DETROIT (May 6, 2009) - Rita Subhedar, a second-year Wayne State University Law School student, is headed to Washington, D.C., this summer thanks to Wayne Law's newly established Public Interest Law Fellowships. And she's not the only one with her summer plans now in place.

Subhedar, Kimberly Adams, Lara Chelian, David Deeg, Jason Dinsmore, Elisa Gomez, Laura Kubit, Aisa Villarosa and Erica Washington received $6,000 Public Interest Law Fellowships that will allow them to work for a variety of agencies and clinics in Michigan and Washington, D.C.

"On behalf of Wayne Law, I would like to congratulate our first-ever Public Interest Law Fellowship recipients," said Wayne Law Dean Robert M. Ackerman. "These fellowships will provide remarkable opportunities for these students to gain practical experience in public interest law. They will also supply help for worthy organizations and assist folks in need of legal help at a time of economic difficulty."

He added, "We are thrilled to have found necessary funding for these fellowships in 2009 and hope to be in a position to continue funding the program in future years as well." 

The fellowships were created by the Law School to allow students additional opportunities to gain practical experience before graduation, ease financial stresses and offer needed assistance to organizations providing legal services to underserved constituencies. Fellowship recipients, who will hold public interest jobs during the summer of 2009, were selected by a committee comprising Wayne Law faculty and alumni.

Specific agencies/clinics where recipients will work include:

• Kimberly Adams, a resident of Detroit, will work at the Salvation Army Booth Legal Aid Clinic, Detroit
• Lara Chelian, a resident of West Bloomfield, Mich., will work at the American Civil Liberties Union, Detroit/Lansing
• David Deeg, a resident of Horton, Mich., will work at the Worker Rights Consortium, Washington, D.C.
• Jason Dinsmore, a resident of Farmington, Mich., will work at the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center / Wayne Law Environmental Law Clinic
• Elisa Gomez, a resident of Dearborn, Mich., will work at the State Appellate Defender, Detroit
• Laura Kubit, a resident of Lathrup Village, Mich., will work at Lakeshore Legal Aid, Southfield
• Rita Subhedar, a resident of Troy, Mich., will work at the National Housing Law Project, Washington, D.C.
• Aisa Villarosa, a resident of Farmington Hills, Mich., will work at Michigan Poverty Law
• Erica Washington, a resident of Rockville, Md., will work at Catholic Charities Legal Services, Washington, D.C.

"This fellowship makes it possible for students like me to pursue a career in public interest law," Subhedar said. "With the National Housing Law Project, I will work on federal legislative analysis and advocacy related to the current foreclosure crisis. I am grateful to the Public Interest Law Fellowship Committee for giving me the opportunity to live and work in Washington, D.C., this summer."

For more information regarding Wayne Law's Public Interest Law Fellowships, please visit http://www.law.wayne.edu/finaid/pilf.php. 

About Wayne Law
Wayne State University Law School as educated and served the Detroit metropolitan area since its inception as Detroit City Law School in 1927. Located at 471 West Palmer Street in Detroit's re-energized historic cultural center, the Law School remains committed to student success and features modern lecture and court facilities, multi-media and distance learning classrooms, a 250-seat auditorium, and the Arthur Neef Law Library, which houses one of the nation's 40 largest legal collections. Taught by an internationally recognized and expert faculty, Wayne Law students experience a high-quality legal education via a growing array of hands-on curricular offerings, five live-client clinics, and access to well over 100 internships with local and non-profit entities each year. Its 11,000 living alumni, who work in every state of the nation and more than a dozen foreign countries, are experts in their disciplines and include leading members of the local, national and international legal communities. For more information, visit http://www.law.wayne.edu/.