Public Interest Corner

Sonnenschein Scholars Program

To celebrate its centennial year in 2006, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal is offering stipends to 1L students who demonstrate interest in public service through the Sonnenschein Scholars Program; during the summer after their first year, the students will work in public service jobs. GW Law and other law schools including Harvard, Yale, and Northwestern are participating in the first phase of the program. For the next five years, two GW Law students will receive $4,000 scholarships in order to help students gain employment in public service jobs after their first year in law school. Students will be nominated by the Law School and nominees will submit a written summary of academic performance, leadership, and commitment to public service.

Make Room for Equal Justice

Through the “Make Room for Equal Justice” program, students traveling for call-back interviews can choose to stay with family and friends in lieu of a hotel paid for by the firm. In turn, the firm will donate $150 per student to the Law School’s Equal Justice Foundation. The money raised by this program will go directly to students who work at unpaid public interest jobs in the summer.

To learn more about the program, please contact Suzanne Hill at shill@law.gwu.edu or (202) 994-7340.

Student and Alumni Achievements

Alana Hecht, JD ’05, received a Westwood Fellowship to work at Neighborhood Legal Services last spring; funded by Covington & Burling, the fellowship allows her to continue work as a staff attorney for two years. Currently, most of her casework is in the area of public benefits, but she will take on cases in housing and family law in the coming year.

Dena Sher, JD ’05, is completing a 2005 Equal Justice Works Fellowship at Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Americans United is a religious liberty watch dog group based in Washington. The organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom. Sher’s project expands the focus of Americans United to address reproductive rights issues.

Alison Altman, JD ’04, is serving as an AmeriCorps Pro Bono Legal Corps attorney. She is coordinating the LawWorks project at Philadelphia VIP, promoting the program’s services and recruiting local attorneys to participate. The LawWorks program co-sponsors community education events and organizes pro bono efforts. Altman also helps to get law students involved in LawWorks cases.

Students Erik Eisenmann and Nagasilpa Jujjavarapu are Equal Justice Works Summer Corp Program participants.