Law Fellows

Hannah Berkman, the Resnik-Curtis Fellow, has joined the New York Attorney General’s Office to work with the Office’s Special Counsel for Reproductive Justice. Her project focuses on New York’s shield law, enacted to protect individuals seeking or providing reproductive health care or gender affirming care and who are faced with investigations and threats of legal liability from entities or individuals based in other states. The goals include enforcing New York statutes that protect health data, permitting individuals to make health care decisions for themselves, and enabling medical professionals to provide care. Berkman graduated from UC Berkeley with a B.A. in media studies and psychology and an M.A. in global studies. At Yale Law School, she was a member of the Gender and Reproductive Justice Clinic and of the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic and a forum editor for the Yale Law Journal.

Mehrdad Dariush is at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, based in Washington, DC, where his focus is on the working conditions and collective bargaining rights of delivery drivers employed by subcontractors. He is supporting efforts to implement the proposed New York City Delivery Protection Act, which requires last-mile delivery companies to obtain city licenses, abide by local, state, and federal laws, and employ their drivers rather than rely on third parties. Dariush earned a B.A. in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies from Columbia University and an M.A. in Near Eastern Studies from New York University. At Yale Law School, Dariush was co-chair of the Law and Political Economy student group, a member of the Environmental Justice Law and Advocacy Clinic, and an articles editor for the Yale Journal of International Law.

Camilo Duran, the Meselson Fellow, is working with the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia on a project aiming to lessen unlawful immigration detention. Duran represents immigrants seeking release from detention and trains and supports other attorneys providing such legal services. After earning his B.A. in philosophy, politics, and economics in 2021 from the University of Pennsylvania, Duran worked at a law firm where he helped lawyers representing individuals alleging police had violated their civil rights. While at Yale Law School, Duran was part of the Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic and the Capital Habeas Unit at the Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He served as a mentor for the Launchpad Scholars Program and as co-president of Trans@YLS.

Jorge Ledesma has joined the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office to support work on the limits of federal government authority to require states and localities to assist national immigration efforts. His focus, at times working with other localities, is on legal challenges to actions that impose conditions on or withdraw federal grants. Ledesma received his A.B. in social studies from Harvard University and an MPhil in comparative social policy from the University of Oxford, where he was a Marshall Scholar. At law school, he served as co-chair of the Yale Law School Student Representatives, student director of the San Francisco Affirmative Litigation Project, and notes and comments editor of the Yale Law Journal.

Fumika Mizuno, at Pregnancy Justice in New York, works on behalf of people charged with crimes related to pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes. Clients in states including Alabama, Oklahoma, and South Carolina have challenged the reliability of evidence, including drug testing used to support prosecutions, as well as the propriety of the prosecutions themselves. At Yale Law School, she was a member of the Immigrant Rights Clinic, Mental Health Justice Clinic, and the Global Health and Justice Practicum. She received a B.A. in politics from Princeton University.

Jake Reagan is based at the Colorado Solicitor General’s Office, where he works with the Office’s Federal Issues Unit. His project focuses on protecting Coloradans’ civil rights by responding to impermissible federal action through emergency litigation and coordination with other states. Reagan received his B.A. in political science and Spanish from the University of Colorado Boulder and a senior-status B.A. from the University of Oxford, where, as a Rhodes Scholar, he studied philosophy, politics and economics. At Yale Law School, Reagan was a Coker Fellow, an articles and essays editor of the Yale Law Journal, and a member of the Peter Gruber Rule of Law Clinic.

Emma Roberts has joined the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Oregon. Her project focuses on decreasing pretrial detention through improving access for defendants to services to support their pretrial release. After graduating from Bowdoin College with a B.A. in sociology, Roberts worked as a Fulbright English teaching assistant in India, an organizer on various political campaigns, and a barista. At Yale Law School, she was a member of the Mental Health Justice Clinic, a student director of the Liman Center, and a board member of the Yale Civil Rights Project. She also clerked for a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Katherine Salinas is working with the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Southern District of Texas. Her project focuses on limiting the use of supervised release, which judges often include in sentences of people convicted of federal crimes. Her efforts will include lessening and individualizing the use of conditions imposed, expanding the practice of terminating supervision early, and defending those alleged to have violated conditions. Salinas received her B.A. in ethnicity, race and migration from Yale University. At Yale Law School, Salinas was a student director of the Challenging Mass Incarceration Clinic and the Liman Center and a forum editor on the Yale Law Journal. She clerked for a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Neha Srinivasan, the Malone-Liman Fellow, has joined Lawyers for Good Government’s Project Corazón to expand access to legal resources for detained migrants. Her project centers on creating model motions and practice guides, training volunteer attorneys, and representing people in immigration habeas and bond cases. She is part of efforts to examine the safety of detention centers and their compliance with legal standards. Srinivasan earned her B.S. in international studies and B.A. in Spanish from Indiana University. At Yale Law School, she served as student director of the Veterans Legal Services Clinic, co-chair of the Immigrant Justice Project, policy editor for the Yale Law and Policy Review, and co-chair of the Student Representatives. She clerked for a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.

Ruth Zheng is working with the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office. Zheng’s project focuses on strengthening consumer protections at the local level in response to federal actions that have weakened the roles of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and other agencies. The City Attorney’s Office is evaluating where municipal consumer protections can be expanded, developing legal theories to increase safety,
and joining other cities in efforts to maintain the vitality of federal agencies, including the CFPB, the National Labor Relations Board, and the Federal Trade Commission. Zheng received an A.B. in Social Studies from Harvard College. At Yale Law School, she was involved in the Law and Political Economy student group, a member of the Appellate Litigation Project, and an Articles Editor for the Yale Law Journal.

2025-2026

Donovan Bendana, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law), Boston, MA

Natalie Cauley (Meselson-Liman Fellow), New Mexico Immigrant Law Center, Albuquerque, NM

Lyle Cherneff, Legal Rights Center, Minneapolis, MN

Hannah Friedle (Curtis-Liman Fellow), Office of the Federal Public Defender, New Haven, CT

Charlie Jiang, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Boston, MA

William Krueger, ArchCity Defenders, St. Louis, MO

K.N. McCleary, Upper Seven, Helena, MT

Pablo Moraga, Democracy Forward, Washington, DC

Caroline Parker (Malone-Liman Fellow), Towards Justice, Denver, CO

Inbar Pe'er, Governors Action Alliance, Washington, DC

Grace Watkins (Resnik-Curtis Fellow), Office of the Public Defender, San Diego, CA

Kevin Z. Yang, Legal Aid Society, Criminal Appeals Bureau, New York, NY

2024-2025

Ryanne Bamieh, Resnik-Curits Fellow, Public Defender’s Office in Santa Barbara County, Santa Barbara, CA 

Gregory Briker, Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, Washington, DC 

Nathan Cummings, Shriver Center on Poverty Law, Chicago, IL

Ibrahim Diallo, Curtis-Liman Fellow, Office of the Federal Defender for the District of Connecticut and Yale Law School, New Haven, CT

Ellie Driscoll, Meselson-Liman Fellow, Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, Washington, DC 

Jonathan Gibson, Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center’s Supreme Court and Appellate Program, Washington, DC 

Danny Haidar, Michigan Attorney General’s Office, Lansing, MI

Charlie Jiang, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Boston, MA

Zoe Kreitenberg, ACLU of Massachusetts, Boston, MA

Terin Patel-Wilson, NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s Prepared to Vote and Voting Rights Defender team, New York, NY

Continuing Fellows

Yael Caplan, Pregnancy Justice, New York, NY

Juan Fernando Luna León, UNITE HERE Local 11, Los Angeles, CA

Wynne Muscatine Graham, Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center’s Supreme Court and Appellate Program, Washington, DC

Katie Roop, Legal Aid Society’s Criminal Appeals Bureau, New York, NY

Rachel Talamo, Prisoners' Legal Services, Boston, MA

2023-2024

Russell Bogue, Office of the Solicitor General for the District of Columbia, Washington, DC

Yael Caplan, Pregnancy Justice, New York, NY

Elizabeth Clarke, Curtis-Liman Fellow, Office of the Federal Defender for the District of Connecticut and Yale Law School, New Haven, CT

Zoe Li, Meselson Fellow, MacArthur Justice Center, Chicago, IL

Juan Fernando Luna León, UNITE HERE Local 11, Los Angeles, CA. 

Wynne Muscatine Graham, Resnik-Curtis Fellow, Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center’s Supreme Court and Appellate Program in Washington, DC

Katie Roop, The Legal Aid Society’s Criminal Appeals Bureau, New York, NY

Rachel Talamo, Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts, Boston, MA

Fellowship Extensions

Erin D. Drake, Women’s National Basketball Players Association

Aseem Mehta, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Asian Law Caucus, San Francisco, CA

2022–2023

Brendan Bernicker, Resnik-Curtis Fellow, Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center

Helia Bidad, Land Loss Prevention Project

Samuel Davis, ACLU of North Carolina Legal Foundation

Erin Drake, Women’s National Basketball Players Association

Hannah Duncan, Curtis-Liman Fellow, Office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Connecticut

Grace Judge, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Flathead Reservation

Aseem Mehta, Meselson-Liman Fellow, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Asian Law Caucus

Medha Swaminathan, ACLU of Massachusetts

Chelsea Thompson, Gruber Fellow and Liman Affiliated Fellow, A Better Balance

Evan Walker-Wells, NAACP General Counsel’s Office in Atlanta, Georgia, and Columbia, South Carolina

Fellowship Extensions

Sophie Angelis, Rights Behind Bars

Allison Durkin, Legal Aid Society of New York

Sophie Laing, Pine Tree Legal Assistance

Kshithij Shrinath, Bronx Defenders

2021–2022

Hannah Abelow, Queens Legal Services

Sophie Angelis, Rights Behind Bars

Jonathan Cohen (Resnik-Curtis Fellow), Rhode Island Center for Justice

Allison Durkin, The Legal Aid Society

Eli Feasley, Neighborhood Defender Service of Detroit

Duncan Hosie, ACLU

Sophie Laing, Pine Tree Legal Assistance

James Mooney, ACLU of Illinois

Isadora Ruyter-Harcourt, The Powell Project

Kshithij Shrinath (Meselson-Liman Fellow), The Bronx Defenders

2020–2021

Colin Antaya, Conservation Law Foundation

Josh Blecher-Cohen, ACLU of Illinois

Sam Frizell, Legal Aid Society of New York

Elise Grifka Wander, Office of the Ohio Public Defender

Nathan Leys, New Haven Legal Assistance Association

Kelley Schiffman, San Diego County Public Defender Office

Joseph Schottenfeld, NAACP

Mary Ella Simmons, Orleans Public Defenders

Alexander Wang (Curtis-Liman Clinical Fellow), Yale Law School

Megan Yan, ACLU of the District of Columbia

2019–2020

Tiffany Bailey, ACLU of Southern California

Catherine Chen, Medical-Legal Partnership Hawai’i

Diane de Gramont, National Center for Youth Law

Bassam Gergi, Fair Share Housing Center

John Giammatteo, Lutheran Social Services of New York's Immigration Legal Program

Diana Li Kim, Connecticut Division of Public Defender Services

Allison Morte, Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office

Alyssa Peterson, Center for Popular Democracy

Megha Ram, Roderick & Solange MacArthur Justice Center

Adam Rice, Office of the Attorney General of Colorado

2018–2019

Skylar Albertson, The Bail Project

Benjamin Alter, NAACP

Olevia Boykin, Civil Rights Corps

Natalia Friedlander, Rhode Island Center for Justice

Joanne Lee, Gulfcoast Legal Services

Maya Menlo, Washtenaw County Office of the Public Defender

Elizabeth Pierson, Legal Action of Wisconsin

Yenisey Rodriguez, Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia

Yusuf Saei, Muslim Advocates

Theo Torres, Federal Defender Program for Northern District of Illinois

Henry Weaver, Earthjustice

2017–2018

Celina Aldape, D.C. Law Students in Court, DC

Ryan Cooper, Travis County Mental Health Public Defender, TX

Lynsey Gaudioso, Public Advocates in San Francisco, CA

Carly Levenson, Connecticut’s Division of Public Defender Services, CT

Hava Mirell, Office of Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo, RI

Nathan Nash, Lawyers’ Committee for Better Housing Chicago, IL

My Khanh Ngo, Office of the Alameda County Public Defender, CA

Rachel Shur, Orleans Public Defenders, LA

2016–2017

Anna Arkin-Gallagher, Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights, New Orleans, LA

Caitlin Bellis, Public Counsel, Los Angeles, CA

Dwayne Betts, New Haven Office of the Public Defender, CT

Kory DeClark ,San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, CA

Corey Guilmette, Public Defender Association, Seattle, WA

Jamelia Morgan, ACLU’s National Prison Project, Washington, DC

Freya Pitts, Disability Rights Advocates, Berkeley, CA

Devon Porter, ACLU of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Abigail Rich, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, Berkeley, CA

Ryan Sakoda, Committee for Public Counsel Services, Boston, MA

Jonas Wang, Civil Rights Corps, Washington, DC

Mary Yanik, New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice, LA

2015–2016

Anna Arkin-Gallagher, Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights, New Orleans, LA

Caitlin Bellis, Public Counsel, Los Angeles, CA

Dana Montalto, Veterans Legal Clinic, Jamaica Plain, MA

Jamelia Morgan, ACLU’s National Prison Project, Washington, DC

Freya Pitts, Disability Rights Advocates, Berkeley, CA

Ryan Sakoda, Committee for Public Counsel Services, Boston, MA

Ruth Swift, Community Law Office, Birmingham, AL

Matthew Vogel, Capital Defense Unit at Orleans Public Defenders, New Orleans, LA

Adrien A. Weibgen, Urban Justice Center, New York, NY

Molly Weston, A Better Balance, New York, NY

Mary Yanik, New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice, LA

2014–2015

Anna Arkin-Gallagher, Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights, New Orleans, LA

Josh Bendor, ACLU of Arizona, Phoenix, AZ

Emily Gerrick, Texas Fair Defense Project, Austin, TX

Dana Montalto, Veterans Legal Clinic, Jamaica Plain, MA

Matthew Vogel, Orleans Public Defenders, New Orleans, LA

Jessica Vosburgh, National Day Laborer Organizing Network, Birmingham, AL

Adrien A. Weibgen, Urban Justice Center, New York, NY

Molly Weston, A Better Balance, New York, NY

2013–2014

Spencer Amdur, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, San Francisco, CA

Alyssa Briody, Juvenile Regional Services, New Orleans, LA

Burke Butler, Texas Civil Rights Project, Austin, TX

Katie Chamblee, Southern Center for Human Rights, Atlanta, GA

Jeremy Kaplan-Lyman, Bronx Defenders, NY

Caitlin Mitchell, Youth, Rights & Justice, Portland, OR

Ivy Wang, Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, New Orleans, LA

Alyssa Work, Bronx Freedom Fund, NY 

2012–2013

Chesa Boudin, San Francisco Public Defender's Office, CA

Forrest Dunbar, Alaska Office of Public Advocacy, AK

Romy Ganschow, Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A, NY

Edward McCarthy, Connecticut Office of the Public Defender, CT

Yaman Salahi, ACLU of Southern California, CA

Rebecca Scholtz, Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis, MN

Sirine Shebaya, ACLU of Maryland, MD

Olivia Sinaiko, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, MK

Jenny Zhao, ACLU of Northern California, CA

2011–2012

Robert Braun, Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, New Orleans, LA

Isabel Bussarakum, The Defender Association, Seattle, WA

Elizabeth Compa, Southern Center for Human Rights, Atlanta, GA

Daniel E. Mulkoff, New York Civil Liberties Union, New York, NY

Diala Shamas, Creating Law Enforcement Accountability, Flushing, NY

Emily Washington, Louisiana Capital Assistance Center, LA

Seth Wayne, Orleans Public Defenders, New Orleans, LA

2010–2011

Seth Atkinson, Natural Resources Defense Council, Washington, DC

Ady Barkan, Make the Road New York, Brooklyn, NY

Monica Bell, Legal Aid Society, DC

Lindsay Nash, Cardozo Immigration Clinic, New York, NY

Megan Quattlebaum, Neighborhood Legal Services Association, Pittsburgh, PA

Elizabeth Guild Simpson, Southern Coalition for Social Justice Durham, NC

Adrienna Wong, ACLU of Texas, Austin, TX 

2009–2010

Alicia Bannon, Brennan Center for Justice, NY

Josh Berman, Natural Resources Defense Council, Chicago, IL

Rebecca Engel, Bronx Defenders, NY

Jean C. Han , Ayuda, Washington, DC

Kathy Hunt Muse, New York Civil Liberties Union, NY

Sonia Kumar, ACLU of Maryland, MD

Margot Mendelson, University of Arizona, Tuscon; Migration Policy Institute, Washington, DC

Kirill Penteshin, UNITE HERE Local 11, Los Angeles, CA

Benjamin Plener, Orleans Public Defenders, New Orlean, LA

Vasudha Talla, Sanctuary for Families, NY

2008–2009

Justin Cox, CASA of Maryland, Silver Spring, MD

Zahra Hayat, National Center for Youth Law, Oakland, CA

Stacie Jonas, Southern Migrant Legal Services, Nashville, TN

Deborah Marcuse, Office of the Mayor, New Haven, CT

Allegra McLeod, Immigration Justice Project, San Diego, CA

Marisol Orihuela, ACLU of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Michael Tan, ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project, New York, NY

Tianna Terry, Legal Aid Society, DC

2007–2008

Stephanie Biedermann, Disability Rights Advocates, Berkeley, CA

Jamie Dycus, ACLU Racial Justice Program, NY

Leah Fletcher, Natural Resources Defense Council, San Francisco, CA

Dan Freeman, NY Civil Liberties Union, New York, NY

Raquiba Huq, Legal Services of New Jersey, Edison, NJ

Michael Kavey, Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund, New York, NY

Sia Sanneh, Legal Action Center, New York, NY

2006–2007

Alice Clapman, ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project, New York, NY

Sameera Fazili, Northern Initiatives, Chicago, IL

Paige Herwig, National Women’s Law Center, Washington, DC

Anna Rich, National Senior Citizens’ Law Office, Oakland, CA

Larry Schwartztol, Brennan Center for Justice, New York

Marc Silverman, Advocates for Children, New York, NY

Charisa Smith (’05), JustChildren, Richmond, VA 

2005–2006

Jorge Baron, New Haven Legal Assistance Association, New Haven, CT

Kim Pattillo Brownson, ACLU of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Eliza Leighton, CASA of Maryland, Silver Spring, MD

Holly Thomas, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, NY

Sofia Yakren, Urban Justice Center, NY

2004–2005

Joshua Civin, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Washington, DC

Cyd Fremmer, EdLaw Project, Boston, MA

Robert Hoo, Legal Services of Northern California, Sacramento, CA

Tom Jawetz, Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, DC

Lisa Powell, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Seattle, WA 

2003–2004

Adam Grumbach, Legal Aid Society OF New York, NY

Kristen Jackson, Public Counsel Law Center, Los Angeles, CA

Grace Meng, Asian Law Caucus, San Francisco, CA

McGregor Smyth, Bronx Defenders, NY

2002–2003

Tania Galloni, Migrant Farmworker Justice Project, FL

Andrea Marsh, Texas Rural Legal Aid, Austin, TX

David Menschel, Innocence Project, Cardozo School of Law, NY

Amy Meselson, Legal Aid Society of New York, NY

2001–2002

Susan Hazeldean, Urban Justice Center, New York, NY

Serena Hoy, Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, Washington, DC

Joseph Luby, Public Interest Litigation Clinic, Missouri, MO

2000–2001

Marjorie Allard, Alaska Public Defender Agency, Anchorage, AK

Rebecca Bernhardt, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of Texas, San Antonio, TX

Kenneth Sugarman, ACLU of Northern California, San Francisco, CA

1999–2000

Paula Gaber, Western Center on Law & Poverty, Los Angeles, CA

Juliet McKenna, Lawyers for Children America, Washington, DC

Jessica Sager, All Our Kin, New Haven, CT

1998–1999

Lisa Daugaard, Seattle Defender Association, WA

Julia Greenfield, The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, San Francisco, CA

Douglas Stevick, Texas Rural Legal Aid, San Antonio, TX

1997–1998

Alison Hirschel, Arthur Liman Project on Advocacy for the Institutionalized Elderly, Ann Arbor, MI

Hannah Friedle (2025-2026) worked at the Office of the Federal Public Defender in New Haven, CT. She represented clients living under conditions of supervised release and helped teach the Liman Center's spring seminar on imprisonment. She also did research and writing for a report on the legislative regulation of isolation in prison, examining laws enacted in 26 states between 2018 and 2025 addressing who can be placed in isolation, for how long, and under what conditions, as well as how states define, measure, and report on the practice.

Ibrahim Diallo (2024-2025) worked at the Office of the Federal Public Defender in New Haven, CT. He represented clients navigating the conditions of supervised release and supervised students through the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization. At the Liman Center, he helped teach the spring seminar on imprisonment and conducted research on supervised release, legislation regulating solitary confinement, and predatory towing.

Elizabeth Clarke ’23 (2023-2024) was based at the Office of the Federal Defender for the District of Connecticut and Yale Law School. She focused on reducing the harms associated with federal supervised release for vulnerable populations, including individuals with substance use and mental health challenges. She also supervised students working on research and policy advocacy projects related to community supervision.

Hannah Duncan ’21 (2022–2023) worked with the Federal Defender's Office in New Haven, CT. She supported clients serving terms of supervised release and probation to understand their experiences and what changes in law and practice would limit the potential return to incarceration. Duncan developed a database of reentry services for justice-involved individuals in Connecticut and evaluated the constitutionality of conditions of release. She also supervised law students and joined in teaching the Liman Workshop and in other programs.

Skylar Albertson ’18 (2021–2022), who was also a former Liman Law Fellow, spent a year working with Prof. Fiona Doherty in YLS’s Criminal Defense Clinic, supervising clinic students, representing clients at parole hearings and expanding criminal defense education in LSO. Albertson was central in researching and writing the 2022 edition of the Correctional Leadership Association and Liman Center report on solitary confinement, as well as in the development of a new website to increase public access to data from that report as well as prior editions.

Alex Wang ’19 (2020–2021), the inaugural Curtis-Liman Fellow, worked with Prof. Lucas Guttentag on tracking and documenting changes in immigration policy that took place between 2017–2021 as well as measuring their impact. He also assisted in a Liman Center project to increase access to voting for people in Connecticut jails and prisons.