The Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) has announced the names of eight law student interns who will work at public interest law agencies in Chicago during the spring semester.

School-year Interns work 200 hours part-time during the semester with PILI providing a living stipend, as well as ensuring quality supervision by experienced attorneys and providing extra educational, networking and advising opportunities.  

In addition to funding these Interns, PILI ensures quality supervision by experienced agency attorneys, and provides extra educational, networking and mentoring opportunities. This program helps Interns launch successful public interest law careers while also helping the Intern’s agency increase their impact. 

Spring 2020 PILI interns:

• Diana Arroyo from Loyola University Chicago School of Law at Legal Aid Chicago
• Tara Carone from Loyola University Chicago School of Law at Roger Baldwin Foundation – ACLU
• Joey Carrillo from IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law at National Immigrant Justice Center
• Maya Flores from DePaul University College of Law at MALDEF
• Alexandra O’Herir from The UIC John Marshall Law School at Chicago Legal Clinic
• Ada Sandoval from IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law at Lawyers’ Committee for Better Housing
• Patrisia Vekima from DePaul University College of Law at CARPLS
• Nadia Woods from Loyola University Chicago School of Law at Cabrini Green Legal Aid

Four of the spring semester internship placements are made possible by special funding commitments from organizational champions for public interest law: 

Baker McKenzie Intern 
Nadia Woods from Loyola University Chicago School of Law is the Baker McKenzie Intern at Cabrini Green Legal Aid (CGLA). Baker McKenzie has a longstanding commitment to ensuring access to justice for all of those in need, and funding a school-year Internship placement at Cabrini Green Legal Aid through PILI further supports this tradition of service. 

Chicago Bar Foundation Intern
Alexandra O’Hehir from The UIC John Marshall Law School is the Chicago Bar Foundation Intern at Chicago Legal Clinic. As the charitable arm of the CBA, the Chicago Bar Foundation brings the legal community together to improve access to justice for people in need and make the legal system more fair and efficient for everyone. 

Lagbac InternJoey Carrillo from Chicago-Kent College of Law is the LAGBAC (Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago) Intern at the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) in their LGBT Immigrant Rights Initiative. The LAGBAC Foundation’s mission is to improve access to the legal and judicial system for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, intersexed and questioning persons by giving law students the opportunity to learn valuable, practical legal skills while giving back to our community. 

Mary C. Russo Memorial Intern
Diana Arroyo from Loyola University Chicago School of Law is the Mary C. Russo Memorial Intern at Legal Aid Chicago. This Internship is funded by Mary’s children to honor the memory of their mother who died in 2014. Mary was the consummate volunteer, contributing to her community in many ways, including forming the Office of Volunteer Resources for her city, Virginia Beach, Virginia. She served as Director of this office for 37 years, and also chaired many volunteer initiatives focused on education, mental health, drug abuse, and the court system, among others.