W&L Law Students Receive Summer Funding for Public Interest Work
A number of Washington and Lee Law students have received external awards aimed at helping support students working at law-related public service jobs during the summer.
Several students received awards from the Virginia Law Foundation (VLF). Founded in 1974 as the charitable arm of Virginia’s legal profession, the VLF provides grant support to law-related projects throughout Virginia. Since making its first public service internship awards in 1989, the VLF has awarded over $1,000,000 to support hundreds of internships throughout the Commonwealth.
The VLF funded students are Ashley Hart, who will work for Central Virginia Legal Aid in Charlottesville, Brian Mack, who will work for Southwest Virginia Legal Aid in Christiansburg, and Katherine Moss, who will work for the Office of the Public Defender in Alexandria.
Four law students secured funding through the University’s Shepherd Poverty Program summer internship program. Dominik Taylor will work for the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, Ethan Bishop-Watt will work for the Georgia Justice Project in Atlanta, Angelica Hendricks will work for the Fredericksburg Public Defender’s Office, and Amanda Cecil will work for the domestic violence prevention center House of Ruth in Maryland.
The law school also provided support through the Sarah Eckhoff Public Interest Fellowship, established in the memory of Sarah Eckhoff ’08 and awarded annually to a student or students providing unpaid work in the public interest. Receiving the Eckhoff fellowship this year was David Knoespel, who will work for the Federal Public Defenders Office in Newark, NJ.
In addition to those receiving external funding, many students received support directly from W&L for public interest work. The internal funding came from the Law School’s Office of Career Planning and the Federal Work Study program administered by the Financial Aid Office. The majority of students who received funding are working in legal aid and public defender offices.
