Click on the profile of any staff member below for more information. All career counseling appointments with PI/PS Office advisers can made through Symplicity or email. Please email general inquiries.
Areas of expertise: Head of PI/PS Office, strategic planning, gender justice, and public interest
Erica Smock (she/her) has been the dean for the Office of Public Interest/Public Service Law and Careers at Columbia Law School since 2017. In that capacity, she leads efforts to build career pathways, public interest/advocacy initiatives, programming, community and support for justice-oriented students and alumni. She oversees key programs and works closely with faculty, practitioners, students and other stakeholders on social justice issues.
Prior to joining Columbia, Dean Smock had a distinguished public interest career focused primarily on gender justice and reproductive rights advocacy. Most recently, she served as the senior director for judicial strategy at the Center for Reproductive Rights in New York City, where she led strategic campaigns and amicus brief strategy around the center’s domestic litigation, including the successful U.S. Supreme Court case Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt (2016).
After graduating from Columbia Law School in 1995, Dean Smock clerked for the Hon. Anita B. Brody, U.S. District Court, E.D. PA, and Hon. Leonard I. Garth, U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit. After spending one year as an associate at O’Melveny & Myers (where she engaged in pro bono work on domestic violence advocacy), she worked as a staff attorney at Legal Aid Services of Oregon and as a regional staff attorney at the Northwest Women's Law Center (now Legal Voice) in Seattle. Dean Smock then became legislative counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, where she directed the national state legislative program and engaged in advocacy on reproductive health issues. After working at the PI/PS Office for a number of years, she returned to the Center for Reproductive Rights in 2014 to its newly formed judicial strategy team.
In addition, Dean Smock has spent time as a short-term volunteer attorney focusing on human rights and gender justice in Kenya and South Africa and with the Pascua Yaqui people in Arizona. She has served as a consultant to the Arnold Ventures Foundation on access to justice issues, as a vice chair of the American Bar Association's Rights of Women Committee in the Civil Rights & Social Justice Section, and as a member of the Center for Reproductive Rights Lawyers Network Advisory Committee. Presently, Dean Smock is a member of the Social Justice Legal Foundation's Advisory Board and a member of the Board of Directors of the ACLU of CT. In 2024, the United Nations Committee of the New York City Bar recognized Dean Smock for her exceptional commitment to bettering society and improving the lives of women and children through the law.
Dean Smock graduated from Brown University with a bachelor's degree with honors in political science. At Columbia Law School, Dean Smock was a member of Columbia Law Review, Human Rights Internship Program, Columbia Law Women’s Association and Family Advocacy Clinic.
Office Location: William and June Warren 801
Areas of expertise: General operations, office logistics, and funding
Prior to joining the PI/PS Office in 2024, Nicolle Salazar (she/her) served as program administrator of TRIALS, the Training and Recruitment Initiative for Admission to Leading Law Schools. TRIALS is a partnership between the AT Foundation, Harvard Law School, and the NYU School of Law. In this role, Nicolle worked to support the personal, academic, and professional growth of pre-law students of underrepresented backgrounds and modest means.
Nicolle graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in anthropology modified with Latin American and Caribbean studies. She also completed a double minor in Spanish and Italian. Nicolle pursued her passion for sociolinguistic study throughout college, gaining fluency in Italian and competency in Brazilian Portuguese. She then went on to pursue an M.A. in anthropology and education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Her areas of research include decolonization, transnational identity politics, and educational and legal self-determination, particularly in the geographical context of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Office Location: William and June Warren 807.1
Area of counseling expertise: Berger Fellows Program
Jean Fischman (she/her) is the associate director of the Max Berger ’71 Public Interest/Public Service Fellows Program. Before joining the PI/PS office, Jean worked at Bronx Legal Services, where she supervised attorneys and paralegals fighting to preserve affordable housing in the Bronx. As supervising attorney, Jean worked closely with organizing partners to litigate discrimination and harassment cases against corporate bad-actor landlords. Jean began her legal career as a fellow at Legal Services Corporation in the Office of General Counsel, where she drafted advisory opinions, assisted in notice and comment rulemaking, and reviewed the corporation’s contracts. Prior to entering law school, Jean served as chief of staff for a New York State Assembly member, where she managed the assembly member’s Albany and district offices.
Jean received a J.D. from CUNY Law School in 2015 and B.A. from Hunter College, where she served as a Public Service Scholar. She is admitted to practice in New York.
Office Location: William and June Warren 804
Areas of counseling expertise: public interest and 1L advising
Molly Griffard (they/she) advises students interested in public interest lawyering. Molly is available to meet with all CLS students, and their expertise includes civil rights, impact litigation, and movement lawyering.
Molly began their legal career litigating police misconduct cases and supporting movement groups on police accountability advocacy as an Equal Justice Works Fellow at the Legal Aid Society's Criminal Defense Practice. As a staff attorney in Legal Aid's Law Reform and Special Litigation Unit, they litigated a class action challenging the NYPD's use of "digital stop and frisk" (Belle v. City of New York, 19-cv-2673 (S.D.N.Y.)), a case challenging the NYPD's practice of using excessive force, including the continued use of banned chokeholds and taser abuse (Medina v. City of New York, 19-cv-9412 (S.D.N.Y.)), and a case challenging the Port Authority Police Department's practice of targeting men perceived to be gay or gender-nonconforming for false public lewdness arrests (Holden v. Port Auth. of NY & NJ, 17-cv-2192 (S.D.N.Y.)). Molly also served as plaintiffs' counsel in the Davis v. City of New York remedial process, which is under the direction of a federal monitor to reform the NYPD's discriminatory policing practices.
Prior to law school, Molly worked as a campaign strategist at the ACLU's Out for Freedom campaign to win marriage equality, nondiscrimination protections, and fight back against discriminatory state legislation across the country.
Currently, Molly teaches Lawyering at NYU School of Law and volunteers with the National Lawyers Guild.
Molly received a B.A. with honors from Macalester College and a J.D. from NYU School of Law, where they were a Root Tilden Kern Public Interest Scholar, a founding member of NYU's Identity Documents Project, and Editor-in-Chief of the Review of Law and Social Change. Molly is admitted to practice in New York.
Office Location: William and June Warren 805
Area of counseling expertise: postgraduate fellowships, public defense, direct services, and public interest
Emily Harris (she/her) advises students interested in public interest lawyering careers and internships, as well as domestic postgraduate fellowships. Emily is available to meet with all CLS students, and her expertise includes public defense and direct services roles. She also oversees the Columbia Public Interest Community (CPIC) programming and is happy to speak with student group leaders and members about partnerships on programs.
Emily is a former public defender who defended young people and adults in Bergen County Criminal Courts with the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender and represented clients in housing court with the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem's housing defense team.
Emily was a Root-Tilden-Kern Public Interest Scholar at New York University Law School and graduated cum laude in 2019. In law school, she was co-president of the Washington Square Legal Services Bail Fund and a staff editor of the Review of Law and Social Change. Through her clinical experiences and summer internships, Emily has represented adults and young people in criminal, housing, family, and immigration court.
Prior to law school, Emily worked with community groups seeking to end gun violence as a paralegal in the Community Justice Unit of the Legal Aid Society of New York. She has also served as a policy analyst for the Council of State Governments Justice Center, where she worked with courts and judges to improve mental health courts and pretrial policies nationwide. Harris also worked to advance holistic defense with public defender offices across the country through the Community-Oriented Defender Network at the Brennan Center for Justice and with the National Legal Aid and Defender Association.
She holds an undergraduate degree from New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study, focused on welfare state politics.
Emily is admitted to practice in New York, and retired from practice in New Jersey.
Office Location: William and June Warren 805
Area of counseling expertise: government
Before joining the PI/PS Office, Alex Hogan (he/him) worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, practicing civil litigation focused on both affirmative and defensive matters, including investigating government fraud, affirmative civil rights enforcement, and defending Freedom of Information Act suits. In that role, Alex developed comprehensive litigation skills by independently managing a docket from case inception through appeal.
Prior to his position at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Alex clerked for the Hon. Nina Gershon in the Eastern District of New York and the Hon. James L. Cott in the Southern District of New York. Prior to clerking, Alex was a litigation associate at a large law firm in New York City.
Alex received his B.A. from New York University and his J.D. from Columbia Law School. He is admitted to practice in New York.
Office Location: William and June Warren 807
Area of counseling expertise: human rights and public international law
Kerry McLean (she/her) is an international human rights lawyer and social justice activist. Over the past 17 years, Kerry has lived in Africa, Europe, and Asia, working with local and international organizations on human rights and international development.
She has engaged in significant U.N. advocacy, including litigation with treaty-monitoring bodies, writing shadow reports concerning compliance with CERD, CEDAW, and CAT, Human Rights Council advocacy, coordinating civil society organizations for UPR reports, and working with U.N. Special Procedures mandate holders. Kerry has worked on litigation at the European Court of Human Rights and has done advocacy at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. She has provided training and delivered lectures on international human rights in the United States and other parts of the world.
Kerry has served as an election observer in Cambodia, Honduras, Venezuela, El Salvador, and Abkhazia. She has also served as a trial observer in Turkey for trials involving persecuted lawyers and human rights defenders, and she organizes solidarity activities for Turkey with multiple organizations. She is a member of the Geneva Support Group for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights in Western Sahara, an international advocacy coalition that supports the fight of the Saharawi people for independence and self-determination.
Kerry serves as the vice chair for rule of law for the ABA SIL International Human Rights Committee, Women's Interest Network, and Africa Committee. She is a former national board member of the National Lawyers Guild and currently chairs its Africa Subcommittee. She is the recipient of the guild's 2021 Debra Evenson Venceremos International Award for her work "extending justice beyond borders."
Kerry is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, where she received the Jenny Runkles Award for devotion to public interest and was a two-time recipient of the Bates Fellowship for overseas work. She is admitted to practice in New York.
Office Location: William and June Warren 805
Area of counseling expertise: CLS Pro Bono Program and pro bono
Estelle Mitchell (she/her) is an attorney with policy and legislative affairs expertise. Prior to joining the PI/PS office, Estelle worked at the Women’s Sports Foundation, leading their federal government affairs and amicus brief work.
Estelle spent the beginning of her career in the District of Columbia, working both in the nonprofit and government sectors of public interest law. First working on child care policy and tax and economic policy at the National Women’s Law Center, and then later as a legislative counsel for a D.C. council member, focusing on criminal justice reform, election law, and other District agency matters.
Estelle earned her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, where she began her public interest career as a student advocate in the Federal Legislation Clinic and twice as a law clerk on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Estelle received her B.A. from James Madison University. She is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia.
Office Location: William and June Warren 809
Areas of counseling expertise: public interest, employment and housing, civil rights, nonprofit management, and mediation
Grace Shim '06 (she/her) advises students about public interest summer jobs and careers, as well as LRAP. Grace works mainly with 1Ls although she is also happy to meet with 2Ls, 3Ls, and alums.
Grace is a former civil rights litigator with nearly two decades of experience in employment and housing law. Grace began her legal career prosecuting child abuse and neglect cases in the Bronx Family Court. Grace then served as a Staff Attorney at the MinKwon Center for Community Action, a Flushing-based nonprofit organization. After representing clients in landlord-tenant disputes in Queens Housing Court, unemployment insurance hearings at the New York State Department of Labor, and wage and hour lawsuits in the Southern and Eastern District Federal Courts, Grace served as the organization's Deputy Director and eventual Executive Director. Upon moving to the West Coast, Grace worked at the California Civil Rights Department, where she litigated employment and housing discrimination matters, including systemic and high impact cases. She then transitioned to a Senior Attorney Mediator role at the Department, before returning to New York City as a public interest advisor at Columbia Law School.
Grace previously taught mediation and lawyering skills at the UC Davis Law School and currently teaches mediation at CUNY Law School. She also serves as a volunteer mediator for the EEOC.
Grace received her BA with Honors from UC Berkeley and her JD from Columbia Law School. Grace is admitted to the bars of both California State (inactive) and New York State.
Office Location: William and June Warren 804
Area of expertise: Berger Fellows Program
Corinne Badini (she/her) joined the PI/PS Office in 2021 as the coordinator for the Max Berger ’71 Public Interest/Public Service Fellows Program. Prior to joining Columbia Law School, Corinne was an admissions counselor in the Hudson Valley, working closely with undergraduate students through their college search. She has a B.A. in digital media management from SUNY New Paltz and is working towards her M.S.Ed. in School Counseling.
Office Location: William and June Warren 800
Areas of expertise: Columbia postgraduate fellowships, on-campus interview programs, and all office communications
Rebecca Hinde (she/her) joined the PI/PS Office in 2016. Prior to Columbia, she worked for the Copyright Society of the USA, the Disabilities Network of New York City, and other nonprofits. She also did development work for small arts and social justice organizations. She holds an M.F.A. in writing from Columbia University.
Office Location: William and June Warren 800
Areas of expertise: HRIP and CLS Pro Bono Program
Renny Jiang (she/her) is a recent alumna of Brown University, where she graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in English and Gender & Sexuality Studies. Prior to joining the PI/PS office, Renny worked on nonprofit and pro bono initiatives as an intern with the Center for Law and Education and Kirkland & Ellis, respectively.
Additionally, Renny has acted as an educator at schools across the nation, developing curricula for gender-focused literary classes and improving the English skills of hundreds of students. As part of her commitment to using education as a form of empowerment for student voices and experiences, Renny has led multiple debate programs for students across middle and high school.
Office Location: William and June Warren 806.1
Areas of expertise: PI/PS Office events and the Columbia Public Interest Community
Email: [email protected]
Office Location: William and June Warren 800