Greenberg Traurig Announces New 2014 Public Interest Fellows

02.19.14

People:  Michael L. Lehr | William C. Silverman
Related Offices:  Miami | Philadelphia | New York
Firm Renames Fellowship Foundation in Honor of GT Shareholder Holly Skolnick

NEW YORK (Feb. 19, 2014) –   The Greenberg Traurig Holly Skolnick Fellowship Foundation has selected its 2014 Class, seven new public interest fellows it will sponsor in partnership with Equal Justice Works, a non-profit organization that provides fellowships to aspiring public interest lawyers. These fellows will begin a two-year fellowship in the fall of 2014 and join the eight 2013 GT Skolnick fellows who will then be completing the second year of their fellowship term.

Greenberg Traurig recently renamed its Fellowship Foundation in honor of the late Holly Skolnick, a firm litigator who served as the president and founder of the foundation and as Pro Bono Chair for the firm. Skolnick, who passed away in June 2013, established the firm’s Fellowship Foundation in 1999. 

As of 2014, the firm will have invested approximately $8 million to support 127 Equal Justice Works Fellows from more than 40 cities across the United States. This makes Greenberg Traurig the largest single funder of the program.  Beginning in 2014, the first fellow that the firm funds each year through Equal Justice Works will be placed with Americans for Immigrant Justice, a nonprofit organization to which Skolnick dedicated her time.

“We are proud to honor Holly who always championed Equal Justice Works and Greenberg Traurig’s commitment to pro bono,” said Richard A. Rosenbaum, Chief Executive Officer of Greenberg Traurig.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to continue Holly’s outstanding work,” said William C. Silverman, a Shareholder in Greenberg Traurig’s New York office who serves as Pro Bono Chair for the firm and president of the foundation. “Holly taught me the importance of looking beyond the individual case and measuring success in terms of real impact.  Through coordinated pro bono work from our 36 offices and the strategic use of our fellowship foundation we are dedicated to improving the administration of justice for those in greatest need.” 

The 2014 Equal Justice Works fellowship competition attracted 460 applicants from law schools across the country, an 8 percent increase over the prior year.

“We are very enthusiastic about the new class of fellows who will be working across the country providing legal assistance to those in need,” said Michael L. Lehr, Regional Operating Shareholder in Greenberg Traurig’s Philadelphia office and a member of the Equal Justice Works board.  “This competitive program elevates top candidates who are dedicated to public interest law and provides them a tremendous opportunity to launch their careers.”

The following are the 2014 GT Skolnick Fellows:

Florida

  • Charlotte Joseph Cassel, a graduate from the University of Miami Law School, will ensure that vulnerable Floridians can access essential health care in an overhauled health care system through direct client representation, impact advocacy, and education. Charlotte’s fellowship is co-sponsored by the Florida Bar Foundation.
  • Able Delgado, a graduate of Tulane University Law School, will address the needs of immigrant minors in South Florida’s juvenile justice system through direct advocacy and education while facilitating collaboration between advocates and welfare authorities. Able is a Holly Skolnick fellow at Americans for Immigrant Justice (AIJ).

Texas

  • Mani Nezami, a graduate of South Texas College of Law, will address the issue of disproportionate minority contact through a holistic approach by providing legal representation to children who are in the criminal justice system, the mental health system and the foster care system. Mani’s fellowship is co-sponsored by the Texas Access to Justice Foundation.

New Jersey

  • Samantha Rumsey, a graduate of Seton Hall University School of Law, will build greater receptivity to Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) in NJ through representation of unaccompanied immigrant children (UACs) and outreach to family courts and federal adjudicators.

Illinois

  • Ginger Tanton, a graduate of Northwestern University School of Law, will unite immigration law and family law into an accessible package to achieve social, legal, an economic independence for victims of domestic violence who seek orders of protection in Chicago.

California

  • Erica Carroll, a graduate of University of California Los Angeles School of Law, will provide comprehensive family law services and education to pregnant and parenting foster youth in order to retain custody of their children and break the intergenerational cycle of foster care.
  • Julia High, a graduate of University of California Los Angeles School of Law, will advocate for youth with mental health disabilities to ensure access to mental health services, education, and support services through direct representation, community outreach, and education.

About Equal Justice Works

Equal Justice Works is the leader in creating public interest opportunities for law students and lawyers. Collaborating with the nation’s leading law schools, law firms, corporate legal departments and nonprofit organizations, Equal Justice Works offers a continuum of opportunities that provide the training and skills that enable attorneys to provide effective representation to underserved communities and causes. Equal Justice Works is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. For additional information about Equal Justice Works, please visit www.equaljusticeworks.org.

Greenberg Traurig’s Pro Bono

Greenberg Traurig lawyers across the firm’s offices provide pro bono legal services to the indigent and working poor, as well as to numerous civic and charitable organizations dedicated to assisting them. The firm focuses its resources on specialized and interrelated issues including civil rights and affirmative action, veterans rights, anti-human trafficking, family law matters, criminal appeals, immigration and political asylum, housing and homelessness.

About Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Greenberg Traurig, LLP is an international, multi-practice law firm with approximately 1750 attorneys serving clients from 36 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Greenberg Traurig is among the Top 10 law firms on The National Law Journal's 2013 NLJ 350, an annual ranking of the largest firms in the U.S. For additional information, please visit www.gtlaw.com.