BU Law Students Receive Altarescu Public Interest Fellowships for Summer 2017

Fellows are using their skills to assist sexual violence victims, refugees, indigent defendants and victims of alleged discrimination.

Four Boston University School of Law—two rising 2Ls and two rising 3Ls—have received Altarescu Public Interest Summer Fellowships to support their work at public interest organizations over the summer of 2017.

The Altarescu Public Interest Summer Fellowships give several BU Law students each year a chance at gaining first-hand experience in public interest law. Each student is spending the summer working at a different public interest-related government agency or nonprofit organization. BU Law awarded the first fellowships in 2011, and have done so every year since, thanks to Howard Altarescu (’74), who leads the finance sector at Orrick.

These are the four Altarescu Fellows for 2017, and their hosting organizations:

Emily Chamberlin (’19)

Boston Area Rape Crisis Center
The Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC) offers a number of services for rape and sexual assault survivors, their loved ones, and for professionals who work with them. It offers assistance through advocacy, counseling, legal services, education, and training. In working with BARCC, Chamberlin is learning how to integrate her commitment to advocating for victims of domestic and sexual violence with her career as a lawyer.

Says Chamberlin, who began her advocacy work in college: “I found it difficult at first to figure out how certain elements of my “pre-law school” life would fit with the exciting and challenging path I had taken…in the future, I hope to make this the center focus of my pro-bono work.”

Dalia Fuleihan (’18)

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
As a legal intern for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Washington, DC, Fuleihan helps handle resettlement applications, communicates with NGOs, and gives advice to refugees on family reunification benefits. The UNHCR offers protection, assistance and advocacy for refugees, internally displaced persons, stateless people and those seeking asylum.

“I came to law school with an interest in human rights and refugee law,” Fuleihan says. “In working at UNCHR, I wanted to expand my experience with refugee law but also learn about how the UNHCR monitors and manages refugee crises around the world.”

Maria Savarese (’18)

Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia
The Public Defender Service (PDS) is an independent organization providing court-appointed attorneys for indigent defendants—both adults and children—in the Washington, DC area. PDS’s work includes trial law, appellate law, mental health law, special litigation, parole attorneys, civil legal services, and community defenders. For Savarese, who came to law school with the goal of becoming a public defender, the fellowship is a perfect fit: “The training I’ll get at PDS this summer will make me a more competitive candidate when I apply to public defender offices after graduation,” Savarese says. “This is also going to be such an incredible opportunity to impact the lives of criminal defendants in the DC area.”

Sophie Schuit (’19)

NY State Attorney General’s Office – Civil Rights Bureau
The Civil Rights Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s office investigates and prosecutes cases of alleged discrimination “on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, military status, source of income or disability,” according to their website.

“I’m grateful for this fellowship opportunity as it has allowed me to explore a new area of law and learn more about approaching civil rights issues from the government’s perspective,” Schuit says. “Moving forward, it will help me determine which areas I want to focus on as a civil rights attorney, and how I want to practice law—potentially through policy development, litigation, or legislative advocacy.”

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BU Law Students Receive Altarescu Public Interest Fellowships for Summer 2017