2009 PILF Grantees

Chinwe Acholonu: This summer I will be working at the San Francisco District Attorney's office. I will be placed in one of the criminal division units such as the misdemeanor, gang violence, domestic violence or child assault unit. I will be researching and drafting court motions, reviewing police reports, contacting and subpoenaing witnesses, victims and police officers and assisting attorneys in court with pre-trial conferences.

Matthew Baker: I am looking forward to interning with Prisoner Legal Services this summer, which is run out of the San Francisco Public Defender's Office. Most of my time will be spent working directly with inmates in the county jails and ensuring that there needs are being met and their rights respected.

Ashley Connell:This summer I will be working at the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), an organization dedicated to advancing the civil and human rights of LGBT people and their families. Much of my time will be spent interacting directly with individuals seeking legal guidance from NCLR by responding to calls from around the country to our legal helpline. I will also conduct case research, draft memos, and update publications to better serve our clients and the community.

Don Cowan: I will be clerking this summer at the office of the Alameda County Public Defender as a Legal Research Assistant. During my internship I will be researching the law related to various types of criminal charges brought against clients and drafting motions and legal memos as needed for the research department and staff attorneys.

Heather Cox: I will be working for the Children's Law Center of Los Angeles (CLC) for the summer. The CLC is a nonprofit public interest legal organization funded by the Court to serve as appointed counsel for abused and neglected youth in the foster care system. My responsibilities for the summer will include assisting attorneys with trial preparation, witness interviews, research and preparation of motions, custody orders, guardianship papers, subpoenas, and restraining orders.

Tiffany Danao: I will be spending my summer at the Alameda County Public Defender's Office. I have been interested in indigent criminal defense since last summer, which I spent doing death penalty work in New Orleans through USF's Keta Taylor Colby Death Penalty Project. This summer I will be meeting with clients, as well as writing and arguing motions on their behalf in the Alameda court system.

Mariam Danielyan: This summer I will be working at the Los Angeles Public Defender's Office. I will spend five weeks working on misdemeanor cases, and the remaining five weeks on felony cases. Work will vary from legal research and writing to hands on experience in the court room, which I am most excited about. During this spring semester I worked at the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office (felony unit) and my experience there triggered an interest in criminal defense work.

Carmen Franklin: This summer, I will be working in Alameda Superior Court's Legal Services Bureau, the legal research section of the Court. I will be conducting legal research and writing bench memorandums that recommend courses of action to the appellate panel judges in misdemeanor and civil limited cases.

Christa Henneman: This summer I will be returning to the San Francisco Public Defender's Office. The PD’s office vigorously protects and defends the rights of indigent clients. I will be a certified law student in the Felony Unit, writing and arguing motions before the court and assisting with trial preparation.

Brahmani Houston: This summer I will be working at the San Francisco Public Defender's Office in the Felony Unit defending indigent clients. I will be writing and arguing motions, conducting investigations, interviewing clients, and assisting my supervising attorney at preliminary hearings and trials.

Donovan Hunter: This summer I will be working at the Office of the Marin County Public Defender. The goal of the Office of the Marin County Public Defender is to provide effective legal services while protecting the constitutional rights of their clients. In addition the Office of the Marin County Public Defender strives to treat clients respectfully and encourage them to lead productive and positive lives.

Dana Isaac: Legal Services For Prisoners with Children (LSPC) advocates for the civil rights and empowerment of incarcerated parents, children, family members and people at risk for incarceration through responding to requests for information, trainings, technical assistance, litigation, community activism and the development of more advocates. LSPC focus is on women prisoners and their families, and emphasizes that issues of race are central to any discussion of incarceration.

Christine Luong: The East Bay Community Law Center provides legal services to low income communities in the East Bay, in the hopes of creating a more equitable and just society. Their practices areas include housing, HIV & health, homelessness, and economic development. This summer I will be working in the Income Support Unit helping clients maintain access to their welfare benefits. I will do so by interviewing clients, research applicable law, and represent clients in administrative hearings.

Christopher McNary: This summer I will be working as a law student intern at the San Francisco Public Defender's Office. The San Francisco Public Defender's Office is committed to vigorously representing clients when faced with criminal prosecutions. I will perform legal research and writing tasks, interview clients, and interview witnesses in order to provide the legal defense which everyone is entitled to during a criminal prosecution.

Charles Millioen: I will be working in San Francisco this summer for Legal Services for Prisoners with Children (LSPC), an advocacy organization which provides support against the prison industrial complex. LSPC directly assists incarcerated individuals, formerly incarcerated individuals, and family members of incarcerated individuals while also informing the community as to relevant issues and problems relating to the prison system.

Jessica Morreale: This summer I will be interning for Asylum Access. As an intern, my work will include a variety of activities including program management and development, research on international and regional refugee laws in African, Asian and/or Latin American countries that affect refugees, and country-of-origin research to support legal briefs and refugee legal aid training materials.

Mike Pasternak: This summer, I will be working for the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles. The foundation covers the entire Los Angeles area, and has several offices in the city and surrounding area that provide a wide range of services, from housing disputes to immigration matters, to Family Law-Self Help, to filing for and dealing with bankruptcy. In their Santa Monica office, I will be working with an attorney for the eviction defense and housing office, helping clients throughout eviction proceedings.

Chris Pollok: Bay Area Legal Aid offers free legal services to individuals with low-income. As an intern for Bay Area Legal Aid I will assist individuals with issues relating to housing, domestic violence, public benefits and health care access. Through these services Bay Area Legal Aid aims to prevent homelessness, fight illegal eviction, and help individuals who are trying to get out of dangerous and abusive situations at home.

Yuri Reyes: I will be working for La Raza Centro Legal this summer in the Workers' Rights Program. I will provide direct legal service by assisting staff file administrative wage and hour claims with the California Labor Commissioner and represent workers at settlement negotiations with their employers. I will also attend community meetings in the Mission District and participate in policy discussions with community members and advocates.




Emily Schmidt: This summer I will be working for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. Congress created the HUD, an administrative body, to receive complaints and enforce compliance with federal fair housing laws. At the HUD, I will be processing different types of fair housing claims.

Nerea Sholl:This summer I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to work for Bay Area Legal Aid in their San Francisco Office. Bay Area Legal Aid offers free legal services to individuals with low-income. As an intern for Bay Area Legal Aid I will assist individuals with issues relating to housing, domestic violence, public benefits and health care access. Through these services Bay Area Legal Aid aims to prevent homelessness, fight illegal eviction, and help individuals who are trying to get out of dangerous and abusive situations at home

Jonathan Shugart: I will intern this summer at the Berkeley office of the Homeless Action Center, an organization offering free legal services to low-income and disabled residents in Alameda County. As an intern, I will conduct intake consultations with clients, as well as provide legal assistance with various public benefits programs.

Christine Start: I am continuing my work advocating for and working to protect the rights and liberties of those facing criminal charges in state court. I will serve indigent adult and juvenile clients at the Office of the Public Defender Contra Costa County in Richmond, CA. As a certified law student my work will include research, writing and arguing motions on behalf of indigent criminal defendants in court.

Lani Virostko: I will be working for the California Office of the State Public Defender. The Office of the State Public Defender represents indigent clients on death row in the capital post-conviction appellate process. I will be assisting in research and investigation in the federal habeas corpus division. After working at the trial level on death penalty cases last summer in Mississippi, I am excited to explore a different side of indigent criminal defense and death penalty work.

Chelsea Whelan: This summer I will intern at the Self-Help Services Center of the Alameda County Superior Court under the supervision of the Family Law Facilitator. The Self-Help Services Center provides free legal assistance to self-represented litigants primarily in the area of family law. Accordingly, I will conduct workshops and assist self-represented litigants with various filings in a fast-paced clinic setting, e.g. dissolutions, guardianship of the person, restraining orders, etc.



Jennie West: As a product of the Oakland Unified School District, I am excited to join it's legal department this summer. The mission of the Office of the General Counsel of the Oakland Unified School District is to effectively represent the District, provide advice and counsel designed to achieve ongoing compliance to support the District's mission, and to aggressively protect and advance the interests of the District and the students it exists to serve. I will be working on a variety of projects involving labor and employment issues as well the districts current educational law and policy.