Reena Bajawola, 2003 Intern and 2005 Fellow

As a PILI Intern and Fellow, Reena Bajowala performed a wide-range of legal work at the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation (CVLS) and Roger Baldwin Foundation of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), respectively. At CVLS, Reena conducted daily intake interviews, worked on cases dealing with landlord-tenant, divorce, adoption and guardianship issues, and learned how to manage a case load. Two years later at the ACLU, she performed legal and factual research on projects as varied as the Lesbian and Gay Rights, Reproductive Rights, and Racial Justice programs. Reena's experiences at CVLS and ACLU were profound: "PILI has laid the foundation for a life-long commitment to the public interest...Through PILI, I learned the importance of both helping to secure funding for others to work in the public interest and doing pro bono legal and community service work myself. I was inspired, during my CVLS internship, to see all the individuals who benefited from PILI funding."  Since 2005, Reena has practiced litigation at Jenner & Block LLP. With the support and encouragement of her firm, Reena has made extensive pro bono contributions to asylum and trafficking cases. Reena is also co-chair of the North American South Asian Bar Association's 2008 national convention this June in Chicago. Reena continues to contribute to PILI as chair of the PILI Alumni Ambassadors committee, which recruits and trains PILI Alumni to promote PILI programs and events at their law schools, places of employment, and to serve as mentors to the current year's Interns and Fellows.

Sarah Biehl, 2002 & 2003 PILI Intern

As a PILI Intern at the National Center on Poverty Law (2002) and Legal Assistance Foundation (2003), Sarah Biehl assisted with an arbitration trial in a Cabrini Green public housing lawsuit and researched payday lending, education and children's law issues.  She also worked on a project to make food stamp information and applications more accessible to non-English speaking populations in Chicago and represented Cook County wards in school expulsion and special education cases.  After clerking for a federal judge in Ohio for a year, Sarah was awarded a prestigious Skadden Fellowship for which she designed and coordinated a legal clinic inside North Lawndale College Preparatory High School (NLCP) on the west side of Chicago.  At NLCP, she advised and represented students and their families in a wide variety of areas, including juvenile court abuse and neglect proceedings, utilities cases, landlord-tenant disputes, orders of protection, public benefits questions, and child custody disputes.  Upon completing her Skadden Fellowship, she joined LAF as a staff attorney.  In January 2008, Sarah moved back to her home state of Ohio and now works as a state support attorney at Ohio State Legal Services Association, providing support, resources, and leadership for all of Ohio's legal aid programs on education law issues.  She is currently engaged in several projects to reform Ohio's laws affecting foster children's education rights, establish connections between legal aid attorneys and the Ohio Department of Education, improve the education of children in juvenile justice facilities in the state, and improve procedural rights for children and parents in special education and school discipline situations.  Resolutely committed to a career of service, Sarah is also a past recipient of the Kimball R. and Karen Gatsis Anderson Public Interest Law Fellowship.

Nichole Cain, 2005 PILI Intern
PILI Alumni, Nichole Cain, was a 2005 PILI Intern at the Sargent Shriver Center for Poverty Law. At that time, her work, and that of the Shriver Center, was focused heavily on housing issues, as well as PayDay loan legislation. After graduating from law school, Nichole joined the law firm of Pinzur, Cohen & Kerr, where she was an associate until 2008, when she joined the Illinois Department of Human Rights. While at Pinzur, Cohen & Kerr, Nichole handled civil rights and family law issues as well as a significant amount of small claims and personal injury cases. Nichole’s commitment to public interest law, however, motivated her to pursue her latest position. According to Nichole, “my PILI Internship solidified my inclinations that I ultimately wanted to be a public interest attorney. It was my first experience actually interacting with clients, researching issues for public interest legislation, and witnessing a large class action.” While in law school, Nichole served as Northern Illinois University’s Black Law Students Association (BLSA) President and also served as a PILI Intern Representative on the PILI Board of Directors as former Intern. She has also been an active volunteer with First Defense Legal Aid Volunteer for several years. About her experience as a PILI Intern, Nichole further explains, “I was able to actively participate in the research and drafting of legislation that was going to be sponsored. This was a very hands-on experience in the legislative process that did not present itself in any other capacity while I was a law student.”

Katie Deibert, 2004 PILI Fellow
Katie is an Associate at Mayer Brown LLP, where she works in the firm’s banking and finance practice and also spent a year working in Mayer Brown’s Frankfurt, Germany office. She was a PILI Fellow at the downtown office of the Chicago Legal Clinic, working primarily on matters related to bankruptcy and domestic issues. Katie now serves on PILI’s Board of Directors and is a leader in PILI’s Alumni Program. Katie believes that her experiences as a PILI Fellow have offered her a unique perspective and firsthand insight into the public interest side of Chicago’s legal community. Although she is a transactional attorney and does not necessarily use the specific legal skills she developed as a PILI Fellow, Katie believes that the introduction to so many people in the Chicago legal community is something from which she continues to benefit. Katie explains, “PILI provides connections to both the public and private sectors of legal service in Chicago and I think it’s important to understand how both can work together.” She also recognizes the importance of PILI’s mission of cultivating a lifelong commitment to public interest law. Katie states, “I believe an important part of being a lawyer is protecting the rights and interests of those who often do not have the resources to be heard. As a law student I participated in pro bono activities and worked with asylum seekers and refugees through my school’s immigration clinic. In private practice I have represented an asylum applicant and also worked on financing supportive housing projects.”

Rachel Fleischmann, 1998 PILI Intern
Rachel was a PILI Intern with the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Following her graduation from law school, she worked for four years at Life Span Legal Services, assisting low income domestic violence victims with orders of protection and divorce and custody case. Rachel now practices in federal court as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Illinois. Her work focuses on constitutional law questions, such as the First Amendment, false arrest and excessive force and the Commerce Clause. Rachel explains, “Working as a PILI Intern was an overall very positive experience that encouraged me to continue in public interest. It also exposed me to a different type of public interest work than I had previously experienced, so it showed me the diversity of choices available in the public interest legal world.” She believes that the lunchtime lectures were one particular way that PILI helped expand her horizons regarding the types of legal careers public interest lawyers could have. Rachel also enjoyed the conversations that she had with all of the other Interns and Fellows at her placement. She fondly recalls, “we would talk about a lot of interesting legal, social and political topics and it was great to learn from a diverse group of very intelligent law students.” Rachel has dedicated her entire career to public interest – representing low income domestic violence victims and now representing government employees. Her hope is that her career will always be dedicated to one type of public service or another.

Patrick Gallagher, 2007 PILI Fellow
As a PILI Fellow at Health and Disability Advocates, Patrick Gallagher assisted with HDA’s programs to improve healthcare access and services for children, people with disabilities, and low-income adults. HDA provides direct client services to low-income children and adults to ensure they have access to appropriate health care benefits and services. HDA also works with many state governments to develop sensible healthcare policies, and develops its own initiatives to improve access to healthcare. For example, Patrick assisted HDA staff with the development of the Chicago Medical-Legal Partnership for Children, a program designed to address any legal barriers to positive health outcomes for children. After finishing his Fellowship at HDA, Patrick joined Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell in the IP Pharmaceutical Patent Practice Group and the Appellate Practice Group. Most of Patrick’s practice involves patent litigation in the chemical and biotechnology industries, including Hatch-Waxman pharmaceutical patent litigation. As a member of the appellate practice group he has assisted on a diverse range of appellate cases in addition to appeals for patent cases. According to Patrick, “working with the people at HDA showed me that diligent caring lawyers can have an enormous positive impact on the lives of many people and that many lawyers really do love their jobs. I also have enjoyed the opportunity to meet the many dedicated and talented lawyers affiliated with PILI.” Since joining Locke Lord, Patrick has remained in contact with the lawyers at HDA and continues to volunteer with them. He has also participated in Locke Lord’s Saint Procopius Legal Aid Clinic, offering legal services to members of the Pilsen community. Patrick is also currently serving on the PILI Board of Directors as a Fellow representative.

Charles Golbert, 1990 PILI Fellow

After graduating from the Northwestern University School of Law in 1990, Charles P. Golbert served as PILI Graduate Fellow at the Cook County Office of the Public Guardian, sponsored by the law firm now known as Katten Muchin Rosenman. After working as an associate at Katten, Charles returned to the Public Guardian in 1991, where he has continued to serve for more than 17 years, first as a trial attorney in its juvenile court division, then as a Supervising Attorney in its special litigation division, and then as the head of the appellate division, where he successfully litigated and supervised hundreds of appeals on behalf of the office’s adult wards and on behalf of abused and neglected children. Today, Charles is the Deputy Public Guardian in charge of the adult guardianship division.  He oversees the operation of the office’s guardianship services for its 800 adult wards with disabilities, including legal and social services and management of more than $70 million in collective ward assets. He has been lead or co-lead counsel in numerous financial exploitation lawsuits that have achieved the recovery of millions of dollars in assets stolen from persons with disabilities. He has also litigated and supervised numerous complex matters on behalf of the office’s wards in the areas of health care surrogate decisions, probate and guardianship. He is the primary author of legislation, now law, to protect persons with disabilities from financial exploitation.

Justin Heather, 2001 PILI Fellow

As a PILI Fellow at the Northwestern University School of Law's Bluhm Legal Clinic, Justin Heather worked on behalf of the wrongfully convicted in both federal habeas and state post-conviction proceedings, and prepared for successful oral argument before the Illinois Supreme Court on behalf of a mother wrongfully convicted in the death of her child. His work at Bluhm Legal Clinic "fostered an enduring sense that, as a lawyer, I have a moral responsibility to provide legal services to those whom cannot otherwise afford such representation." As a PILI Fellow, Justin learned first-hand the responsibilities of a young lawyer maintaining a rigorous case load: "I like to think of my PILI Fellowship as providing a seamless transition from law school to the practice of law." Since his PILI Fellowship, Justin has been an associate with the Chicago office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in its general litigation department. He has represented numerous clients in litigation, arbitral and bankruptcy proceedings covering a wide range of matters, including breach of contract and related corporate matters, consumer fraud actions, regulatory investigations and franchise matters. Justin has also worked on a number of pro bono cases, with the full support of the firm, including representing clients in federal habeas and state post-conviction proceedings, asylum proceedings and discrimination lawsuits. Currently, Justin and several of his Skadden colleagues are representing a Mississippi death row prisoner in federal habeas proceedings.

Elizabeth Gibbons Lewis, 2006 PILI Fellow

After graduating from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 2006, Elizabeth served as a PILI Graduate Fellow at Loyola’s ChildLaw Clinic, sponsored by the law firm of McDermott, Will & Emery. Since her Fellowship’s conclusion, she has remained extremely dedicated to public interest work and community service and serves as a member of McDermott’s Pro Bono and Community Service Committee and as the liaison and coordinator in Chicago for McDermott’s Kids First Initiative. In just a few short years, and with all of the many pressures of a young associate at a large law firm, Elizabeth has, in the view of her colleagues, “shown an exemplary commitment to disadvantaged and underrepresented children and families.” She has developed a long-standing and unparalleled commitment to providing support and pro bono legal services to at-risk children and families as a means of bridging the social justice gap. She remains steadfastly committed to positively impacting the lives of the most vulnerable populations throughout the Chicago community. Since joining McDermott only three years ago, she has logged hundreds of pro bono hours in the most challenging and necessary of matters such as high conflict custody matters, child protection matters, Hague Convention disputes, special education representation, and matters involving school discipline and child abuse and neglect. In addition to her dedication to providing pro bono legal services, Elizabeth has also provided meaningful contributions to disadvantaged children through tutoring and community education. PILI proudly recognizes her work and lauds her pro bono commitment.

Ruth Lopez, 2007 & 2008 PILI Intern
Ruth Lopez was a “Double PILI,” serving as a 2007 spring and summer PILI Intern at the Chicago Legal Clinic and as a 2008 summer PILI Intern at the Legal Assistance Foundation in their Westside neighborhood office. At the Chicago Legal Clinic, Ruth worked with clients seeking a change in immigration status, immigration waivers, and citizenship applications. According to Ruth, “on my first day at the CLC I helped an attorney in a deportation case which we won and, as a result, the family was not torn apart. By the end of my first day, I knew that public interest work was the only type of work for me.” At LAF, she worked with attorneys on a variety of cases such as domestic violence, divorce, housing, unemployment, and bankruptcy. Being exposed to so many areas of law helped Ruth appreciate the work that legal aid attorneys do and helped her understand the interdependence between various legal issues that arise in low income communities. Since the summer of 2008, Ruth has focused on completing her final year of law school at Chicago-Kent Law School, working with LAF as a law clerk and, currently serving on the PILI Board of Directors as an Intern representative. Ruth believes that as a PILI Intern, she was exposed to real legal issues faced by Chicagoans everyday, something she could not have experienced in the classroom. Ruth recalls that as a PILI Intern at LAF, “I worked with a young Latina woman who was a victim of domestic violence and needed to get out of her marriage before her and her children’s lives were in serious danger. Because I speak Spanish, I was very involved in the case and was able to help her get a two-year order of protection as well as file for a divorce. The process moved me because I was part of helping this young woman and her children escape a bad situation and create a new life for themselves.”

Sean Morales-Doyle, 2005 & 2006 PILI Intern
In consecutive summers, Sean Morales-Doyle served as a PILI Intern at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago (LAF) and Roger Baldwin Foundation of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). At LAF, Sean worked on the Housing Law Team, where he conducted legal research, drafted motions and letters, and learned some of the foundational skills involved in litigation, negotiation, and managing client relationships. At ACLU, Sean focused on legal research and wrote thorough memoranda on various legal issues. With helpful supervision and feedback from ACLU attorneys, Sean honed his writing skills, learned how to study and think deeply about legal issues, and how to apply that knowledge to the case at hand. In addition, both agencies provided opportunities to attend court dates, administrative hearings, and press conferences. Following his PILI Internships, Sean worked on juvenile delinquency and school expulsion cases at Northwestern's Bluhm Legal Clinic, and interned at U.S. Senator Barack Obama's Chicago office. Since graduating from Northwestern in 2007, Sean has worked at the Office of the Illinois Attorney General, where he is currently an Assistant Attorney General in the Special Litigation Bureau. Sean works on cases in a number of substantive areas, including consumer fraud, health care, taxation, and false claims. "PILI allowed me to develop my resume with public interest work experiences. I would not have otherwise been able to afford to work in the places that I worked...I hope that by gaining as much experience as I can in as many areas of public interest law as I can, I will strengthen my understanding of how change occurs, and how I can effect change."

Jesus Perez, 1992 PILI Intern
A 1992 PILI Intern at Chicago Volunteer Legal Services (CVLS), today Jesus Perez runs his own law firm in the Brighton Park neighborhood of Chicago. Ever since his Internship’s conclusion, he has remained extremely dedicated to serving his community. The youngest of eight children born to Mexican immigrants, Jesus overcame many obstacles to achieve his goal of becoming an attorney. Today, he serves the people of his community, helping them overcome challenges and reach goals of their own. All the while, he remains committed to a vibrant pro bono practice. Immediately upon graduating from the University of Illinois College of Law, he joined the CVLS panel referral program. Fluently bilingual, Jesus’ language skills, combined with his legal ability and generosity of spirit, have made him extremely valuable as a volunteer attorney. Known for never saying “no” to requests for help, all while juggling his own private caseload, Jesus also provides expert assistance to many CVLS volunteers. In addition to taking cases and mentoring other volunteers, Jesus has served on CVLS’ Board of Directors from 1999 to 2005, and as its Financial Vice-President. Even during his board years, as he worked on committees and helped with the oversight and fundraising that is expected of all board members, Jesus continued to take cases and help other CVLS volunteers. Incorporating pro bono into every part of his busy practice, Jesus epitomizes PILI’s ideals and mission by his professionalism, his public spirit and, of course, his excellent work as a lawyer.

Jay Readey, 2004 PILI Fellow

As a PILI Fellow at Business and Professional People for the Public Interest (BPI), Jay Readey analyzed drafts of state legislation concerning an affordable housing trust fund, as well as various national models of inclusionary zoning laws.  He also fondly recalls a unique opportunity in which legendary BPI attorney, Alex Polikoff, allowed him to read and critique a draft of the critical chapter in which Polikoff made the main argument of his now published book, Waiting for Gautreaux.  Following his PILI Fellowship, Jay practiced corporate law for two years at Jenner & Block, and then affordable housing and community development finance at Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal for the last two years.  With Sonnenschein's support, Jay has moved to hourly status as a lawyer while founding a nonprofit organization, NeighborScapes, as a pro bono project of the firm.  NeighborScapes is a neighborhood services organization in Chicago's south suburbs, devoted to job training, entrepreneurship and leadership development for teen and young adults.  "From day one, I was interested in doing pro bono work at the firms, to continue what I had started in my PILI Fellowship and to validate the importance of pro bono work that I had learned there...As a newcomer to Chicago when I graduated from law school, PILI gave me a jump on mapping the civic side of Chicago's legal community; I gained an awareness of organizations, leadership and personalities that would have taken me two years to develop working with my head down and nose to the grindstone as a new associate; that mapping work now forms the foundation of the wider civic community that I consider to be at the heart of a network that is essential to my personal and professional advancement.  I don't think there's another experience that could have exposed me as fully to Chicago's public interest legal community in such a short time."

Rachel Shapiro, 2005 PILI Intern

As a PILI Intern at the Legal Assistance Foundation's Disability Law Project, Rachel Shapiro handled cases involving foster children who were not receiving the appropriate special education services or who were facing expulsion from school.  At LAF, she gained valuable experience in direct representation of students with disabilities at expulsion hearings and various school meetings. Following her PILI Internship, Rachel graduated from the Ohio State University Moritz School of Law and was awarded an Equal Justice Works (EJW) Fellowship at Equip for Equality, where she currently represents low-income students with disabilities in various special education matters, including Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings, expulsion hearings, mediations, due process hearings, and more.  She also provides special education training to probation officers, public defenders, and other people who come into contact with youth with disabilities in the juvenile court system.  Although her EJW Fellowship will end next month, Rachel will continue her project as a Staff Attorney with Equip for Equality.  Rachel is committed to a career in public interest law and endeavors to further expand her project by teaming with pro bono attorneys to represent as many students with disabilities involved in the juvenile court system as possible.  Rachel credits PILI with helping her find her niche in public interest law:  "Without my summer PILI Internship, I would not have developed the necessary relationships and substantive legal knowledge to do the work I do today.  I networked with numerous public interest agencies throughout the summer; ultimately with Equip for Equality, and based upon my experiences as a PILI Intern, I developed my EJW project." 

Laurie Wardell , 1985 PILI Intern

A 1985 Intern at Roger Baldwin Foundation of the ACLU, today Laurie A. Wardell is the Director of the Employment Opportunity Project at the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, where she herself is now a popular supervisor of PILI Interns and Fellows. The Project combines law reform litigation and advocacy to improve employment opportunities for women and people of color. Her current work includes pro bono representation of workers in federal court and in Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) mediations, class litigation in federal court of race discrimination in hiring and of racial harassment cases, and providing training and advice to appointed counsel in federal court. Since graduating from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1986, Laurie has specialized in civil rights law, first as a trial attorney with the EEOC, and later in private practice, where she handled class and individual discrimination cases. Prior to joining the Lawyers’ Committee in 2000, she was a partner in the firm of Futterman & Howard, and associate with Meites, Frackman, Mulder & Burger (now Meites, Mulder, Mollica and Glink) and a clerk for U.S. District Court Judge James F. Holderman. She has spoken and published extensively on civil rights litigation and on various aspects of pro bono practice.

Allison Willis Singer, 2005 PILI Fellow

As a PILI Fellow with the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation (CVLS), Allison Willis Singer managed a caseload of family law, probate and bankruptcy matters.  At CVLS, she honed her research, writing, interview and trial skills, and was given the opportunity to work on most of her cases from start to finish.  "As a PILI Fellow, I learned the importance of developing rapport with a client at the earliest possible stage of representation.  My PILI Fellowship helped me develop those skills much earlier in my career than I could have otherwise, given the sheer number of clients I interacted with on a daily basis."  Allison's PILI Fellowship was sponsored by Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, where she was a litigation associate before leaving the private sector to pursue public interest law full-time.  While in private practice, she developed relationships with several of Chicago's public interest law agencies by working on pro bono cases.  In 2007, Allison re-joined CVLS as a Staff Attorney.  Today, she primarily works on the Access to Justice program---a partnership between the Chancery Division of the Circuit Court, the Chicago Bar Foundation, and CVLS---where she is appointed by the Court to represent defendants in foreclosure cases, declaratory actions and cases on administrative review.  Allison plans to spend the balance of her legal career in the public interest, and is thrilled to have "found my home as a legal aid attorney."  Allison remains connected to PILI as an active member of PILI's Alumni Program and as a member of the Alumni Circle, the program's leadership core.

Andrew Vail, 2003 PILI Fellow
Sponsored by Jenner & Block where he is now an Associate, Andrew was a PILI Fellow at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago during the summer of 2003. Andrew has truly maintained his commitment to public interest law since completing his Fellowship, dedicating over 3,600 pro bono hours since his Fellowship concluded and over 1,000 hours in the last year alone. His pro bono matters have spanned a wide range of issues, from wrongful convictions, Guantanamo, death row representation, Section 1983 and voting rights cases – just to name a few. In recognition of his extraordinary pro bono efforts, Andrew was recently honored by the Chicago Bar Association and Chicago Bar Foundation with its 2009 Maurice Weigle Exceptional Young Lawyer Award, annually given to a Chicago young lawyer who has demonstrated exceptional contributions and initiative in the profession, the organized bar, and the community. Most recently, Andrew devoted significant efforts to the pro bono representation of Juan Rivera in a widely-watched murder trial. Serving as one of the lead trial lawyers on a Jenner & Block team that included Partners Tom Sullivan and Terri Mascherin and that worked with a team of attorneys from the Center on Wrongful Convictions, Andrew helped provide Mr. Rivera with the very best defense possible, and he personally handled key witnesses on direct and cross examination at trial. Andrew has also worked with the Center on Wrongful Convictions on several other significant pro bono matters over the years. Due to his extensive knowledge and experience with wrongful conviction matters, Andrew is frequently called upon to speak at national conferences on the issue of criminal justice reform. At several recent programs, Andrew has provided attorneys with practical advice for litigating wrongful conviction cases, and has addressed issues including custodial interrogations, false confessions and eye-witness identification. In addition, Andrew spent nearly two years assisting Jenner & Block Partner Terri L. Mascherin's work on the Criminal Law Edits Alignment and Reform Initiative (CLEAR) Commission, which was charged with reviewing and reforming the Illinois Criminal Code and Code of Corrections to make them more readable, understandable, consistent and just. On April 10, 2009, the Commission’s recommended rewrite of the Code of Corrections was signed into law.

Cathy Yu, 2006 PILI Intern
Cathy Yu received the 2006 Thomas L. Nicholson Memorial Internship, generously funded by Jerome and Jamie Gilson in honor of their friend and esteemed PILI founding member. At the Environmental Law and Policy Center (ELPC), Cathy performed legal research on a variety of topics including interpretations of the Clean Water Act, eminent domain issues related to the Peotone Airport, pollution permits, and migratory bird law. Detailed feedback from ELPC's supervising attorneys helped Cathy develop her legal research and writing skills: "By the end of the summer, I was very confident in my legal writing abilities, which proved to be very helpful my 2L year and for my 2L summer job." Seeing ELPC's attorneys engaged in litigation also helped Cathy decide she wanted to be a litigator. Since her PILI Internship, she has continued her studies at University of Chicago Law School, volunteered at the Lawyers' Committee for Better Housing and Mandel Legal Aid Clinic, and worked as a summer associate at DLA Piper US LLP. When Cathy expressed her strong interest in public interest work, the firm invited her to participate in several pro bono projects. She will join DLA Piper next fall. Cathy currently serves on PILI's Board of Directors as an Intern Representative. Her commitment is clear: "I plan on continuing to do as much public interest work as I can in the future regardless of what path my legal career takes."

Amy Zimmerman, 1989 PILI Intern
Currently, Amy is an attorney at Health & Disability Advocates and directs the Chicago Medical-Legal Partnership for Children (CMLPC). Her public interest law career began early in law school when she worked as a PILI Intern at the American Jewish Congress after her first year at Northwestern University School of Law. Amy has practiced law since 1991, and has spent her legal career focusing on issues that impact children. From 1991 until 1997, Amy served as a neighborhood and project attorney at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago. From 1997 until 2004, she worked as the assistant director of the Children’s Health and Education Project at the Chicago Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Prior to joining HDA, Amy served from June 2004 until September 2006, as the Children’s Policy Advisor to Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Fairly new to Chicago when she began her PILI Internship, Amy reflects “I am thankful for my PILI experience as it introduced me to Chicago’s dynamic public interest community and helped to solidify my commitment to serving the underserved.” Today, Amy is also the PILI Supervisor at HDA, welcoming the future of the public interest law sector. Amy’s commitment to social justice was obvious prior to her going to law school, having spent her college summers working for the United States Agency for International Development. She spent her junior year in the University of Pennsylvania’s Honors Program, traveling and studying cultural anthropology in Kenya, Egypt and Israel, and living with families in each country.