Ryu finds passion in public interest law with Philadelphia Legal Assistance

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Deokhee Ryu grew up in Gwangju, South Korea, where she heard stories of the Civil Rights Movement that occurred there in the 1980s throughout her childhood. This culture made her aware of civil rights inequities, and drove her to work to become a human rights lawyer, which she is now pursuing through her studies at Penn State Law.

With the assistance of the Penn State Law Career Services Office, Ryu learned of the opportunity of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Internship Program with the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network. She applied to the program, and was matched with Philadelphia Legal Assistance (PLA) as a legal intern in the Family Law Unit.

Ryu worked with pro se clients to provide them with legal advice related to custody cases and Protection from Abuse (PFA) orders. She met with clients, interviewed them, and advised them on how to represent themselves in court. During her time at PLA, she wrote a brief for a PFA hearing, prepared motions, and observed many family court hearings.

It was the observations of these hearings that intrigued Ryu from a human rights perspective. She noted that the pro se clients were at a significant disadvantage when compared to the clients represented by attorneys. The advisements provided by the attorney—from how to dress and speak, to when to present appropriate stories and evidence—drastically improved a client’s outcome. This obvious imbalance of power pushed Ryu to educate her pro se clients on basic legal terms and processes so that they could be better self-advocates before the court.

Ryu went into the summer with a strong desire to work in the immigration law field, but after her experience at PLA, she is extremely interested in combining immigration and family law in her future career, working to empower indigent clients as a public interest lawyer.

“I came to law school to make a difference,” said Ryu. “This summer experience opened my eyes to new ways to accomplish that.”

Additionally, Ryu learned a great deal about how the public interest legal field operates. She got an inside look at the lifestyles of public interest lawyers, and how they break into the field.

“This internship was a great experience because it offered the opportunity to network with public interest contacts. There were also many insightful training sessions that I found valuable. I would highly recommend this program to anyone interested in public interest law.”