St. Thomas Law Second-Year Student Appointed to National Advisory Committee of Equal Justice Works

2L Diego Sanchez

This summer, second-year St. Thomas Law student Diego Sanchez, was selected as a member of the Equal Justice Works (EJW) National Advisory Committee.

His term as a member began on July 1, 2017 and will end on June 30, 2018. As a member, he will be tasked with providing feedback on EJW's existing programs and new initiatives and to assist with outreach to member schools and students throughout the country. He is also required to attend one national meeting per year as well as monthly conference calls.

"As an immigrant rights advocate committed to equal justice, I was thrilled to learn I was selected to serve in this capacity," stated Diego. "This will allow me to play a leadership role at the national level in addition to supporting EJW’s programs and new initiatives."

The mission of Equal Justice Works is to "create a just society by mobilizing the next generation of lawyers committed to equal justice." They provide leadership to ensure that a sustainable pipeline of talented and trained lawyers are involved in public service and create a continuum of programs that begin with incoming law school students and extend into later careers in the profession. They also have the nation’s leading public interest law fellowship program and offer more postgraduate, full-time legal positions in public service than any other organization.

Michele Bastacky, Program Coordinator at Equal Justice Works noted that they had many exceptional applicants for the available positions, but were especially impressed with Diego's achievements and commitment to public interest work.

St. Thomas Law Professor, Lauren Gilbert, who has worked with Diego on numerous immigrants' rights initiatives including a week-long project at the Karnes Detention Center in Texas, describes his ability to connect with underserved asylum-seekers as inspirational.

During his first year at St. Thomas Law, Diego re-established the American Immigration Lawyers Association Student Chapter (AILA) and became active with the Public Interest Law Society (PILS). As a member of AILA, Diego is active in community citizenship clinics that assist low-income individuals with their citizenship applications.

St. Thomas Law remains committed to teaching, training, and empowering the next generation of advocates and community leaders. Our students are driven by a mission to serve. Leading the way is our nationally-recognized pro-bono program that instills a lasting service ethic among our students that benefits them well beyond graduation.

We proudly highlight the accomplishments of Diego and other students like him, who continue to embody the spirit and mission of St. Thomas Law.