Eleven Students Receive APIL Summer Fellowships

APIL summer fellowship recipients, l-r: LeeAnne Kane, Tyler McCormick, Amanda Lavin, Brianne Bigej, Kevin Nault, Ernest Herrera, Jonathan Turner, Quiana Aurelia Salazar-King, Rebecca Mnuk.

The Association of Public Interest Law (APIL) at the University of New Mexico has awarded $30,000 in fellowships to UNM law students working in public interest positions this summer. The fellowships will support 11 law students in a variety of nonprofit, legal services and government law positions. More fellowships were awarded this year than in any year since the program was created in 2001.

APIL is a student organization whose primary mission is to raise funds to support students working in public interest law. The organization raises fellowship money through numerous ongoing fundraisers, including apparel sales, raffles, bake sales and textbook sales. In addition, APIL is grateful to private donors and other student organizations at the UNM School of Law for their support of public interest fellowships. This year, APIL wishes to extend a special thanks to the Student Bar Association, LAMBDA, the ACLU student chapter, the New Mexico State Bar Public Law Section, Sheila Brown, Taina Colón (`11), Megan Dorsey (`10), Jade Rotonda (`12) and Dean Kevin Washburn for their support, said outgoing APIL President Catherine Price (`11).

"Our support of APIL was extended tremendously by a generous gift from trial attorney Ron Morgan who wanted to express his commitment to law students and public interest," said Washburn. "We are grateful for his support."

"APIL is proud to support law students doing public interest work and to provide public interest agencies with additional staff they would not otherwise be able to afford," said Price. "If you wish to support APIL's mission, please contact ."

Following are the students who received 2011 summer fellowships and their placements:

• Britt Baca-Hochhausler ('13) − Pegasus Legal Services for Children
• Amanda Lavin ('13) – New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty
• LeeAnne Kane ('13) – New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty
• Jonathan Turner ('12) − Senior Citizens' Law Office
• Rebecca Mnuk ('13) − United South Broadway Corporation
• Quiana Aurelia Salazar-King ('13) − New Mexico Attorney General's Office, Division of Consumer Protection
• Ernest Herrera ('12) − Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid
• Barbara Ferry ('12) − Santa Fe Public Defender's Office
• Kevin Nault ('12) − Federal Public Defender's Office
• Brianne Bigej ('12) − Office of General Counsel for the Inter-American Foundation (Washington, DC)
• Tyler McCormick ('13) – Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division for Disability Rights (Washington, DC)

May 2, 2011