The West Virginia Fund for Law in the Public Interest (WVFLIPI) is proud to announce its 2015 class of Public Interest Advocates Fellows.
The following students have been awarded 10-week paid fellowships for the summer of 2015:
Here are the 2015 PIA summer fellows:
- Kirk Auvil—WV Advocates—Kirk is a rising third year law student who will serve as a PIA fellow with West Virginia Advocates in Charleston, WV this summer. Last summer he worked as a legal extern with the Wood County Prosecuting Attorney’s office in Parkersburg. Kirk earned a B.S. in Journalism with summa cum laude honors from West Virginia University.
- Jackson Butler—Childlaw—Jackson is a rising second year student who will serve as a PIA fellow with Childlaw Services in Princeton, WV. He is a member of the Black Law Student Association and a Student Bar Association senator for his law school class. Prior to law school, he earned a B.B.A. in Business Administration from Oklahoma State University and worked for Farmers Insurance in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
- Micki Biggs—Mountain State Justice—Micki is a rising third year student who served as a PIA fellow in the Clarksburg office of Mountain State Justice this summer. Prior to law school, she earned a B.A. in Sociology (with honors) from Berea College and served in the Americorp program as a teacher with the City Year teaching program in Philadelphia, PA. Micki is a member of the PIA and Community Service Council and a member of the Board for the WV Fund for Law in the Public Interest. Last summer she worked as a legal judicial extern for the Honorable Irene Keely, U.S. District Court, Northern District of West Virginia. Micki has been awarded the WV State Bar Public Interest Scholarship.
- Katy Marcum—Mountain State Justice, Charleston, WV office—Katy is a rising second year student who will serve as a PIA fellow in the Charleston office of Mountain State Justice this summer. Prior to law school, she earned an M.A. in Anglo-Irish literature and drama from the University College in Dublin, Ireland and a B.A. in English from West Virginia Wesleyan College. Katy was awarded the West Virginia State Bar Public Interest Scholarship and is working toward earning the public interest concentration as part of her legal studies. She worked as a field organizer for Fairness, WV and Organizing for America and as an Americorp Energy Express mentor.
- Phil Wachowiak—Senior Legal Aid—Phil is a rising third year student who is a member of PIA who previously served as a PIA fellow with Childlaw Services in Princeton, WV. Before law school, he worked as a teacher for older students with autism and with students with behavior disorders in multiple school districts in Michigan. Phil earned his B.A. in History and Secondary Education from Western Michigan University.
- Jenny Thoma—Sprouse Fellow, Kanawha County Public Defender, Charleston, WV—Jenny is a rising third year student who is the President-elect of the PIA. Last summer she worked as a PIA fellow for the Appalachian Citizen’s Law Center in Whitesburg, KY. Prior to law school Jenny earned a B.A. and an M.A. in Communications Studies from West Virginia University and taught courses in Communications Studies at WVU.
- Patrick Holbrook—Sprouse Fellow, Federal Public Defender, Clarksburg, WV—Patrick is a rising third year student who is a member of PIA and the President-elect of OUTlaw. Last summer he was a PIA fellow with Legal Aid of West Virginia in their Morgantown, WV office. Prior to law school, Patrick earned his B.A. in Political Science from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio and worked full-time in merchandising with Banana Republic.
Legal Aid of West Virginia:
- Lia Deane—Charleston, WV office—Lia is a rising third year student who is a member of PIA and the Women’s Leadership Council. Last summer, she was a PIA fellow with Legal Aid of Charleston and is returning for a second summer with them. Prior to law school, Lia earned a B.A. in Women’s Studies from West Virginia University and worked as a cadet with the WVU Police Department.
- Matt Gibbs—Charleston—Matt is a rising third year student who is a member of PIA and serves as Vice President of the Republican Law Caucus. He will serve as a PIA fellow in the Charleston office of Legal Aid of West Virginia. Last summer he worked as an intern with the law firm of Rusen and Auvil in Parkersburg, West Virginia. He earned a
B. A. in Sociology and a B.A. in Criminology from Ohio State. - Lisa Hartline—Parkersburg—Lisa is a rising second year student who is a member of PIA and will be serving as a PIA fellow in the Parkersburg office of Legal Aid of West Virginia. Prior to law school, Lisa earned an Associates and Bachelor’s degree from WVU—Parkersburg. She previously worked as a counselor and residential assistant with HAVAR and the Horizons Center for Independent Living as well as the Housing Director at the Clarksburg, WV Mission.
- Brittany Holstein—Huntington—Brittany is a rising second year student who will be serving as a PIA fellow in the Huntington office of Legal Aid of West Virginia. Prior to law school, she worked as an intern in the law firm of Atkins and Ogle in Buffalo, WV. She earned a B.A. in Psychology from West Virginia State University in Institute, WV.
- Aaron “AJ” Johnson—Clarksburg—AJ is a rising third year law student who will be serving as a PIA fellow in the Clarksburg office of Legal Aid of West Virginia this summer. Prior to and during law school, he has worked as a manager at Kegler’s and Outback and has taught marching band and African ensemble to students in a variety of local schools. He earned a B.A. in Philosophy from West Virginia University.
- Alex Meade—Morgantown, WV office. Alexis is a rising third year student who is a member of PIA and served as auction solicitation co-chair this year. Last summer Alex was a PIA fellow with Legal Aid of West Virginia in their Logan office and will serve as a PIA fellow this year in the Morgantown office of Legal Aid of West Virginia. Prior to law school, Alex earned a B.A. in English from West Virginia University.
- Meagan Preece—Logan office. Megan is a rising second year student who is a member of PIA, Women’s Leadership Council and the Community Service Council. She is also the Community Service Chair for her law school class. She will serve as a PIA fellow this summer in the Logan office for Legal Aid of West Virginia. Prior to law school, Meagan earned an M.A. in teaching from Marshall University in Huntington, WV and a B.A. in History from West Virginia University and worked as a 7th and 8th grade Spanish teacher in Mingo County, West Virginia.
- Briana Stevens—Childlaw and Legal Aid of WV, Princeton, WV office. Briana is a rising second year student who is also a member of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Society. She will serve as a “split” fellow, working with both Childlaw Services and Legal Aid of West Virginia in Princeton, WV. Prior to law school, Briana served a salon manager for Tonique Trilogy Hair salon and earned a B.A. in English (in five semesters!) as an Honor’s College Dean’s scholar at West Virginia University.
WVFLIPI is a nonprofit organization that works to fund fellowships for WVUCollege of Law students to spend the summer working in public interest organizations throughout West Virginia. Founded in 1987, the fund seeks to help students gain a deeper understanding of the grave importance of public interest work. These students provide legal services to help West Virginians, including the elderly, the poor, children, and victims of domestic violence. The Fund is aided greatly by the fund-raising efforts of the Public Interest Advocates (PIA) at the West Virginia College of Law. PIA works closely with the Fund for the Public Interest to select candidates and supports the fund by raising funds throughout the year, including hosting online book sales and the annual Spring Auction.
The Fund awards PIA fellowships annually to West Virginia College of Law students through a competitive selection process. Since its inception, over 320 students have received fellowships at public interest organizations. These include Legal Aid of West Virginia, Senior Legal Aid of West Virginia, Mountain State Justice, the Public Defender’s Office, The Appalachian Center on the Economy and the Environment, West Virginia Advocates, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, and ChildLaw Services, Inc. The Sprouse Public Defender Fellowship is particularly competitive and students apply in the Fall to be awarded this opportunity. The selected candidate then chooses the county in which he or she will work with the public defender.
