Two newly minted alumni, Meghan Morgan ’16 and Caryn Sigurdson ’16, are the recipients of the 2016 Public Service Legal Fellowships. These yearlong, post-graduate fellowship positions allow BC Law graduates to work full-time at a public interest organization or government agency.
The program aligns the Law School’s commitment to social and economic justice and its dedication to improving access to legal services. It also enhances the mission of BC Law to train lawyers who will not merely be good lawyers but ones who lead good lives that will enrich their communities.
Two public service fellowships were possible this year as a result of funding from the Law School.
Morgan joins the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General’s Government Bureau/Administrative Law Division. The Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General is an advocate and resource for the Commonwealth and its residents, and is led by Attorney General Maura Healey, who is the chief lawyer and law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth.
The Administrative Law Division of the Government Bureau represents state agencies and state officials in a broad range of civil litigation matters and protects the public interest by defending the Commonwealth’s agencies that provide essential government services, programs, and public benefits. At the AG’s Office, Morgan will serve as a Special Assistant Attorney General and assist in the division’s representation to the state agencies and officials it serves.
Sigurdson joins MetroWest Legal Services in Framingham. Across a service area that includes forty-one communities in Massachusetts, MetroWest Legal Services provides free legal advocacy in civil cases to protect and advance the rights of the poor, elderly, disabled, homeless, and other disenfranchised individuals and families so they may obtain legal, social and economic justice.
As a Legal Fellow, Sigurdson will provide direct representation to victims of domestic violence. Her service delivery model will be to provide wraparound services to victims by assessing their legal needs in a list of priority areas, including family law, housing, benefits, food security, health care access, and immigration, with the goal of resolving their legal issues and moving them down the path to social and economic independence. Sigurdson will also participate in community legal education and training of community partners and other service providers.
The third Law School funded post-graduate fellowship, the Prosecutor/Defender Fellowship, will be awarded by the Public Service Awards Committee in August.