|
March 20, 2006 -- Third-year University of Virginia
School of Law student Kate Duvall has been awarded the Hunton & Williams
Pro Bono Fellowship, a two-year salaried position that will allow
her to work in the Central Virginia Legal Aid office and assist
walk-in clients through the firm’s Richmond office in Church
Hill, the city’s oldest and most economically disadvantaged
neighborhood.
“It’s really the ideal job for me,” Duvall
said. “It’s everything I’m interested in doing.
It’s with family and it’s in the courts.”
Of the six fellowships that Hunton & Williams has offered
since the program’s inception, four have been held by U.Va.
law students, although students from states other than Virginia
may apply for the honor. The firm offers a similar fellowship
position in its Atlanta office.
“Kate’s record was outstanding, especially her volunteer
efforts at Legal Aid in Fredericksburg, Charlottesville and Richmond.
When we talked to her, we could tell she had the absolute passion
to do exactly the kind of work our pro bono fellow does,” said
Hunton & Williams pro bono partner George Hettrick, who also
coordinates the firm’s pro bono partnership with the U.Va
School of Law. “We really are trying to encourage law students
to pursue public interest law careers. There are not many job
opportunities out there in this field.”
Duvall, a Richmond native who also earned her bachelor’s
degree at U.Va., has volunteered extensively for the Rape Crisis
Advocacy Project, a law student organization in which she served
as community liaison and treasurer. During the summer after her
first year of law school, she worked for the U.S. attorney’s
office in Charlottesville. The next summer she worked in the
Fredericksburg public defender’s office, where she defended
juveniles in court. She has also worked in Richmond with the
Legal Aid Justice Center’s JustChildren program.
More recently, Duvall volunteered through the Hunton & Williams
pro bono partnership with the law school, working with several
other students and attorneys on custody and divorce cases for
victims of domestic violence. In its first year, the partnership
represented clients in more than 30 domestic violence cases and
five asylum cases, and volunteers have counseled countless more
area residents.
“I really crave public service projects where you can
help people in person, rather than just donating money,” Duvall
said. “The Hunton & Williams project has been a really
unique opportunity to meet the people you’re representing
and help them with their case.”
| 
