Jill Roberts sees career in public service
Jill E. Roberts, winner of the 2008 Public Service Award from the ISBA Law Student Division, has designated the Cabrini Green Legal Clinic as recipient of the $250 donation in her name that accompanies the honor.
A third-year student at the Chicago-Kent College of Law, Roberts edged out five other law student finalists for the annual award that will be presented during the ISBA Annual Meeting next month in St. Louis.
She is a member of the ISBA Law Student Division and is enrolled in the law school's Public Interest Law Certificate program.
Her extensive public interest experience with legal assistance agencies has been enhanced by her ability to conduct intake interviews in both English and Spanish, and to translate paperwork for Spanish-speaking clients.
President of the Kent Justice Foundation, Roberts has spearheaded events to encourage students to get involved in volunteer activities and to learn about opportunities in public interest law.
In addition to bake sales, T-shirt sales and a fall benefit, the foundation raised $28,000 during a spring auction. The funds will support 13 summer fellowships in public interest practice.
Roberts has volunteered with the Lawyers' Committee for Better Housing Attorney for the Day program in eviction court, and she was a Public Interest Law Initiative intern in last summer's Affordable Housing Preservation initiative.
From May to August 2006, Roberts was a criminal records intern for the Cabrini Green Legal Clinic, assisting clients with pro-se expungement and clemency hearings. She continues to volunteer as a help desk supervisor.
In the fall of 2006, she was an immigration law student volunteer for the Chicago Legal Clinic, and from October 2005 to May 2006, she was a Family Law Project volunteer for the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago.
The other five finalists for the Public Service Award, and their law schools, are: Jennifer Keys, DePaul University; Melanie MacBride, Loyola University; Jennifer Hrycyna, Northwestern University; Amber Danielle Evans, University of Illinois, and Emily Orsinger, Valparaiso University.
Each will receive a commemorative plaque from the Law Student Division.