Class of 2024 Public Interest Fellows
Emily Alpert
Emily grew up in Berkeley, California. After graduating from Georgetown University with a degree in government and French, she taught English in Madrid and Bordeaux for two years. Upon returning to the United States, Emily worked at Google for five years on trademark violations and California public policy. Her experience working with Bay Area governments to advance mixed-use developments inspired her to join the City and County of San Francisco as a change management consultant, and later as a Disaster Service Worker at the COVID-19 Command Center. Partnering with the San Francisco City Attorney's Office on emerging pandemic legal issues finally led to her to law school. Emily split her first summer between the San Francisco City Attorney's Office, Port Team and the California Department of Justice, Natural Resources Section. After externing full-time at the U.S. Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division in Washington, D.C., she spent her 2L summer at Farella, Braun + Martel in San Francisco with a focus on environmental and land use law. She is currently externing part-time at Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger in San Francisco.
Taylor Applegate
Taylor is from Vancouver, WA, and a proud native of the Pacific Northwest. They attended the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle, majoring in Political Science and Law, Societies, and Justice. Taylor commissioned into the Air Force through UW’s ROTC program and served six years on active duty as an intelligence officer. They were stationed in Hawaii, Korea, and Boston, with temporary assignments in Japan, the Philippines, and Vietnam. At SLS, Taylor served on the boards of Stanford National Security and the Law Society (SNSLS), Stanford Law and Technology Society (SLATA), and the Stanford Law and Policy Review (SLPR). Taylor split their 1L summer as an intern with the federal prosecutor’s office in Yosemite National Park and as a legal clerk for the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee in DC. Taylor worked at plaintiffs' firm Edelson PC during their 2L summer and will extern with DOJ's Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) during 3L year. After graduation, Taylor will clerk for Judge Richard Tallman on the Ninth Circuit in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Taylor is an outdoors fanatic and loves biking, running, soccer, snowboarding (+ a slope-side IPA après-ski, of course), and any other sport you can convince them to try.
Ari Berman
Ari Berman is a 3L at Stanford Law. She attended Harvard for college and then worked as an editor for two years before coming to law school. She spent her 1L summer at the U.S. Attorney's Office (Civil Division) in the Southern District of New York. She spent her 2L summer at Everytown for Gun Safety and Gibson Dunn. She hopes to return to the U.S. Attorney's Office or work in impact litigation.
Marin Callaway
Marin graduated from Stanford University with a BA in International Relations and a minor in Spanish. After graduation, she worked as a Client Advocate at the Alameda County Public Defender Office for two years. During her 1L and 2L summers, she interned with the ACLU of Southern California, Kaplan Hecker & Fink, and the San Diego County Public Defender. Marin also participated in the SLS Criminal Defense Clinic and has led the Family-Defense Pro Bono Project throughout her time at SLS. Marin looks forward to clerking for the Honorable David Carter in the Central District of California and working in public defense after graduation.
Robert Chun
Robert Chun is a JD/MBA student who is now in his fourth and final year at Stanford. He is deeply passionate about housing and climate justice, especially at the state and local level. Robert helps lead Palo Alto Forward, a local nonprofit that advocates for housing affordability and transit access in Palo Alto. Last summer, he worked for Governor Newsom’s senior advisors on climate and housing. He’s hoping to reenter public service as a policymaker after graduation.
Ben Clark
An aspiring movement lawyer, Ben is focused on advancing environmental justice, alleviating poverty, and defending workers’ rights in communities burdened by the fossil fuel industry. Ben comes from a background in community organizing and state politics and has worked extensively with communities advocating for a more just and inclusive energy system across the southern United States and in California. He hopes to use legal tools to hold polluters to account while facilitating a just transition by implementing locally driven solutions.
Lauren Courtney
Lauren is a 3L from metro Detroit, Michigan. She attended George Washington University for undergrad, where she majored in Gender Studies and Political Science. Before law school, she worked in domestic violence crisis intervention and as a paralegal in the Antitrust Division of DOJ. During 2L summer she worked as a Law Clerk at the Oakland-based Family Violence Appellate Project, where she represented survivors of intimate partner violence in family law appeals, including custody, visitation, and dissolution matters. Over 3L summer she worked in Brooklyn Defender Services’ Integrated Defense Practice, representing clients facing a concurrent criminal case and child abuse/neglect matter in family court. In Fall 2023 she'll be externing full-time in New York City at Appellate Advocates, where she’ll represent criminalized survivors of domestic violence under New York’s Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act. She is passionate about the intersections of gender-based violence, family regulation, and criminal law and is pursuing a career in public defense. She's the first in her family to attend 4-year college and is a proud member of the FLI community.
David Cremins
David is a 3L. He is from Houston but has called California home for nearly a decade now already. David co-lead the Workers' Rights pro bono project and has interned with Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, the California AG, and Resilience Force, all in workers' rights advocacy positions. This year, David will be serving as an elder statesman for NLG, SLSCA, and SIHRLA; trying to resuscitate SPILF; and, most importantly, co-producing the musical.
Ana Cutts Dougherty
After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Ana worked in Nicaragua and Costa Rica for two years for the NGO Global Partnerships. She also spent two years working in the fields of international human rights law and international criminal law in the Netherlands. At SLS, she has been involved in Prisoner Legal Services, SIHRLA, the Mental Health-Informed Lawyering project, Three Strikes, and the Immigrants' Rights Clinic. Ana loves singing, dancing, and poetry.
Charlotte Finegold
Charlotte Finegold grew up in Southern California and Central New Jersey. Before law school, she studied English and Human Rights at Yale, did a master’s in Refugee & Forced Migration Studies, and worked for a few different migration and human rights organizations. Since starting at SLS, she's worked at the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at UC Law and the Environmental & Natural Resources Division at the Department of Justice. At SLS, she is a member of the Immigrants' Rights Clinic and Three Strikes Project and a student coordinator for Prof. Lucas Guttentag's Immigration Policy Tracking Project. She's also involved with the Stanford Immigration & Human Rights Law Association (SIHRLA), Stanford Law Students for Climate Action (SLSCA), the musical, the Stanford Environmental Law Journal, and served as Co-Leader of the Stanford International Refugee Project and Education Justice Academy. In her spare time, she volunteers for the Dr. Hawa Abdi Foundation, which provides healthcare and education services in Somalia and the surrounding region, plays soccer with SLS classmates, and sings Eastern European folk music.
Jamie Halper
Jamie is a 3L interested in public defense, specifically capital and non-capital habeas corpus. She has interned at the Habeas Corpus Resource Center in San Francisco and the Capital Habeas Unit at the Federal Public Defender for the Western District of Texas. At Stanford, she has led the Stanford Prisoner Advocacy and Resources Coalition and the Prisoner Legal Services Pro Bono Project.
Andrew Hiyama
Andrew is an aspiring public defender. Most recently, he interned in Ketchikan, Alaska with the Alaska Public Defender Agency, where he first-chaired a misdemeanor jury trial and second-chaired two others. In his 1L summer, he interned at the Center for Appellate Litigation, an appellate public defender in New York City. In his two years between undergrad (go blue) and law school, he worked as an English teacher in Madrid, an eviction hotline administrator at the Mississippi Center for Justice, and an intern investigator at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. Andrew also maintains a healthy variety of hobbies and interests unrelated to work.
Alisa Hoban
Alisa was born and raised in Austin, Texas. She studied political science in undergrad and was a paralegal for the Antitrust Division for a few years before law school. She loves working with kids and wants to be a public defender and/or engage in juvenile justice work.
Madison Irene
Madison is from Buffalo, NY (go bills). She attended The University of Chicago for undergrad and majored in psychology. Now, Madison is in her final year at SLS, where she will graduate and begin a public interest career.
Emma Leeds Armstrong
Before law school, Emma worked in journalism, Democratic politics, and for New York City's COVID-19 vaccination program. She came to law school to focus on election law, but her interests have broadened to wider constitutional and administrative law issues. Emma spent her 1L summer working for the SF City Attorney on a case defending noncitizens' rights to vote in school board elections and her 2L summer at DOJ Federal Programs defending various Biden Administration's policies. In her free time, Emma enjoys running, reality TV, and travel.
Angela Liu
Angela grew up in South Florida. She attended Wellesley College, where she studied Mathematics. Her 1L year, she participated in the Immigration and the Transgender, Gender-Variant, & Intersex pro bono projects. Angela spent her 1L summer at the Rhode Island Center for Justice, advocating for better housing support for formerly incarcerated LGBTQ+ people. She participated in the Criminal Defense Clinic and interned at the San Francisco Public Defender's Office her 2L summer. She hopes to work in public defense after graduation.
Sally Marsh
Sally Marsh is a third-year law student and Knight-Hennessy scholar at SLS. Originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sally graduated from Harvard College with a degree in government and history. Before starting law school, Sally worked in Michigan state politics, first for Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s 2018 campaign, and then as the director of special projects in Secretary Benson’s administration. In Secretary Benson’s administration she led the effort to implement the Michigan’s inaugural independent citizen-led redistricting process and spearheaded voter engagement initiatives during the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. In her time at SLS, Sally has participated in the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, the Three Strikes Project, the Stanford Journal of Civil Rights & Civil Liberties, the Election Law Project, and the Education Justice Academy pro bono pilot project. She interned for the Campaign Legal Center (CLC), NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF), the Voting Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, and Chief Judge James E. Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Sally plans to return to pro-democracy election protection work upon graduation in 2024 before clerking for Judge Roy W. McLeese of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and Judge Patricia A. Millett of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Luke Norquist
Luke grew up in Brainerd, Minnesota. He graduated in 2021 from Carleton College, where he studied political science and education. At Stanford Law, Luke participated in the Environmental Law Clinic, served as co-president of the Racial and Disability Justice Pro Bono Project, and worked on the board for Stanford Law Students for Climate Action, the American Constitution Society, and Youth and Education Advocates. Luke spent his first summer at the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, and he spent his second summer at the Environmental Enforcement Section within the Department of Justice. Luke enjoys Nordic skiing, chess, and reading fiction with coffee and caramels.
Steven Ortega
Steven Ortega is a 3L from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Before coming to SLS, he was a congressional staffer and tenant organizer in Washington, D.C. At SLS, Steven focuses on direct service pro bono work in housing law, chiefly eviction defense and services for Section 8 recipients. After graduation, he will practice in the direct service space in Seattle, Washington. Steven looks forward to sharing his experiences with SLSers interested in public interest lawyering!
Jordan Payne
I am a 3L interested in doing public defense after graduating. Before Law School, I worked at Prison Law Office, a Berkeley nonprofit that works on class action lawsuits against California and Arizona's prison systems. I spent my 1L summer at the San Francisco Public Defender's Office and my 2L summer at Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem.
Shafeen Pittal
Shafeen grew up in San Diego, California. Before law school, she worked at Apple as an engineering program manager, studied at an Islamic seminary, and served as a community organizer for Muslim student communities. She spent her 1L summer working at Reprieve on illegal detention and 2L summer at ACLU National on discriminatory national security projects. At Stanford, she has taken the Religious Liberty clinic, has worked as a research assistant, and has been involved with the Stanford Law Review, the Stanford Immigration and Human Rights Association, the Stanford Muslim Law Students Association, and the Three Strikes Project. She is interested in the intersection of journalism, Islamic ethics, and human rights law. She’s happy to answer any questions on these activities or anything else! Outside of law school, she enjoys spending time in nature and with family and friends, buying overpriced lattes at cute coffee shops (the anti-capitalist lifestyle is a work in progress), and learning about Islam.
Stephen Read
Stephen grew up in San Francisco and went to college at U.C. Santa Barbara, where he majored in political science and environmental studies. He then moved to DC, where he interned on the Hill, worked as a campaign consultant during the 2018 midterm elections, and spent several years with the State Energy & Environmental Impact Center at NYU School of Law. At Stanford, Stephen is involved with the Environmental Law Pro Bono Project, Environmental Law Society, Law Students for Climate Action, and the Energy and Infrastructure Club. He is also a joint-M.S. candidate in the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (E-IPER). Stephen spent his 1L summer with the Land Use and Conservation Section of the California AG's Office, and his 2L summer with Earthjustice's Biodiversity Defense Program. He loves the Warriors and Giants, road trips, hiking, the ocean, and National Geographic.
Aaron Schaffer-Neitz
Aaron grew up in Northumberland, Pennsylvania and graduated from Columbia University in 2019, where he studied philosophy. He worked as a strategy consultant for two years before law school. At Stanford, Aaron is the co-founder of the Rural Studies Reading Group, a member of Stanford Law Review's Articles Committee, and a Civil Justice Fellow with the Rhode Center. He also participated in the Environmental Law Clinic. He spent his 1L summer planning farmworker-rights impact litigation with the Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York, and his 2L summer advocating for unions at Bredhoff & Kaiser. In his free time, Aaron enjoys baking, cooking, and playing video games.
Elliot Setzer
Elliot grew up in Ottawa, Canada. He previously studied at Deep Springs College, Yale University, and the University of Cambridge. He spent previous summers working at the Office of the New York State Attorney General and the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. At Stanford, Elliot is involved with the worker’s rights pro bono project, Stanford Law Review, and the law and political economy student group.
Nathan Weiser
Nathan grew up in Austin, Texas and graduated from Stanford University in 2018 with a degree in American Studies. Before law school, he worked as a paralegal at a plaintiff-side employment law firm in Oakland. At Stanford Law, Nathan has been involved with Moot Court, the Religious Liberty Clinic, the Social Security Disability Pro Bono, and the Jewish Law Student Association. He spent his 1L summer at Disability Rights Advocates and his 2L summer at Cohen Milstein, a plaintiff-side law firm. In his free time, Nathan enjoys hiking and eating seafood.