Equal Justice Works Fellows
Each year, McDermott Will & Emery’s Charitable Foundation sponsors Equal Justice Works Fellows, young lawyers who work for two years on law reform projects with public interest law firms or agencies, with the goal of establishing new initiatives to support the legal needs of the poor. To augment and further develop McDermott’s Kids First Initiative, each of its fellows has focused her work on the needs of disadvantaged children. To date, McDermott has sponsored five fellows and will be sponsoring our sixth Equal Justice Works Fellow beginning in the fall of 2009.
Randi Levine
Randi, a 2008 graduate of New York University School of Law, currently works with the Advocates for Children of New York on a project to provide direct representation, outreach and policy advocacy to improve access to early intervention and education for low-income children, up to the age of six, at risk of academic difficulties in New York City.
Lia Monahon
Lia, a 2004 graduate of Northwestern University School of Law, is completing the second year of her fellowship and is working with the Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts, one of McDermott’s principal Kids First referral agencies, on a project to determine if the trial of juvenile offenders as adults and subsequent long-term sentencing without parole comply with Supreme Court of the United States rulings.
Lori Turner
Lori, a 2006 graduate of Ohio State University Law School, pursued her fellowship in Chicago with the Roger Baldwin Foundation of the ACLU of Illinois. Lori worked with the 15,000-child foster care community in Illinois, which is largely concentrated in Chicago, to assess and develop structures to provide foster children with the educational services and resources to which they are entitled.
Kimberley Baker
Kimberley, a 2005 graduate of the University of Southern California School of Law, pursued her fellowship with Protection & Advocacy, Inc. in Los Angeles, working on behalf of the special education needs of disabled children living in the poor communities of Los Angeles.
Yael Zakai
Yael, a 2005 graduate of Stanford Law School, pursued her fellowship with the Children’s Law Center in Washington, D.C., as part of its Access Health project with the Children’s Hospital of the District of Columbia.