Pictured from left to right are Bill Whitehurst, ’70, and Stephanie Whitehurst with Whitehurst Public Interest Summer Fellows Lara Manor, Gabriella Gonzalez, Nikiya Natale, Salima Pirmohamed, Hannah Zimmermann, and Dave Mauch.
Six students at the University of Texas School of Law have been selected as the 2012 Whitehurst Public Interest Summer Fellows. The fellowships are made possible by a gift from Bill, ’70, and Stephanie Whitehurst, and are administered by the William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law at the Law School. The fellowships are awarded annually to outstanding students between their second and third years of law school to support their summer public-interest work.
The Whitehursts name the fellowships for lawyers they admire in hopes that the recipients will be inspired by the honorees’ work in the public interest. The Whitehursts have named the summer 2012 fellowships in honor of lawyers Tom Ausley, Jim Harrington, Barbara Hines, Mike McKetta, David Sheppard, and Terry Tottenham.
This year the following second-year students have been selected to receive the $4,250 fellowship:
Gabriella Gonzalez will work with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund in San Antonio. Last summer she interned at the Travis County Courthouse as an Austin Bar Association Diversity Fellow. This year she participated in the UT Law Pro Bono Program’s 2012 winter break trip to the Rio Grande Valley, volunteering for the South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project (South Texas ProBar). She has participated in the Children’s Rights Clinic and is a member of the Chicano/Hispanic Law Students Association.
Lara Manor will work with the New York Legal Assistance Group’s special education unit helping parents obtain services for their special needs children. This spring she is interning with Appleseed in its Austin office. Last summer she volunteered at Texas RioGrande Legal Aid advice and intake clinics.
Nikiya Natale will work with South Texas ProBar in Harlingen, helping to represent immigrant detainees. Last summer she interned with Appleseed in Austin. She participates in the Law School’s Immigration Clinic, is a Human Rights Scholar with the Rapoport Center, and serves as associate editor of the Texas Hispanic Journal of Law and Policy. She also volunteers for American Gateways assisting attorneys with criminal immigration cases.
Salima Pirmohamed will work with the Texas Defender Service in its Houston office helping to represent clients facing a death sentence. She has participated in the Transnational Worker Rights Clinic, the Capital Punishment Clinic, and Youth Court, and she is a member of the Texas International Law Journal, the Public Interest Law Association, and the Asian Law Students Association.
Hannah Zimmermann will work with American Gateways in Austin assisting with immigration cases. Last summer she interned with the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas. She has participated in the Transnational Worker Rights Clinic, the Human Rights Clinic, and Youth Court, and she is a member of the Texas International Law Journal and the Public Interest Law Association.
In addition, first-year Dave Mauch has been selected to receive the fellowship. Mauch will work with the Equal Justice Center in Austin helping to represent low-wage workers seeking to recover unpaid wages. Last fall he interned with the Texas Civil Rights Project assisting with the prison litigation program, and he volunteered at the Equal Justice Center over the winter break. He is a member of the Public Interest Law Association and Texas Law Fellowships.
“This fellowship program provides valuable opportunities for outstanding students to gain hands-on experience in the public service sector,” said Eden Harrington, director of the Justice Center. “We are very grateful to Bill and Stephanie Whitehurst for their vision and their commitment to our students and the Law School.”
Related links:
Bill Whitehurst discusses Whitehurst Fellows with Texas Lawyer
Whitehurst Public Interest Summer Fellowship Program
William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law
Contact: Mary Crouter, Assistant Director, William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law, UT Law, 512-232-7855, mcrouter@law.utexas.edu