Gates Public Service Law Scholars

Gates Public Service Law News

Winter 2011 Issue

News from the UW's Gates Public Service Program
 
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A Message from PILA
Amanda Ballantyne, 3L

It has been an exciting year for the Public Interest Law Association (PILA) at the University of Washington School of Law. PILA is a student-run nonprofit organization that is dedicated to promoting public interest and public service legal work. In the past 18 years, PILA has raised and distributed over a half a million dollars to support nearly 200 UW Law students and alumni in their pursuit of public interest legal internships and careers.

19 UW Law Students Received PILA Grants in 2011

Thanks to the generous contributions from our many supporters, PILA was able to fund UW Law students to support their unpaid legal internships at public interest organizations and government agencies throughout Washington State, and around the world. Students worked at diverse placements such as the Seattle Federal Public Defender, The Center for Reproductive Rights (NY), International Justice Mission (Rwanda), Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (CT), Disability Rights Washington, the Texas Civil Rights Project, the Montana Innocence Project and Solid Ground (WA).

PILA Launched Its New Advisory Board In November

In November, PILA officially launched a new Advisory Board. The Advisory Board will help PILA’s student board achieve its goals to expand public interest funding at the Law School in two ways. In addition to advising and assisting PILA with strategies to improve its current work, Advisory Board members will also mentor and train PILA’s student board members. In this way, the Advisory Board will help PILA become an organization where students can develop critical leadership skills, including non-profit administration, program development, fundraising, partnership building.

We are thrilled to welcome the following individuals to our new Advisory Board and are grateful for their service to PILA and to the Law School:

  • Sara Ainsworth, Counsel Emerita, Legal Voice & Lecturer, UW Law

  • Justice Bobbe Bridge, President & CEO, Center for Children & Youth Justice

  • Stephanie Cox, Assistant Dean, University of Washington School of Law

  • Paula Littlewood, Executive Director, Washington State Bar Association

  • Michele Storms, Assistant Dean, University of Washington School of Law

Please Join Us At Our 2012 Benefit Auction On February 10

PILA’s Annual Benefit Auction will be held February 10, 2012 at Fisher Pavilion in Seattle Center at 5:30pm. Proceeds fund PILA's public interest grant program and other initiatives such as the UW Loan Repayment Assistance Program.

 Tickets are available for purchase online.

If you are interested in learning more about PILA, advising the PILA board, or contributing to our Auction, please contact Amanda Ballantyne at acball@uw.edu.

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Human Rights in Africa & Asia

The Center for Public Service law is happy to administer the process for the Africa Public Interest Law Fellowship and the Asia Health Law Fellowships. These fellowships provide transportation expenses for students who are able to obtain a summer internship in either Africa or Asia working with an NGO. During the summer of 2011 two students received the fellowships.

The Nile Basin Initiative by Alex Baron, 2L

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For a decade and a half the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), composed of scientists, policymakers, lawyers, and the water affairs ministers of each country in the contentious Nile Basin, has conducted joint research on everything from agricultural practices to early warning systems for droughts, to aquatic biology, to the efficacy of water management organizations. Its aim is to set up institutions that will provide for cooperative basin-wide water management well into the future.

I went to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia this summer to work with Imeru Tamrat, a lecturer at the Addis Ababa University law school and consultant to Ethiopia’s Ministry of Water and Energy. My general task was to look at how the Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) and The Nile Basin Commission might provide for better integration of hydrological science and data collection with water management policy and law. The CFA requires basin states to “enter into consultations in a spirit of cooperation” and to prevent “the causing of significant harm to other Basin States.” Any reallocation of Nile water that does not preserve Egypt’s and Sudan’s claims will be seen by them as causing significant harm. We decided to examine inefficiencies in water management along two sections of the river, the Blue Nile (which flows from Ethiopia into South Sudan and then Sudan) and the Main Nile (which flows from Sudan into Egypt), as well as possibilities for enhancing efficiency, with the reasoning that more efficient water use would increase the water supply for all basin countries and ease anxieties about new allocation regimes, at least to some degree.

The work is complicated and the potential for conflict around water allocation is high. During my internship I did research, wrote reports, and participated in meetings. It is thanks to the UW Africa Public Interest Law Fellowship that I was able to travel to Addis Ababa and take on this project. I am so grateful. This was far more than a summer job for me. I will continue this work throughout the coming year and throughout my career.

Forum for Women & Democracy in Nepal by Alec Paxton, 2L 

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My time with the Forum for Women, Law & Development (FWLD) was meaningful, exciting, and formative. I had the pleasure of watching reports that I had prepared for our director the night before presented to the Nepalese Constituent Assembly, UN bodies, and at other regional conferences. In addition, the comparative legal research I conducted on reproductive rights is currently being used to inform and support two pieces of legislation that are to be submitted to the Constituent Assembly shortly.

Following my first year at UW law I harbored certain doubts about the efficacy of international legal development, and my commitment to these efforts. However, after spending the summer with an organization that has taken tremendous strides to protect the rights of women in Nepal, I am certain of the importance that legal reform plays in achieving broader development goals. I was likewise reassured of my interest, competence, and commitment to being a part of this work.

At the Forum I prepared reports pertaining to comparative research on reproductive rights legislation, I did initial research on a bill that would protect the privacy and anonymity of victims of sexual assault during police investigations and judicial proceedings. I also worked closely with Sapana Pradhan Malla, a legislator and founder of FWLD, to produce time-sensitive reports on a variety of topics. These reports were used to advocate for reform in various national, regional, and international forums. This summer was not only incredibly productive, it was also proof of the incredible contribution that lawyers can make to the greater community when they dare deviate from the well-worn path. It was proof I needed to see personally, and an experience I cannot thank UW Law enough for supporting.

Gates Scholars Update

An Opportunity to Serve by Johanna Gusman, 2L

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About three days into the fall quarter of my second year of law school, I received an email offering me the internship of a lifetime. Thirty-six hours later, I was on a flight to my new home in Geneva, Switzerland. For my internship requirement with the Gates Public Service Scholarship, I have the honor of working at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), within the Division of International Protection as a Human Rights Liaison. As an intern under UNHCR’s Policy and Law Pillar, I assist in the finalization of UNHCR’s contributions to the human rights bodies, attend the treaty body sessions and prepare feedback reports regarding the legal implications of each resolution to UNHCR colleagues covering the countries under examination. I also follow proceedings at the Human Rights Council, including the Universal Periodic Review, as well as undertake legal research and analyses on various topics of relevance to UNHCR’s work.

Needless to say, this experience is invaluable to me because I was exposed to such a wide range of human rights issues and concerns, right from within the United Nations legal system. I came to law school with a human rights focus and this quarter abroad provides me with the absolute best training I could receive in the field. Whether I decide to fight for human rights abroad or deal with those issues domestically, I am being groomed to consistently analyze legal issues from the eyes of the most vulnerable populations, often the group most adversely affected by discriminatory and unjust laws. It is refreshing to be able to frame legal arguments from this perspective because it is exactly how laws should be analyzed. I am able to pursue this dream because of the generous stipend I receive as a Gates Scholar and I will be able to multiply that generosity when I apply these lessons to ensure the realization of human rights in underserved communities. Besides, that is exactly why this scholarship exists—to increase access to justice everywhere and to solidify this school’s commitment to public service.

Justice for Iraqis: The Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project by Sarah Lippek and Yurij Rudensky, 2Ls 

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The Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project is coming to Seattle through a partnership between UW School of Law students and their Seattle University counterparts. IRAP is the first and only organization that provides comprehensive legal assistance to individual refugees abroad during the resettlement process.

The IRAP network pairs students with pro-bono attorneys to help refugees navigate an unfamiliar, opaque, and bureaucratically complex system. First conceived as a student group at Yale Law School, IRAP has expanded rapidly throughout the United States and abroad. The organization currently has 12 chapters at law schools in the United States and the Middle East, including the first clinical legal education program in Jordan.

University of Washington School of Law 2Ls Yurij Rudensky and Sarah Lippek are spearheading the Northwest chapter, in collaboration with 2L Arthur DeLong from Seattle University. Yurij and Sarah, enabled by Gates Public Service Law scholarships, gained a wealth of experience as summer legal interns at IRAP international headquarters. Case work over the summer included urgent care for a refugee in the process of deportation from detention in Syria back into immediate threat of death in Iraq; assisting persecuted Chaldean Christians with family reunification; and work with an Iraqi translator on an American base in Baghdad, who was facing danger as the troop drawdown that will close his base threatened to leave him vulnerable and without protection. Yurij and Sarah returned to Seattle impassioned and empowered to continue their work with displaced and threatened Iraqis. This new student-community partnership is the result.

Success for IRAP clients can mean tangible, lasting improvements for future generations. Because refugee law is entirely new, every case has the potential to set common law precedent. Further, IRAP uses impact litigation, broad FOIA requests, solicited and unsolicited white papers, and media outreach to push for positive policy change. IRAP has already made an extraordinary impact by converting free legal services into an immeasurable effect on refugees’ lives. The University of Washington School of Law is proud to host the newest IRAP chapter.

Faculty and Staff in the Pro Bono Honors Program
by Aline Carton Listfjeld, Assistant Director for Public Service

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As it enters its third year of existence at UW Law, the Pro Bono Honors Program now welcomes faculty and staff to participate in the Program. The Pro Bono Honors Program encourages law students, faculty and staff to provide pro bono legal assistance to low-income communities. It connects the law school community to pro bono resources and opportunities, recognizes student pro bono work beyond the 60-hour public service graduation requirement and now recognizes pro bono contributions made by faculty and staff. In short, this program helps to promote a culture of public service in the life of the law school and in the legal profession. As with our students, we know that many faculty and staff are unsung heroes, providing pro bono and community service. We are excited to now officially request faculty and staff (whether or not they are attorneys) participation in the program. All faculty and staff participating in the program will be honored along with student participants at the Annual Law School Awards Ceremony on May 7, 2012.

Notes from the Director
by Michele Storms, Assistant Dean for Public Service

Our Center for Public Service Law continues to grow!

We have expanded the Pro Bono Honors Program, begun the Moderate Means Program, and we are providing professional development and career coaching to more than 123 students who are interested in public service careers after law school. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. We are getting ready to enter into a new selection season for the Gates Scholarship Program with applications for new Scholars being accepted until January 15, 2012.

We continue with programming on public service issues, both substantive and career-related. This academic year we launched our online “Weekly Update” which is designed to keep students apprised of the latest news regarding events, job opportunities, scholarship & fellowship opportunities, conferences & training events and community service opportunities. This year we are excited to work closely with the Public Interest Law Student Association to support their annual event, coming up February 10, 2012. Our Center aims to educate, empower and inspire all of our students, graduates and broader law school community to incorporate public service into their lives, regardless of where they work or what kind of position they hold. We hope to nurture the culture of a service-oriented legal education, career and community as a key component of the UW Law mission to be Leaders for the Global Common Good.

Happy Birthday Bill Gates Sr.!

bill gates sr

The presence of the Gates Public Service Law Program and the increasing services offered through our Center for Public Service Law are largely thanks to a unique birthday gift given to Bill Gates Sr. back in 2005 by his son and daughter-in-law through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. We are ever grateful to Bill Gates Sr. for his enormous contribution to law and public service, and for giving us the chance to prepare new generations of lawyers to follow in his footsteps. Happy Birthday Bill Gates Sr.!

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Winter 2011

In this issue:


The Gates Public Service Law Program exists because the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation wished to honor Bill Gates Sr., '50 for his career-long dedication to public service. In his current role as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation he continues his commitment to service on the global stage.

 


Public Service for your iPod

You can download Gates Public Service Speaker Series lectures and Social Justice Tuesdays seminars from the UW School of Law on iTunes U directly to your iTunes desktop application, iPhone or iPod.

Find these albums, and more, on the "Law & Society" channel at the UW page on iTunesU:
Gates Public Service Law Speaker Series


Social Justice Tuesdays

Gates Public Service Speaker Series lectures are also available on the UW School of Law Multimedia Gallery.

 

In This Issue:

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Last updated 7/8/2011