SU College of Law students selected for prestigious Summer Corps program

SU College of Law students selected for prestigious Summer Corps programJune 09, 2009Jaclyn D. Grossojgrosso@law.syr.edu

Summer legal positions are extremely competitive this year, yet four Syracuse University College of Law students have been selected for the esteemed Equal Justice Works Summer Corps program that provides critically needed legal assistance to low-income and underserved communities. Summer Corps members are engaged with a broad range of issues and gain first-hand experience and legal skills in areas such as client intake, individual representation, research and writing. This year, a record 1,184 applications created an extremely competitive selection process for just 420 positions nationwide.

The second-year law students selected, along with their placements, are Sovereign Hager, Farmworker Legal Services of New York in Rochester, N.Y.; Nina Hong, Law Students in Action Project-Legal Assistance of Western New York in Geneva, N.Y.; Brenda Lopez Romero, Georgia Legal Services in Atlanta; and Sadiq Mohamed, Broward County Public Defender in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

“My internship with Farmworker Legal Services of New York will enable me to understand how legal rights and theories can be used to advocate for a group of workers that has largely been considered an exception to existing labor laws,” says Hager. “I look forward to conducting legal research and outreach to migrant farm workers regarding issues such as civil rights, current labor law protections, human trafficking and pesticide exposure.”

The students will each receive a $1,000 AmeriCorps education award voucher upon completion of a minimum of 300 hours of summer service at a nonprofit public interest organization.