Barbara Zabawa has been honored with a Skadden Fellowship, presented annually by the law firm of Skadden, Arps to students who have shown exceptional promise in the field of public interest law. Ms. Zabawa was one of 28 law students in the United States to win this fellowship. She will use the two-year fellowship to work with low-income families who face problems with employer-based insurance.
Ms. Zabawa, who has a Master's degree in Public Health from the University of Michigan, came to the UW Law School with the intent of earning a law degree to facilitate her work in the field of public health.
The UW Law School's Center for Public Representation (CPR), directed by Clinical Professor Louise Trubek, is the host organization for this project. Ms. Zabawa began working at the CPR in Spring 2000, and was encouraged by Professor Trubek to apply for the grant.
Professor Trubek comments, "Barbara is trying to improve the public health system for seamlessness between the public system and private insurance. This grant is particularly rewarding for us, not only because Barbara is one of our graduates, but because it will strengthen our program for us be a host for a Skadden Fellowship."
It is unusual for a law school program like the CPR to be honored with a Skadden placement, adds Clinical Assistant Professor Juliet Brodie, director of the Law School's Neighborhood Law Project, who has worked with Ms. Zabawa on public health issues. "The roster of ?Skadden alums' is an incredible list of leading public interest lawyers in all areas of substantive law," Brodie adds.
To read more about Skadden Fellowships, see http://skaddenarps.com/fellows/intro3.html
Traci McClellan has won a NAPIL (National Association of Public Interest Law) Fellowship ? the first UW Law student to attain this honor. As a 2001 NAPIL Fellow with the Northern Plains Indian Law Center (NPILC) in Grand Forks, North Dakota, Ms. McClellan is working with Indian tribes across the country to establish culturally appropriate justice forums. "The lack of tribal courts presents growing jurisdictional concerns within Indian country and frustrates both Indian tribes and individuals in their attempts to seek justice," she explains. Ms. McClellan is continuing the work previously started by NPILC by providing nationwide training and technical assistance to tribes seeking to implement their own court systems, so that no dispute remains unresolved for lack of a judicial forum.
Because of her background and education, Ms. McClellan has an understanding of the need for tribes to have their own dispute resolution forums. She is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation and grew up in northeastern Oklahoma where her tribe is located. Her educational experience, emphasizing Indian law and policy in her undergraduate, graduate and legal degrees, has exposed her to the issues facing tribes who lack their own justice systems. She explains, "NPILC's commitment to the protection of Indian rights and its advocacy on behalf of Indian peoples reflects my own purpose to use my education to assist tribes working to better the lives of their members while exercising their sovereignty in the process."
NAPIL is the country's leading organization engaged in organizing, training and supporting public service-minded law students. It awards approximately 70 Equal Justice Fellowships each year.
For more information on NAPIL Fellowships, please go to http://www.napil.org
Submitted by on April 19, 2001
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