Minnesota Law Grads Ben Gleekel ’23 and Lucy Chin ‘24 Named 2024 Equal Justice Works Fellows
Minnesota Law alumni Ben Gleekel '23 and Lucy Chin '24 have been named Equal Justice Works (EJW) fellows for 2024. Both Gleekel and Chin are part of EJW’s "Design-Your-Own-Fellowship” program.
Gleekel, working with the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, will focus his project on providing legal services, outreach, and advocacy to low-income immigrants in Minnesota through hosting legal clinics and engaging in policy reform. Gleekel's project seeks to reduce the harm caused by the lack of guaranteed legal representation in immigration court proceedings for noncitizens in Minnesota. He will do this by hosting frequent legal clinics in communities, county jails, and in Immigration Court. These clinics will include relevant educational presentations and partial representation components where attendees will receive individualized advice, access to ample pro se resources, brief services, and referrals to immigration attorneys. While the clinics will not fully compensate for a lack of full legal representation, they will provide recurring opportunities for individuals to obtain legal assistance that they otherwise would not get—thus increasing their chances of prevailing in immigration court. His project will also include advocacy efforts to pass protective policies for the communities he is serving.
Chin, in partnership with the Legal Revolution, will focus on mitigating the impact of collateral consequences experienced by individuals with previous criminal justice system involvement through direct representation, community education, policy reform, and impact litigation. Her project will address these issues by providing holistic civil-legal services to justice-impacted individuals, ranging from expungement and clemency petitions to family, housing, and professional licensure matters. She will also work with community organizations to facilitate community education and community practice spaces to identify areas for affirmative litigation and policy advocacy. Finally, Chin’s project will incorporate publishing reports and articles, co-authored with justice-impacted individuals, to educate Minnesotans about their rights and the changing criminal-legal system landscape across the state.
Congratulations, Ben and Lucy!
Ben Gleekel '23 and Lucy Chin '24