Class of 2009 Public Interest Fellows

Our Public Interest Fellows program provides special support to those third-year students who have a history of public service, provide leadership within the law school, and are committed to beginning their careers as lawyers in the public service. The Fellows Program exists to create a community of support for the cohort of students seeking post-graduate public interest jobs during their third-year or post-clerkship and assist them in that endeavor. Levin Center staff provide ongoing tailored career development support to the Fellows, including trainings, panels, and workshops to prepare students for public interest legal careers; and opportunities for intensive mentorship and guidance from staff, alumni and other leading practitioners.

Fellows each drafted brief bios that were posted on-line during their year of service outlining their interests, activities, and experiences. These highlight our Fellows’ experiences and help 1Ls and incoming students see the breadth of opportunities available to public interest students.

The Public Interest Fellows from the Class of 2009 wrote these brief bios during the spring and summer before their 3L year.

Return to the main Public Interest Fellows page

Where Are They Now?

“I am a staff attorney at the ACLU of Washington, where my litigation and advocacy focuses on issues related to immigration detention/enforcement abuse and the school to prison pipeline. I am also a board member of ASISTA, a non-profit organization that advocates on behalf of immigrant survivors of abuse, and Detention Watch Network, which works to expose injustices of the U.S. immigration detention system.”

– Eunice Cho, JD ’09, Staff Attorney, ACLU of Washington

Lauren (Schulmann) Gorman

“I am an Assistant Federal Public Defender in Reno, Nevada in our office’s trial division. I represent indigent clients charged with federal crimes from arrest through sentencing. Indigent defense was very much a calling for me. I can’t imagine doing anything else. There is no typical day for a public defender. Every case and every client is unique. The work is often stressful but always challenging, interesting and incredibly gratifying.”

– Lauren (Schulmann) Gorman, JD ’09, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Federal Public Defender, District of Nevada

Geoff King

“I’m an attorney and a lecturer at UC Berkeley, where I teach an undergraduate course on contemporary privacy law and policy. From 2013–2016 I led the technology and human rights advocacy program at the Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide.”

– Geoffrey King, JD ’09, Attorney and Lecturer in Law, UC Berkeley

Alice Anne (Stephens) Lloyd

“I am an Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Appeals Section at the Office of the Attorney General of Virginia. I represent the Commonwealth statewide in appeals before the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court of Virginia. I also litigate challenges to convictions in state and federal habeas corpus. Before serving in my current role, I was a state prosecutor with a focus on homicide and other violent crimes.”

– Alice Anne (Stephens) Lloyd, JD ’09, Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General of Virginia, Criminal Appeals Section, Richmond, VA

Emily Maglio

“I am a partner at Leonard Carder, LLP where I represent unions and workers. My practice includes organizing new workers, bargaining, administering, and enforcing collective bargaining agreements, representing unions in litigation and in administrative proceedings, both affirmative and defense, and providing advice on internal governance. Working for the labor movement is an incredibly rewarding practice in that every day I am working to obtain economic and social justice for working people. I encourage anyone who is interested to reach out to me.”

Emily Maglio, JD ’09, Partner, Leonard Carder, LLP

Michael Montaño

“As an associate at Cotchett Pitre McCarthy LLP, a plaintiff-side litigation boutique, I focus on antitrust and privacy class actions. On the side, I advise a handful of civic tech startups and remain politically involved in my hometown of San Antonio.”

– Michael Montaño, JD ’09, Associate, Cotchett Pitre McCarthy LLP

David Owens

David B. Owens is a partner at Loevy & Loevy, a civil-rights law firm, and an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Washington Law School, where he launched a Civil Rights and Justice Clinic. At both the firm and legal clinic, David’s practice involves actions against police officers and other state actors for violations of constitutional rights with a focus on suits involving police violence/excessive force and police misconduct that caused a client’s wrongful conviction or prosecution. David is also a staff attorney at The Exoneration Project, providing pro bono representation for innocent prisoners seeking their release and exoneration. In addition, David’s pro bono practice has involved representing juveniles in sentencing hearings following Miller v. Alabama and other work for the Illinois Coalition for the Fair Sentencing of Youth; representation of prisoners in proceedings pursuant the Illinois Torture Inquiry Relief Commission; participating in the legal committee of the ACLU of Washington Foundation; and serving as a board member with the Innocence Network and the Washington Innocence Project. After law school David clerked for Judge Diane Wood of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and Judge Myron H. Thompson of the Middle District of Alabama.

David Owens, JD/MA ’10, Partner, Loevy and Loevy, Lecturer in Law, University of Washington Law School, and Staff Attorney, The Exoneration Project

Jacek Pruski

Jacek Pruski is Managing Director and General Counsel of We The Action, a new nonprofit that makes it easy for lawyers to volunteer for critical, impactful–and often urgent–legal needs posted by We The Action’s nonprofit partners. He has served as a lawyer in the Obama White House, as associate general counsel of the U.S. Department of Education, and as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division, Federal Programs Branch. He also was a law clerk for Judge Sidney R. Thomas of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In addition to his legal experience, Jacek has worked in education policy; advocacy; organizing; strategy consulting; and co-founding nonprofits such as The 10,000 Hours Show, a social venture that recruited and rewarded volunteers at nonprofits with an annual free concert. Jacek is a graduate of Stanford University (J.D., M.P.P.) and The University of Iowa (B.S., B.A.).

– Jacek Pruski, JD/MPP ’10, Managing Director and General Counsel, We The Action

Kevin Rooney

“I’m currently the Supervising Deputy District Attorney for San Joaquin County’s Gang Violence Suppression Unit in Stockton, CA. I supervise the attorneys responsible for prosecuting serious and violent felony offenses committed by criminal street gangs in our community. I also work with federal, state, and local law enforcement and community partners to prevent gang and gun violence through information-sharing, education, and outreach.”

– Kevin Rooney, JD ’09, Supervising Deputy District Attorney, San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office

Alexa Van Brunt

Since 2010, Alexa Van Brunt has served as a civil rights attorney and clinical professor at the MacArthur Justice Center at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, where she has litigated law enforcement misconduct and torture cases, challenged the use of cash bond in pretrial administration, and brought a first of its kind excessive force class action suit against the Chicago Police Department.  She has also won suits addressing conflicts of interest within the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and the violation of prisoners’ rights in Illinois correctional facilities.  Recently, Van Brunt and her colleagues settled two class action cases in which the State of Illinois agreed to appoint lawyers to people facing the revocation of their parole. She is the recipient of the Illinois Voters of Illinois Independent Precinct Organization (IVI-IPO) “Legal Eagle” award for her work on the David Koschman case, and the Award for Excellence from the Northern District of Illinois for her work on parole reform. Van Brunt clerked for the Hon. Myron Thompson, U.S. District Court – Middle District of Alabama and received a law degree, with distinction, from Stanford Law School.

– Alexa Van Brunt, JD ’09, Clinical Associate Professor of Law, Northwestern University School of Law

Class of 2009 Public Interest Fellows 12

“I am a public interest environmental lawyer with experience in water law, endangered species conservation, enforcement of pollution prevention laws, and many other subjects. I have served as the Natural Resources Defense Council Fellow at Altshuler Berzon LLP, California Water Policy Advisor at Defenders of Wildlife, and Assistant General Counsel for Enforcement at the California Environmental Protection Agency.”

Rachel Zwillinger, JD ’09