Skadden has announced its 2014 class of Skadden Fellows, a group of 28 graduating law students and judicial clerks who are devoting the next two years of their professional careers to public interest work.

The Fellows will work in 11 states and the District of Columbia, focusing on issues ranging from strengthening access to early childhood education for New York preschoolers experiencing homelessness to empowering exploited sheep and cattle herders on Colorado's Western Slope.

The 2014 class includes a fellowship in memory of our late partner Steven Rothschild, the funds for which were raised by the legal community in Wilmington, Del. To date, the Firm has funded 705 Fellows since the program’s inception in 1988. Below is a list of this year’s class, their law schools and the organizations for which they will work.

Alice Abrokwa | Harvard Law School
The Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law | Washington, D.C.

Direct representation, impact litigation and advocacy to ensure that students with disabilities, especially mental disabilities, in Washington, D.C. charter schools receive needed services in inclusive educational settings.

Robyn Bitner | University of Virginia School of Law
Advocates for Children of New York | New York, NY

Direct representation, community outreach and policy advocacy to strengthen access to early childhood education for preschoolers experiencing homelessness.

Samuel Brandao | Tulane University School of Law
Southeast Louisiana Legal Services | New Orleans, LA

Direct representation, policy advocacy and caseworker training to protect disabled, poor tenants from housing discrimination.

Carl Charles | University of Denver Sturm College of Law
American Civil Liberties Union — LGBT Project | New York, NY

Direct representation, community education and policy advocacy for low-income youth who transgress gender norms to ensure safe housing placement, and health care access in homeless shelters, foster care settings and juvenile justice facilities.

Peter Chen | Yale Law School
Advocates for Children of New Jersey | Newark, NJ

Advocacy for early education and intervention rights of children ages 0-5 by educating parents of their rights, identifying obstacles to use, and providing direct legal assistance and policy advocacy to lower those obstacles.

Marion Donovan-Kaloust | University of California at Los Angeles School of Law
Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project | Los Angeles, CA

Direct representation of undocumented, abused, abandoned or neglected children facing the juvenile justice system. Will also provide community education, outreach, collaboration and monitoring.

Melissa Friedman | Harvard Law School
The Legal Aid Society | New York, NY

Advocacy to preserve foster youth's rights to permanency and expediency of placement. The project will proceed on three levels: direct representation, resource creation to facilitate cases in other jurisdictions, and policy advocacy.

Audrey Gilliam | University of Chicago Law School
National Immigrant Justice Center | Chicago, IL

Will secure legal protection for victims of human trafficking, train law enforcement and social service providers to identify and properly refer victims and expand favorable precedent for trafficking victims through litigation.

Jason Glick | Yale Law School
New York Legal Assistance Group | New York, NY

Direct representation, community education and impact litigation to empower low-income, Spanish- and Mandarin-speaking New Yorkers to combat and be free from fraudulent and deceptive business practices by predatory for-profit schools.

Sarah Hess | John Marshall Law School
Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law | Chicago, IL

Will promote child and community wellness by implementing a medical-legal partnership for Erie Health Center's Spanish-speaking population.

Maren Hulden | Columbia University School of Law
Mid-Minnesota Legal Assistance | Minneapolis, MN

Will advocate on behalf of students placed in or at risk of placement in the most segregated special education settings in school districts across Minnesota.

Jessica Levin | Harvard Law School
Education Law Center | Newark, NJ

Advocacy to create New Jersey's first English Language Learner project to represent and advocate for low-income ELL students in Education Law Center's priority areas, particularly special education, student discipline, bullying and school admissions.

Karen Lindell | Vanderbilt University Law School
Juvenile Law Center | Philadelphia, PA

Advocacy to meet the transition and treatment needs of dependent and delinquent youth ages 14-21 with disabilities, through representation, impact litigation and training so that they can become successful adults.

Dermot Lynch | Yale Law School
Colorado Legal Services | Denver, CO

Direct representation and community education to empower exploited sheep and cattle herders on Colorado's Western Slope to vindicate their legal rights.

Lindsay Nash | Yale Law School
American Civil Liberties Union — Immigrants' Rights Project | New York, NY

Will challenge discrimination against immigrant youth brought to the United States as children, who are commonly known as "Dreamers," in education and employment through direct representation, impact litigation, public education and advocacy.

Jared Nicholson | Harvard Law School 
Neighborhood Legal Services | Lynn, MA

Provision of transactional legal services, focused on community economic development, to low-income entrepreneurs and small businesses in Lawrence and Lynn, Mass., to fight poverty and promote growth.

Aadhithi Padmanabhan | Yale Law School
New York Civil Liberties Union | New York, NY

Provision of community education, litigation and advocacy to enforce labor rights and prevent sexual harassment of female farm workers in Western New York.

Gillian Quandt | Yale Law School
Centro Legal de la Raza | Oakland, CA

Will establish a medical-legal partnership to provide integrated comprehensive legal services to the low-income, Spanish-speaking working immigrant community in the East Bay. Will establish an on-site legal clinic at La Clinica de la Raza.

Jessica Rubin-Wills | New York University School of Law 
Youth Advocacy Foundation/EdLaw Project | Boston, MA

Will provide education advocacy for young children in the Massachusetts child welfare system to ensure that they receive services to address developmental delays early in life and enter kindergarten with a strong foundation for educational success.

Julia Simon-Mishel | University of Pennsylvania Law School
Philadelphia Legal Assistance | Philadelphia, PA

Direct representation of low-wage workers fighting against wage theft and the unjust denial of unemployment compensation benefits. Will also provide educational materials, targeted outreach and monthly clinics at community centers.

Emily Soli | University of California-Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall) 
DNA People's Legal Services | Window Rock, AZ

Provision of comprehensive legal services to victims of domestic violence in the most underserved areas of the Navajo Nation. Will collaborate with medical providers and community organizations to maximize project reach.

Ariel Stevenson | Yale Law School 
Bet Tzedek Legal Services | Los Angeles, CA

Will provide direct representation to low-income immigrant workers in tax controversy cases, including negotiating offers and compromise, representing clients in collection due process hearings and requesting audit reconsideration, among other services. Will also develop language-appropriate education programs and materials to increase the tax literacy of low-income immigrant communities.

Nicolle Vasquez | Northeastern University School of Law
Domestic Violence Action Center | Honolulu, HI

Provision of legal representation and outreach services to women affected by domestic violence or sexual assault in the military. Will include active service members, military dependents and veterans.

Eli Wade-Scott | Harvard Law School
Legal Assistance Foundation (LAF) | Chicago, IL

Direct representation of low-income tenants in Cook County whose health is threatened by their landlords' failure to maintain their units in accordance with the law. Will collaborate with community organizations and medical providers to leverage individual cases for systemic change.

Lee Wang | Georgetown University Law Center
Immigrant Defense Project | New York, NY

Advocacy to protect children from the effects of family breakup by providing legal assistance and advocacy to the U.S. citizen children of immigrant parents who face detention and deportation.

Theresa Zhen | University of California at Los Angeles School of Law 
A New Way of Life Reentry Project | Los Angeles, CA

Assist persons who have past criminal records to remove barriers to employment and ensure success at reentering society through direct representation, affirmative litigation, community education and policy advocacy.

Melanie Zuch | Harvard Law School
Covenant House New York | New York, NY

Direct representation to homeless and runaway youth to mitigate the civil consequences of past convictions, so that they can gain access to employment, affordable housing, education and welfare benefits.

Rothschild Skadden Fellow Jan Fox | Washington & Lee University School of Law
Delaware Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. | Georgetown, DE

Direct legal representation of immigrant victims of domestic violence in Sussex and Kent Counties on matters involving protection orders, custody, divorce, housing and public benefits.