Connecticut for Equal Justice

In 2008, Equal Justice America launched its Connecticut for Equal Justice campaign to increase legal services to people in need by creating additional Law Student Fellowships in the state, putting more law students to work with Connecticut legal aid organizations.

For more than a decade, Equal Justice America has sponsored the Yale Law School student-run Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) Project at the New Haven Legal Assistance Association (NHLAA). The project provides vital assistance to victims of domestic violence who seek to file orders of protection. Susan Nofi-Bendici, the Executive Director of NHLAA, calls the EJA sponsored TRO Project “one of the most successful student projects to come out of the law school” and “a demonstration project for law schools and legal services’ programs throughout the country.”

Funding for EJA Fellowships for Quinnipiac University and University of Connecticut law students derive from our Connecticut for Equal Justice campaign. (To be eligible for an EJA Fellowship, students from these schools must find placements with legal aid organizations in Connecticut.)

The following law students have received Equal Justice America Fellowships since our launch of Connecticut for Equal Justice. Your support will help us expand our program to put more law students to work in Connecticut on behalf of people in need.

(Equal Justice America is an independent non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation unaffiliated with any law school.)
Please click the links below to read more about the students’ EJA Fellowships.

"Overall, my experience at [the New Haven Legal Assistance Association] was very telling and would not have been possible without the generosity of your organization. Thank you for facilitating my opportunity to work with one of the most vulnerable groups in society today. I am truly grateful to be a recipient of your Summer 2016 Fellowship."
Lotaya Wright
Boston University
EJA Summer Fellow, 2016
  • Summer 2022
    • Joan Komolafe (UCLA) worked at the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization in New Haven.
  • Summer 2021
    • Leah Hastings (Boston University) worked at the New Haven Legal Assistance Association in New Haven.
  • Summer 2020
    • Joyce Choi (University of Georgia) worked in the Veterans Legal Services Clinic with the Legal Services Organization of Yale Law School.
  • Summer 2016
    • Lotaya Wright (Boston University) worked at the New Haven Legal Assistance Association.
  • Fall 2015/Spring 2016
    • Cassie Crockett, Melissa Legge, James Mandilk, Lisa Wang and Sarah Weiner are working at the TRO Project at the New Haven Legal Assistance Association.
  • Summer 2015
    • Elizabeth Hoffman (University of Virginia) and Miguelina Mercedes (Boston College) worked at the New Haven Legal Assistance Association.

  • Fall 2014/Spring 2015
    • William Clayman, Rachel Judd, Melissa Legge, Rebecca Loomis, Jacob Siegel and Benjamin Woodring worked at theTRO Project at the New Haven Legal Assistance Association.
  • Summer 2014
    • Katherine Canny (University of Michigan) worked New Haven Legal Assistance Association.
    • Laura Richardson (University of Connecticut) worked at the Connecticut Fair Housing Center in Hartford.
  • Summer 2013
    • Sarah Gleason (University of Connecticut) worked at the Children’s Law Center of Connecticut in Hartford.
  • Fall 2012/Spring 2013
    • Yale law students Julia Freeland, Alicia LeVezu, Ming-Yee Lin, Emily Rock and Laura Zaragoza worked at the TRO Project at the New Haven Legal Assistance Association.
  • Summer 2011
    • Alicia Lee (Cornell) worked at the New Haven Legal Assistance Association.
  • Spring 2011
    • Sandra Hourani (University of Connecticut) continued her work at Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services in New Haven.
  • Fall 2011/Spring 2012
    • Yale law students Julia Freeland, Shari Inniss-Grant, Rayma Kasturi, Ming-Yee Lin, and Marisa West worked at the TRO Project at the New Haven Legal Assistance Association.
  • Fall 2010/Spring 2011
    • Sandra Hourani (University of Connecticut) worked at Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services.
    • Yale law students Shari Inniss-Grant, Kenneth Jamison, Ramya Kasturi, Chelsea Purvis and Rebecca Scholtz worked at the TRO Project at the New Haven Legal Assistance Association.
  • Summer 2010
    • Christina Colon (NYU) and Mia Rubin (University of Connecticut) worked at Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services.
    • Nora Grais-Clements (University of Connecticut) worked at the New Haven Legal Assistance Association.
    • Caitlin Loftus (University of Connecticut) worked at the Connecticut Fair Housing Center in Hartford.
  • Fall 2009/Spring 2010
    • Yale law students Kaitlin Ainsworth, Kenneth Jamison, Chelsea Purvis and Kristin Shaffer worked at the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) Project at the New Haven Legal Assistance Association.
  • Summer 2009
    • Marina Castillo (University of Connecticut) worked at the Center for Children’s Advocacy in Hartford.
  • September 2008
    • Yale graduate Hannah Benton began a two-year $80,000 post-graduate EJA Fellowship at the Center for Children’s Advocacy.
  • Fall 2008/Spring 2009
    • Yale law students Kaitlin Ainsworth, Jonathan Cochran, Ilana Gelfman and Caroline Gross worked at the TRO Project at the New Haven Legal Assistance Association.
  • Summer 2008
    • Mariedy Collazo (University of Connecticut) worked at the Center for Children’s Advocacy.
    • Ailla Wasstrom-Welz (University of Connecticut) worked at Connecticut Legal Services.