston | Dumais, Nicholas |
U.S. Attorney's Office | Los Angeles, Calif. | Howes, Kendall |
US Attorney's Office | Washington, D.C. | Schneider, Gregory |
International | ||
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda | Tanzania | Greenstreet, Katie |
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda | Tanzania | Faridzadeh, Leily |
Public Defenders | ||
Alaska Public Defender | Fairbanks, Alaska | Russell, Laura |
Albemarle County Public Defender | Charlottesville, Va. | Rabideau, Mark |
Alexandria Public Defender | Alexandria, Va. | Fitzgerald, Aida |
Bronx Defenders | Bronx, N.Y. | Tate, Laura |
City of Alexandria Public Defender's Office | Alexandria, Va. | Nickerson, Vanessa |
Fairfax County Public Defender's Office | Fairfax, Va. | Cohn, Rebecca |
Fairfax County Public Defender's Office | Fairfax, Va. | Tuck, Monica |
Federal Public Defender's Office Eastern District of Virginia | Alexandria, Va. | Lias, Jennifer |
Lynchburg Public Defender's Office | Lynchburg, Va. | Jordan, Brannon Albert |
Office of the Georgia Public Defender, Atlanta Judicial Circuit | Atlanta | Epps, Elisabeth |
The Defender Association | Seattle | Goel, Aditi |
Public Interest Organizations | ||
American Cancer Society | Washington, D.C. | Allred, James |
Children's Rights | New York | Tschiderer, Christine |
Disability Rights | Tallahassee, Fla. | Linet, Ariel |
Southern Center for Human Rights | Atlanta | Lee, Jessica |
Southern Environmental Law Center | Charlottesville, Va. | Terr, Aaron |
Southern Environmental Law Center | Charlottesville, Va. | Karras, Constance "Stacee" |
Start Small Think Big | Bronx, N.Y. | Hippolyte, Gabriel |
The Homeless Advocacy Project | San Fransisco | Sinkin, Ilana |
Virginia Capital Representation Project | Charlottesville, Va. | Dew, John |
state and local government | ||
Albemarle County Commonwealth's Attorney | Charlottesville, Va. | Gelbert, Wade |
Charlottesville Commonwealth's Attorney | Charlottesville, Va. | Fennig, Kathryn |
Colorado Attorney General, DNA Justice Review Project | Denver | Kelly, Anna |
District Attorney's Office for the 3rd District of Tennessee | Greenville, Tenn. | Vradenburgh, Holly |
Harris County District Attorney | Houston | Stott, Cory |
Middlesex County District Attorney's Office | Woburn, Mass. | Cutshall, David |
Radford City Commonwealth Attorney | Virginia | Siegle, Emerson |
Suffolk County District Attorney's Office | Boston | Hopkins, Ariel |
Suffolk County District Attorney's Office / Cook County State's Attorney's Office | Boston / Chicago | Chamberlain, David |
Supreme Court of Virginia - Office of the Chief Staff Attorney | Richmond, Va. | Chen, Elisa |
Founded in 1819, the University of Virginia School of Law is the second-oldest continuously operating law school in the nation. Consistently ranked among the top law schools, Virginia is a world-renowned training ground for distinguished lawyers and public servants, instilling in them a commitment to leadership, integrity and community service.
News Highlights