HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — Several students from the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University have been awarded summer fellowships in recognition of their academic success and professional goals. All of the fellowships will provide students with unique job placements during the summer.
“These students are shining representatives of the Hofstra Law student body, and we are proud that they have been recognized for their successes to date, as well as their future potential,” said Eric Lane, interim dean and Eric J. Schmertz Distinguished Professor of Public Law and Public Service at Hofstra Law. “We know that they will represent us well as they embark on these exciting opportunities.”
Gabrielle Guzman 1L (Prudential), Maitry Halder 1L (Bryan Cave LLP) and Donald Kernisant 1L (BNY Mellon) all received New York City Bar Association Diversity Fellowships, which are designed to provide law students from underrepresented populations with the opportunity to gain experience working in law firms and corporate law departments.
Several students won fellowships sponsored by the New York State Bar Association. Rosemary “Rosie” Ortiona 1L received the NYSBA Minority Fellowship in Environmental Law. This $6,000 stipend will allow her to work for the government on public interest environmental law cases. Jonathan Riddix 1L received the 2012 NYSBA Commercial and Federal Litigation Section Minority Summer Fellowship, and he has been placed in the chambers of Justice Shirley Kornreich of the New York County Commercial Division.
Yusuf “Wale” Oriola 2L was selected for participation in the 2012 Kenneth G. Standard Diversity Internship Program, and he will be employed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. The goal of this NYSBA program is to increase the representation of lawyers and students from a diverse range of backgrounds in corporate legal departments and to provide them an opportunity to experience in-house legal practice.
Five Hofstra Law students were awarded 2012 Law Students Public Interest Fellowships. This program, supported by the Charles H. Revson Foundation, enables participants to work for public interest organizations in the New York metropolitan area. The selected students and their summer placements are as follows:
- Jessica Fildes 1L — Nassau-Suffolk Law Services Committee
- Stephen Hylton 2L — New York City Department of Consumer Affairs
- Victorio Roman 1L — Nassau County Department of Social Services
- Caitlin Steinke 2L — Humanity in Action
- Geoff Kagan Trenchard 1L — Brooklyn Family Defense Project
