Introducing our
2024 Skadden Fellows
These 28 Fellows come from 15 law schools and will address a wide variety of civil legal needs for people living in poverty across the U.S. The Skadden Foundation has funded 990 public interest fellowships since the program's founding 35 years ago.
2024
Nationalities Service Center, Philadelphia, PA
Mikaela Wolf-Sorokin
Mikaela will provide legal representation to indigent individuals detained in ICE custody who have ties to Montgomery and Delaware counties. She will expand resources for pro se post-conviction relief petitions for immigration-related due process violations.
The inhumane system of immigration detention is worsened by the failure to provide noncitizens in detention with free representation. I am eager to help expand the universal representation program (PAIFUP) in Pennsylvania to individuals from Montgomery and Delaware counties.
2024
Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition, Nashville, TN
Julio Colby
Julio will utilize direct representation, systemic advocacy, and community outreach and education to support low-wage immigrant workers. He will leverage Deferred Action for Labor Enforcement to secure immigration relief for workers and pressure state labor agencies to enforce and improve workplace protections.
Growing up in the South as a child of Latin American immigrants, it was deeply important to me to serve those communities in my Fellowship. My experience representing migrant farmworkers in Tennessee last summer showed me the gravity of the systemic abuse and enforcement issues faced by noncitizen workers in the region and led me to pursue a project that would help build lasting power for these communities.
2024
Public Justice Foundation, Debtors' Prison Project, Washington, DC
Mariam Elbakr
Mariam will employ direct representation and impact litigation on behalf of indigent defendants and families harmed by the assessment of excessive public defender fees in Tennessee.
I came to law school to improve access to justice. To me, protecting people’s constitutional rights is integral to promoting racial justice on a systemic scale and reducing the cycle of mass incarceration. Movement lawyering can uplift racialized communities by providing free and zealous legal representation. By working to eliminate public defender fees, I hope to make counsel more accessible to people ensnared in the web of the criminal legal system.
2024
National Veterans Legal Services Program, Arlington, VA
Rebecca Harris
Rebecca will utilize direct representation, community outreach, and education and policy advocacy to support the families of veterans with serious disabilities seeking caregiver benefits or appealing unfavorable decisions from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Working with the veterans clinic at my law school, I saw the tremendous power of veterans’ benefits to transform lives — but I also saw how these programs fail so many veterans, particularly those with marginalized identities. I can imagine nothing more rewarding than working in coalition with veterans’ groups and other advocates to ensure that veterans’ benefits programs live up to their full potential.