Fellowships Awarded For Public Interest Law

The Harvard Public Service Network (HPSN) has named three students as the recipients of its Liman Public Interest Law Fellowship. The fellowship provides students with a grant of $2,000 to fund a summer internship in public interest law.

This year's recipients are Praveen S.N. Krishna '00, Dimple Chaudhary '01 and Michal Engelman '01. Twenty students applied for the grant.

The fellowship was established last year by the family of Arthur L. Liman '54. Its purpose is to promote "public service work that has a clear and significant legal flavor [and provides] a progression of learning experiences throughout the summer," according to the grant application.

HSPN officials narrowed the field to seven finalists after applications were submitted in early March. Each finalist was then interviewed before officials chose the recipients.

All three recipients will receive no salary for their internships, and will instead use the $2,000 to cover housing, food and transportation expenses.

Krishna will be travelling to London this summer to work for Charter 88, a group advocating for constitutional reform and a bill of rights in the United Kingdom.

He says he was inspired to apply for the internship after taking Government 2165, "Constitutional Politics."

"That was where I was really introduced to [Charter 88] and also amazed at how effective grassroots organizations can mobilize and effect a change," Krishna said.

Chaudhary, who will be an investigator for the Legal Aid Society (LAS) in New York City, said she applied for the grant with her future career plans in mind.

"I'm very interested in public interest law in general and I thought this would be a good way to learn more about it," she said.

Her internship will consist of investigatingcases for the LAS, a non-profit public defenderservice in New York.

In a statement provided by HPSN, Chaudhary saidshe hopes to learn "how [the corrections system]treats people, where it works right and wrong, andwhere the biases are in the system."

Engelman will be working with Bet Tzedek LegalServices in Los Angeles, providing legalassistance to low-income families. She said in thestatement that her internship will allow her to"be immersed in an environment wherepublic-interest legal work is of primary concern."

Liman gained national prominence through hisroles as investigator of the 1971 Attica prisonuprising and the Iran-Contra scandal.

A similar award is also given to students atYale Law School, which Liman attended

Her internship will consist of investigatingcases for the LAS, a non-profit public defenderservice in New York.

In a statement provided by HPSN, Chaudhary saidshe hopes to learn "how [the corrections system]treats people, where it works right and wrong, andwhere the biases are in the system."

Engelman will be working with Bet Tzedek LegalServices in Los Angeles, providing legalassistance to low-income families. She said in thestatement that her internship will allow her to"be immersed in an environment wherepublic-interest legal work is of primary concern."

Liman gained national prominence through hisroles as investigator of the 1971 Attica prisonuprising and the Iran-Contra scandal.

A similar award is also given to students atYale Law School, which Liman attended