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A trail blazing legal aid organization has been established in Kenya thanks to the efforts of Judge Patricia Riley, ‘74, Indiana Court of Appeals, and Fran Quigley, ‘87, director of operations for the IU partnership between the Indiana University School of Medicine and Moi University in Eldoret, Kenya. The Legal Aid Centre of Eldoret (LACE) officially started in September with a small staff and initial funding from the Reuben Family Foundation and the Indianapolis Rotary Club. LACE is currently located in the hospital where the Nobel Peace Prize-nominated AMPATH program has IU physicians and medical students helping Kenyans living with HIV/AIDS. Riley and Quigley started LACE because many of the medical patients are in need of legal as well as medical help, especially in the areas of land rights and family law.

The law school plans to collaborate with LACE by offering a Kenyan lawyer or lawyers a full scholarship to attend the LL.M. program in Indianapolis on condition that they agree to work at least two years as a staff attorney at LACE, as well as to coordinate legal work assistance for LACE from volunteer LL.M. graduates and students while enrolled as an LL.M. student.

The program is seeking other funding sources and hopes to expand its case load capacity. The organizers hope to arrange a trip for attorneys from Indiana to see the centre in action in the near future.