What does an investment in the next generation of public interest lawyers make possible?

For EJA Summer Fellow Madelene “Maddie” Beck, a student at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, it meant spending her summer working with the Appellate and Impact Litigation Unit at Maryland Legal Aid.

Maddie conducted research across issues ranging from housing and employment law to constitutional law. She observed arguments before Maryland's appellate courts, contributed research to ongoing impact litigation, and helped the team examine county ordinances as it prepared a lawsuit challenging an eviction practice that treats renters' property as abandoned at the time of eviction.

By summer's end, Maddie wrote that the experience had “reaffirmed my desire to pursue a public interest legal career.”

That's the dual impact of an EJA fellowship: helping legal aid organizations expand their capacity today while giving future lawyers the experience that can shape a career committed to equal justice.

We are especially grateful to the Maryland Bar Foundation for funding Maddie's EJA Fellowship and making this opportunity possible.

Maddie's summer is a great example of what happens when the legal community invests in the public interest pipeline.