FRANKLIN PIERCE LAW Center recently awarded Public Interest Coalition (PIC) Fellowships to 15 law students to perform pro bono legal work for nonprofit organizations in New Hampshire, throughout the United States and abroad. The fellowships are made possible through funds raised by the law school’s annual Public Interest Coalition Auction that this year raised over $42,000.

According to Brigette Siff Holmes, director of Pierce Law’s Social Justice Institute, the fellowships provide stipends to help cover living expenses of selected students in unpaid summer internships, allowing the students "to help meet the legal needs of the under-represented in our communities." Awards are based on merit and strength of a student’s application, according to Holmes. "The application process is competitive and non-partisan, allowing students to serve a broad range of public service organizations and clients."

A record 23 students applied for fellowships this year, eight more than last year.

Three of this year’s 15 fellows are funded by fellowship sponsors. The organizations they will be working for and their sponsors are as follows:

Sarah Fox, Sanbornton, NH; Children’s Alliance of New Hampshire, Concord; funded in part by the Nashua Bar Association;

Mia Poliquin, Lewiston, Maine; NH Attorney General’s Office – Consumer Protection Bureau; funded in part by the Concord law firm Sulloway & Hollis;

Shunsuke Sumitami, Los Angeles, CA; NH American Civil Liberties Union, Concord; funded in full by Lexis Law Publishing.

The other students selected to receive fellowships and the organizations they will work for this summer are:

Erin Barnes, Downers Grove, IL; NH Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, Concord;

Karen Coombs, Foxborough, MA; Concord City Prosecutor’s Office, Concord;

Margee Fagelson, Brattleboro, VT; Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, Boston;

Diana Fenton, North Conway; Carroll County Prosecutor’s Office, Ossipee;

Paul Homer, Amherst, NY; United Nations War Crimes Tribunal for Rwanda, Arusha, Tanzania;

Samantha Jewett, San Francisco, CA; United States Attorney’s Office, Concord;

Heather Logan, Landing, NJ; NHBA Pro Bono Referral Program, Concord;

Heidi Millard, Harford, PA; Queens County District Attorney, Queens, NY;

Emilie Roth, Dubuque, IA; NH Commission on Human Rights, Concord;

Amber Thibeault, Grand Isle, VT; Drug Court Initiative, Burlington, VT;

Diane O’Callaghan, Concord; NH Public Defender Program, Concord;

Melina Wright, Arlington, VA; NH Department of Education, Concord.

Holmes said that the work of Public Interest Fellows is particularly important during today’s difficult economic times. "The current economy has created enormous challenges, both to disadvantaged individuals and to the nonprofit organizations that serve them. Without Pierce Law’s Public Interest Coalition and the financial support of many New Hampshire Bar members, members of the Pierce Law Community and alumni, the legal services these students provide would not be possible, " she said.

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