Yael Ben Tov and Victoria Jeon, both 3L students, were awarded Equal Justice Works Fellowships. Equal Justice Works is the nation’s largest facilitator of opportunities in public interest law. Each year a class of public interest lawyers is selected who have designed two-year innovative projects in partnership with legal services organizations, to address unmet legal needs and underserved communities. These projects are funded by the generous support of law firms, corporations, private foundations, and individuals.

This year, 78 public interest lawyers were selected from over 432 applicants. Ben Tov will be working with the International Refugee Assistance Project on a project addressing immigrant populations, and Jeon will be working with the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance on a project addressing LGBTQ+ rights. 

Jeon will promote the intersectional legal rights for the LGBTQ+ Asian and Pacific Islander population through impact appellate litigation, advocacy and legal services for this community.

“Although the LGBTQ+ community has made strides in diversity, I could barely see anyone who looks like me and identifies like me fight for people who look like me. This is why I want to be the role model that I always wanted to see,” said Jeon.

Ben Tov will represent individual refugees and their overseas family members in federal court litigation seeking to compel the government to adjudicate their applications so they can be reunited. She will provide public education in refugee communities about the follow-to-join reunification process through community outreach events and materials. Additionally, she will leverage successful direct representation to develop impact litigation strategies, including potential class-action litigation. “As a grandchild of Holocaust survivors, I feel deeply committed to using my law degree to assist those who are fleeing persecution in my own lifetime,” she said.