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Continuing its long-standing commitment to community service and providing access to justice, the law firm of Baker & Daniels sponsored two Public Interest Fellowships through the Clinical Programs of the Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis. "Our goal was to provide law schools with another tool to promote advocacy on behalf of the public interest. Fellows will develop initiatives to engage students, attorneys, organizations, and the community in public interest law," said Carl Pebworth, litigation attorney and chair of Baker & Daniels' committee on pro bono and public interest.

The first two recipients of the Baker & Daniels’ Public Interest Fellowships are Laura Kight and Melinda Mains.

As a B & D Fellow, Laura Kight is coordinating partnerships with the Indiana Supreme Court , the Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority, and Indiana Legal Services, Inc. in hosting the Indiana Mortgage Foreclosure Defense & Prevention Conference at Inlow Hall at IU School of Law-Indianapolis on April 3^rd. The conference will address the latest developments in the mortgage and foreclosure landscape and how to effectively address the problems facing many homeowners. K ight is a third year student working with Joanne Orr, Clinical Professor of Law, in planning the conference. Kight is completing an Advocacy Skills Concentration, with the capstone experience of representing low-income clients in the Civil Practice Clinic. She has served as the Director of Technology on the school’s Client Counseling Board, as a judicial intern for the Honorable Patricia Riley, ’74, Indiana Court of Appeals, and participated in the Moot Court and Client Counseling Competitions.

Expanding the scope of the Criminal Defense Clinic, B & D Fellow Melinda Mains is working alongside Fran Watson,’80, Clinical Professor of Law, to develop a Wrongful Convictions Clinic. The Wrongful Convictions Clinic’s advanced, active learning environment will allow students to develop and exercise skills needed to advocate for those wrongfully convicted. Through broad partnerships, the Wrongful Convictions Clinic will identify the systemic failings that lead to wrongful convictions. Mains is a first year evening student. She is president of the Mains Group, an Indianapolis-based public relations and marketing company.

To learn more about these programs or the Baker & Daniels Public Interest Fellows, contact the Law School Clinic at Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis at (317) 274-1911.