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Four 2020 Denver Law Graduates Named Colorado Civil Justice Corps Fellows

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Sturm College of Law

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Four 2020 Denver Law Graduates Named Colorado Civil Justice Corps Fellows

Last year, the Office for Victims Program (OVP), a unit of the Division of Criminal Justice within the Colorado Department of Public Safety, announced a $2 million grant to create the Colorado Civil Justice Corps (CCJC) Fellowship. The post-graduate fellowship program places 3L students with Colorado nonprofits for two years to provide civil legal services to help Colorado nonprofits access legal resources. This year the CCJC has announced their second crop of fellows, while also launching the careers of four University of Denver Sturm College of Law class of 2020 graduates focused on public interest law.

Congratulations to the 2020 CCJC fellows:

  • Rebecca Dumbleton, JD’20, will work with Metro Volunteer Lawyers.
  • McKenna Newsom-Schoenberg, JD’20, will work with JAMLAC in their Immigration unit.
  • Andrea Pache, JD’20, will work with Project Safeguard.
  • Maeve Sullivan, JD’20, will work with JAMLAC in their Family unit.

“We need public interest lawyers now more than ever,” said Alexi Freeman, associate professor of the practice and director of Externships and Public Interest Initiatives. “We know our fellows will provide robust support to future clients and will contribute meaningfully to the nonprofit legal community in Denver. We are simultaneously grateful for our nonprofit hosts, each of whom has partnered with DU Law in various capacities previously, and we are confident that they will provide strong training to our graduates as they launch their careers.”

The innovative CCJC Fellowship addresses critical civil legal needs in Colorado. Colorado Legal Services (CLS) reports that low-income people have less access to legal representation in court to protect their property, and protect their family and livelihood when dealing with evictions, foreclosures, unpaid wages, domestic violence, and public benefits.

In addition to supporting clients' civil legal needs, the CCJC fellowship program creates a gateway to nonprofit lawyering, a sector that is often difficult for new lawyers to break into in Colorado.

The University of Denver Sturm College of Law extends its gratitude to Emily Cederberg, the CCJC project director, for administering this program and supporting the ripe careers of these graduates.