July 13, 2023
Last year, the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University selected 18 students as its first public interest fellows.
The scholarship program, the first of its kind at the Law School, was formed in 2020 when ASU Law leadership and donors came together to create opportunities for students to engage in social justice programs. The Faculty of Law funds these opportunities through the Public interest scholarship fundwhich is reinforced with donors such as tthe Squire Patton Boggs Foundation.
ASU’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law Public Interest Scholarship returns this summer with a cohort of 25 students.
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This summer, the cohort has grown to 25.
This cohort includes Julian Puthenpurayl, the first student of the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law to win a Squire Patton Boggs Foundation Scholarship. Puthenpurayil is one of 30 fellows this summer in the program founded in 2005 to advance law and public policy issues at nonprofits, government agencies, and national or international organizations. He is currently lending his talents to the Yuma County Public Defender’s Office. While there, he will draft and review motions, observe court proceedings and work hands-on with clients.
Helping others is the reason Puthenpurayl went to law school in the first place. The second-year law student hopes to become a federal public defender when he graduates.
“I wanted to go into the legal field because I wanted a job that dealt with issues in the criminal justice system, which I studied as an undergraduate and graduate student, and where I interacted with and helped people,” she said. “I enjoyed working with people who were dealing with some of these issues as a counselor at a prison alternative substance use treatment center before attending law school.”
Julian Puthenpurayl
Puthenpurayil met with several other participants to learn about the work they are doing across the country. He has also connected with former fellows who are becoming mentors. To support public interest practices, Yuma County appealed to its bar members to find housing and support for interns over the summer. Puthenpurayil was able to get housing with Adam Gage, a retired journalist.
“The opportunity is really amazing because these positions often can’t offer the same benefits as private companies, so sometimes even when students want to try a public interest opportunity, they can’t turn down a competitive offer,” he said. “So far, the scholarship has been very rewarding.”
This scholarship program, and others like it, allow law students the opportunity to help others through public service rather than forgoing such externships for financial reasons.
“We created the Public Interest Scholarship program to help students explore public interest careers that might not have been financially viable. Now they have the ability to not only gain work experience, but also support communities and organizations in need of legal assistance,” said Stacy Leeds, Willard H. Pedrick Dean and Regents Professor of Law. “And funding from partners like the SPB Foundation helps us continue to offer our students these diverse opportunities.”
Public interest law is a not-for-profit field of law that often helps with legal issues for underrepresented populations or makes changes for the benefit of the public. The Law School’s emphasis on clinical programs and career opportunities speaks to ASU Law’s mission to advance justice.
A focus on supporting communities, diverse interests
Levi Bevis, another ASU Law student, decided to bring his legal talents to the public interest sector this summer through an externship with the ACLU of Arizona.
Evidence from Levi
The rising second-year law student grew up on a cattle farm in rural Alabama and saw what a lack of legal resources and access could do to low-income communities. Working in Washington, DC, after graduating from college, only confirmed his desire to help.
He chose ASU Law for its location and programs focused on LGBTQ+ civil rights and immigration law. Bevis is now serving as a legal intern at the ACLU’s staff attorney, working on First Amendment and civil rights cases.
“The opportunities are there and there are so many opportunities to do great work and really get to know the people you’re helping,” he said. “You can participate in communities of all backgrounds and relate to the community where you live.”
Similarly, Natalie Heun identified a passion for the environment and sustainability in high school before learning about the impact that law and policy can have on environmental issues. She set her sights on law school, choosing ASU Law for its energy and water law classes, as well as its certificate in sustainability law, to get her where she wanted to go in her career.
This summer, she interned at NYU Law School’s State Center for Energy and Environmental Impact.
Natalie Heun
He is working with the New York attorney general, writing memos on energy regulation and researching an article he will post on the center’s website as an educational resource. Heun encouraged students not to overlook these important public interest opportunities for financial reasons.
“Sometimes it can be difficult to get funding for these positions and that can be limiting, but there are great opportunities through ASU Law, like the Public Interest Grant funding I was fortunate to receive,” he to say. “I recommend looking into funding sources if you’re interested in an externship like this.”
ASU Law’s Public Interest Scholarship Fund is supported by donors to provide scholarships to students of all backgrounds hoping to work in social justice research and reform.
ASU Law student Charles Miller, a native of Arizona, knew he wanted to focus on the issues he cared about, like climate change and immigration, in his home state. That led him to a summer internship in the office of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI.
“I worked in Washington, DC, for a non-profit public interest law firm before returning to Arizona to start law school,” he said. “While in this job, I became familiar with Senator Whitehouse’s work, specifically on climate and money in politics.
Charles Miller
“When I saw that the senator was hiring attorneys to work on his Judiciary Committee staff, I knew it would be the perfect opportunity for me to work on issues I care about for someone who has spent much of his career focusing on these same issues.”
Miller, also a rising sophomore, said she has learned a lot about using her skills to give back and create change since coming to ASU Law.
“‘The public interest can mean many different things,'” he said. “You can find legal work in a lot of different fields and I think that’s something I didn’t really know about the law until I started school and started my job search.”
