Celebrating Columbia Law’s Newest Class of Postgraduate Fellows
The Office of Public Interest/Public Service Law and Careers shares some of the ways that Columbia Law graduates will serve communities and clients through impactful postgraduate fellowships.
Thirty-eight Columbia Law School graduates received postgraduate fellowships that will support their public interest legal work this fall in areas including workers’ rights, reproductive justice, environmental protection, civil rights, international human rights, criminal defense, immigrant justice, gender justice, and access to legal services. Their success reflects not only their extraordinary talent and commitment but also Columbia Law School’s deep investment in helping students and graduates build meaningful, high-impact public interest careers.
“We see time and again how crucial postgraduate fellowships can be in launching extraordinary public interest careers,” said Erica Smock ’95, dean for the Office of Public Interest/Public Service Law and Careers (PI/PS office). “For organizations that have limited resources, postgraduate fellowships provide a critically important financial lifeline to hire and train younger attorneys.”
Externally Funded Opportunities
Among this year’s fellows, Jennifer Morgan ’26 received a prestigious two-year Skadden Fellowship. Morgan will begin her fellowship at A Better Balance, a New York City nonprofit legal advocacy organization focused on workplace justice. Her project will help pregnant, postpartum, and caregiving low-wage workers in New York access temporary disability insurance and paid family leave benefits through direct representation, community outreach, and advocacy.
“The support and encouragement I received from Columbia Law, and especially the PI/PS office, truly helped make my fellowship possible,” said Morgan. “I am thrilled that I get to start my legal career with an organization and project doing exactly the type of work I want to do.”
Additionally, Zachary Kayal ’24 received a highly selective Equal Justice Works Fellowship, which he will begin this fall after completing his second clerkship. Kayal will join Public Justice to provide direct representation, systemic advocacy, and know-your-rights training for LGBTQ+ students experiencing hostile educational environments in rural public schools, particularly in the Rocky Mountains.
“Projects like Zak’s and Jenny’s underscore the uniqueness of project-based fellowships. Each brought a passion for their proposed projects and issue areas and were able to find host organizations that not only shared their enthusiasm but were well situated to actually make change,” said Emily Harris, director of public interest lawyering and strategic initiatives for the PI/PS office and postgraduate fellowship adviser. “Being able to design your own job is not something most people will ever get to do. To be able to do so early in your career is an incredible opportunity.”
Columbia Law Fellowships
In addition to externally funded fellowships, generous alumni and other donors fund fellowships specifically for Columbia Law graduates to pursue public interest or government careers in the U.S. and abroad. Thanks to a gift received in 2024, the Herbert and Nell Singer Social Justice Fellowship Endowment Fund has been expanded to support two years of fellowship work. This year’s Singer Fellow, Carly Feldman ’26, will join Bronx Legal Services to provide immigration representation and advocacy for survivors of gender-based violence and members of the LGBTQ+ community in the Bronx.
Another fellowship available solely to Columbia Law students, the Columbia Justice Fellowship, creates opportunities for graduates to begin impact litigation careers immediately after graduation. Now entering its fourth year, Columbia Justice Fellows this year include Carly Gittrich ’26, who will join the Natural Resources Defense Council; Maxine G. ’26, who will join the New York Civil Liberties Union; and Lauren Young ’26, who will join the Center for Reproductive Rights.
“Opportunities at impact litigation organizations are rare, and that’s especially true for a new graduate,” said Young. “The Columbia Justice Fellowship opened the door to what, for me, is a dream job right out of law school. There’s simply nowhere else that this would have been available to me.”
This year also marks the official launch of the Law School’s new World Bank LL.M. Fellowship, which gives Columbia LL.M. graduates the opportunity to work in the Office of the Legal Vice Presidency at the World Bank. Incoming fellow Sylvia Julius ’26 LL.M. will contribute to legal work connected to international development and global public service, adding another important pathway for graduates pursuing careers with international institutions.
Other Columbia Law School fellows will begin work with organizations advancing access to justice, human rights, and public service. Emma Ziegler ’26, the Kirkland & Ellis New York City Public Service Fellow, will work with Legal Services NYC; Elizabeth Sturley ’26 will begin a Global Public Service Fellowship with Physicians for Human Rights; Kaitlin Nguyen ’26 will join International Rights Advocates as a Leebron Human Rights Fellow; and Jake Mengarelli ’26 will join the office of Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee as a Millstein Government Service Fellow.
Eleven members of the Class of 2026 received J.D. Pathways Fellowships, which are open to those who demonstrate serious commitment to, and preparation for, careers as public interest, government, or human rights lawyers. The inaugural Monica Shah ’05 Postgraduate Pathways Fellowship was awarded to Yiwen Bao ’26, who will join the New York City Commission on Human Rights. Other J.D. Pathways Fellows will work with organizations including the Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York, Make the Road New York, the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, the Urban Justice Center’s Sex Workers Project, the Muslim Legal Fund of America, Appellate Advocates, Legal Action Worldwide, the International Commission of Jurists, and the United Farm Workers Foundation.
Eleven members of the LL.M. Class of 2026 received LL.M. Pathways Fellowships, supporting graduates who will work across the globe, including in Indonesia, India, Kenya, Germany, and Guatemala.
Together, these fellowships—both externally funded and Columbia Law specific—showcase the many ways Columbia Law graduates are putting their legal education to work. Some graduates will represent clients facing urgent legal needs. Others will pursue litigation, policy advocacy, international human rights work, or public service within government and multilateral institutions. All will begin their careers with the Law School’s public interest community cheering them on.
