RWU Law and Equal Justice Works

We just learned that Laurie Barron, the Executive Director of our Feinstein Institute for Legal Service, has been named to the National Advisory Committee for Equal Justice Works. Laurie has done outstanding work creating a robust and multi-faceted public service program at Roger Williams and the appointment to the EJW board will give her a national platform for her good works.

For more than 20 years, EJW has collaborated with the nation’s leading law schools, law firms, corporate legal departments and nonprofit organizations to provide the training and skills that enable attorneys to provide effective representation to vulnerable populations.  Its goal is to create a just society by mobilizing the next generation of lawyers committed to equal justice.  Two of its activities are especially important to RWU Law.  EJW provides technical assistance to law schools that want to establish a loan forgiveness program and we have relied on EJW’s expertise to set up our program, which goes on-line later this year. 

EJW also sponsors a major job fair that enables NGOs from all across the country to inform law students about their programs and interview candidates for summer or permanent jobs.  RWU Law students take full advantage of this wonderful opportunity.  Amy Peltier landed a job with the Alaska Public Defender.  Amy was able to focus on an area of deep concern to her—juvenile justice.  Amy worked closely with 2 other staff attorneys, sharing all aspects of the daily juvenile delinquency calendar including representing juveniles from arraignments to negotiating with probation officers and parents/guardians for alternatives to detention.  Amy commented: “My background in social work proved extremely useful with the difficult task of balancing the interests of the state and parents or guardians, while remaining a zealous advocate for the interests of my young clients.  I was lucky to be able to work with Public Defenders who practiced with integrity and provided a model for representation.”

Ben Gworek stayed closer to home than Amy, working in an EJW-sponsored Summer Corps position at Rhode Island Legal Services where he spent over 300 hours representing low-income tenants facing eviction due to foreclosure. Ben: “I was fortunate to be able to hone my negotiation and courtroom skills while supplying legal assistance to tenant victims of foreclosure who were losing their homes through no fault of their own. For me this experience highlighted the ever growing need for public interest attorneys in the field of housing rights.”

Rod Alcidonis also worked at an EJW-sponsored position, this one at Philadelphia Community Legal Services.  Rod: “I could not be more proud of my chance to serve the less-fortunate in Philadelphia. It was great to be able to help solve benefits problems on behalf of those who could not have done it themselves, and I am proud of having been able to achieve just that by the end of the summer. It was a wonderful opportunity.”

For more information about Equal Justice Works website: http://www.equaljusticeworks.org.