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The National Association for Public Interest Law and the law firm Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom have awarded prestigious public interest fellowships to three Northwestern law students for 2001.

Jyoti Nanda, class of '01, received a Skadden Fellowship and will work in the Western Region Office of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Jyoti has been an active participant in public interest opportunities at the Law School, including working with Angela Coin in the Bluhm Legal Clinic.

Cleo Kung, class of '01, received a NAPIL Equal Justice Fellowship. Cleo will work with the Legal Assistance Foundation in Chicago. Cleo has participated in a number of public interest opportunities at the law school, including working with John Elson in the Legal Clinic and participating in the Public Interest Practicum and the Public Interest Law Group.

Sarah Mervine, class of '00, also received a Skadden Fellowship and will work with the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago. As a student Sarah worked with Larry Marshall in the Center on Wrongful Convictions. She is currently clerking for Judge Rebecca R. Pallmayer in the Northern District of Illinois.

"These fellowships demonstrate the strength of our clinical and public interest programs and are quite an honor for the Law School," said professor Tom Geraghty, Associate Dean of Clinical Education, and Director of the Bluhm Legal Clinic.

Skadden Fellowships is a program of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, one of the nation's largest law firms. Fellowships are awarded to 25 graduating law students and outgoing judicial clerks for public interest work. Fellows propose a project and receive salary and benefits for up to two years while they provide legal services to the poor, elderly, homeless and disabled, as well as those deprived of their human rights or civil rights.

The NAPIL Equal Justice Fellowship is a two-year program that provides salary and loan repayment assistance, a national training program, and other forms of support and assistance to public interest lawyers who, working in conjunction with host nonprofit organizations, launch projects that serve low-income and other needy communities.

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