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The newest class of Penn Law Fellows serves communities across the country

November 09, 2015

(From left) Ben Wiener L'14, Jack Regenbogen L'15, and Rob Zielinski L'15 were awarded 2015-2016 postgraduate fellowships from Penn Law.
(From left) Ben Wiener L'14, Jack Regenbogen L'15, and Rob Zielinski L'15 were awarded 2015–2016 postgraduate fellowships from Penn Law.
Three recent Penn Law graduates have been awarded 2015–2016 postgraduate fellowships from Penn Law and are currently working with public interest organizations across the country to serve underrepresented communities.

Three recent Penn Law graduates — Jack Regenbogen L’15, Ben Wiener L’14, and Rob Zielinski L’15 — have been awarded 2015–2016 postgraduate fellowships from Penn Law and are currently working with public interest organizations across the country to serve underrepresented communities.

“Each year, the Penn Law fellowships provide talented lawyers with the support to conduct important public interest work,” said Arlene Rivera Finkelstein, Associate Dean for Public Interest Programs and Executive Director of the Toll Public Interest Center. “These three talented young attorneys are showing the impact that Penn Law graduates can make while pursuing public interest careers.”

Regenbogen launched the Second Chance Project, which helps impoverished Coloradans overcome the stigmas of a criminal record in order to access housing, employment, and other public resources. Supported by the Colorado Center on Law and Policy, Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, and other community stakeholders, the Second Chance Project assists clients through direct representation, community education, and policy advocacy.

As a fellow at the Center for Appellate Litigation, an appellate public defender in Manhattan, Wiener represents clients who have pleaded guilty but now seek post-conviction relief on grounds of actual innocence. He is developing criteria to screen clients and to determine which clients to represent, and he is meeting with the clients, investigating their claims, and will ultimately file motions on their behalf. He is also producing a “practice guide” for other attorneys based on his experiences.  

As a fellow with Chicago Volunteer Legal Services, Zielinski engages in the direct representation of low-income youth by acting as child representative in contested custody cases. He is also developing a sustainable volunteer-based model to recruit, train, and support volunteer attorneys in order to provide quality pro bono representation to children in cases where all parties are of limited means.

Supporting students pursuing careers in public service is a priority for Penn Law, and the Law School’s postgraduate fellowships provide recent graduates with the opportunity to earn valuable experience as practicing attorneys while building foundations for long-lasting public interest careers.

Penn Law assists recent graduates who are pursuing public interest careers in a number of ways. In addition to postgraduate fellowships, Penn Law also awards Catalyst Grants each year, which support graduates seeking positions in the public sector. Penn Law also supports graduates through the Toll Loan Repayment Assistance Program (TolLRAP), which provides substantial relief for Law School students employed in public interest positions.

The Toll Public Interest Center is the hub of public service at Penn Law. Established in 1989, the public service program at Penn Law requires every student to complete at least 70 hours of pro bono work prior to graduation. That requirement, to this day, remains the most rigorous in the nation, and more than 90 percent of graduates exceed the requirement.