Summer Work 2013

Taimoor Choudhry teaches and learns in Palestine

Taimoor Choudhry knew there was a chance he wouldn’t make it past the Palestinian border. Taimoor Choudhry is enrolled in the J.D. and master's in international affairs program at Penn State Law.   “I booked my flight into Jordan and then took a taxi to Palestine,” he said. The strategy was meant to make his crossing go more smoothly. Instead, he was detained. Authorities led Choudhry from room to room to endure lengthy series of questions and didn’t release him until seven hours later.

Injustice inspires Aiyao Zhou '14 to consider a career in public interest law

Before spending the summer at the National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women helping victims of domestic violence, Aiyou Zhou '14 was focused on a career in corporate law. Now she's rethinking her options.

Brittany Mouzourakis '14 spends the summer at Dykema and accepts federal clerkship offer

She handled projects dealing with various kinds of law—consumer finance class action defense, environmental law, utility regulation and employment law as a summer associate at Dykema. She also conducted research assignments on government policies dealing with election law, labor law, charter schools and higher education.  

Erika Dixon '15: Fighting modern day slavery with education

Modern-day slavery still exists in the world today in the form of trafficking. Erika Dixon '15 learned how big of a problem it really is while working at the Human Trafficking Division of the Governor’s Office this past summer.

Ben Jackson '14 spends summer at the intersection of law and medicine

Public Interest Law Fellow Ben Jackson '14 spent his summer at Project HEAL (Health Education Advocacy and Law), a program of the Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities at Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI).

Susanna Bagdasarova '15 puts rules of criminal procedure into action

Interning at the ABA’s Death Penalty Representation Project in Washington, D.C. following her first year of law school, Susanna Bagdasarova '14 had the opportunity to put what she learned in Professor Place's criminal procedure class into action.

Steve Brogan ’14 returns to Drinker Biddle for the summer

Steve Brogan is working at Drinker, Biddle and Reath LLP in Philadelphia for his second consecutive summer. Brogan’s practical experience at the firm covers a variety of different areas — corporate and litigation research assignments, freedom of expression issues, and insurance law issues.

Andrew Scott '14 puts civil liberties litigation training into action

Andrew Scott’s summer experience at the Disability Rights Legal Center in Los Angeles confirms one truth for him: public interest law will be a key part of his legal practice, wherever that may be. “No matter what I am doing I want to be helping people,” he said. “It’s the only thing that feels right to me.”

Public Interest Law Fellows named

Support from the Degenstein Foundation and money raised by the Public Interest Law Fund will enable nine Penn State Law students to work in nonprofit or government organizations this summer. Placements span as far west as Los Angeles in the United States and as far east as Macedonia abroad.