Justice Catalyst Announces 2026 - 2027 Fellowship Projects
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Renée Schomp, Deputy Director
Email: fellowships@justicecatalyst.org
https://www.justicecatalyst.org/fellowships
JUSTICE CATALYST ANNOUNCES 2026 - 2027 FELLOWSHIP PROJECTS
Justice Catalyst Partnerships is proud to announce its 2026 - 2027 fellowship projects. Justice Catalyst Fellowship projects are hosted at public interest organizations, unions, plaintiffs’ firms, and federal, state, local, and tribal government agencies around the United States. Fellowship projects take path-breaking approaches to lawyering for social and economic justice that have real-world impact and improve the lives of those denied access to justice.
Projects selected include:
Lica Porcile, who will work at Democracy Defenders focused on challenging lawless immigration enforcement actions by federal agencies and officials. Lica will use strategic impact litigation to pursue justice for individuals illegally arrested, detained, or deported, and to deter future immigration enforcement abuses through accountability and transparency.
Luci Harrell, who will work at Atlanta Community Support Project to increase community capacity for post-conviction litigation through collaboration with jailhouse lawyers, creating a sustainable records-enforcement model that shifts the culture surrounding access to the courts in Georgia.
Gretchen Knaut, who will work at the Center for Asset Retirement Accountability to shape and support a litigation campaign that holds companies accountable for abandoning oil and gas wells, thereby combatting a major source of greenhouse gases, unburdening landowners and communities from cleanup costs, and disrupting the fossil fuel industry’s harmful practices.
Malik Marshall, who will work at Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy and UNITE HERE! Local 11 to establish a litigation practice that targets employers who violate the rights of subcontracted workers. The litigation practice will be carried out in coordination with a policy campaign to eliminate non-emergency subcontracting in hotels.
Zoë Mermelstein, who will work at Texas RioGrande Legal Aid to develop litigation against employers who use fraudulent tactics to recruit migrant farmworkers and obtain H-2A visas under state and federal wage and hour law, as well as litigation challenging procedures that lead the Department of Labor to knowingly or negligently approve fraudulent H-2A applications.
Sarah Southey, who will work at National Day Laborer Organizing Network to seek meaningful compensation for groups of workers affected by workplace immigration raids in New York and New Jersey through Federal Tort Claims Act litigation. This litigation strategy will help deter unlawful immigration enforcement, obtain relief for harmed workers, and empower NDLON member worker centers.
Tascha Shahriari-Parsa, who will work at the NYU Wagner Labor Initiative to catalyze state and local labor enforcement by helping agencies share information, coordinate across jurisdictions, and bring follow-on cases that build on each other’s enforcement victories.
Lauren Taylor, who will work at Connecticut Fair Housing Center to bring a Connecticut consumer protection lawsuit against debt buyers, mortgage servicers, and law firms that unfairly seek to foreclose on “zombie” second mortgages—long-dormant loans that consumers reasonably believed were forgiven in the wake of the 2008 housing crisis.
Bryce Wommack, who will work at Simonsen Sussman to initiate antitrust litigation against tech companies on behalf of entrepreneurs, small businesses, and other victims of anticompetitive practices by charting creative, strategic, and cost-effective paths to relief under the competition laws.
Justice Catalyst Partnerships is also proud to partner with the Committee to Support Antitrust Laws, or COSAL, for a third year of the Jonathan W. Cuneo COSAL/Justice Catalyst Fellowship. The goal of the fellowship is to enable new lawyers to pursue antitrust litigation as a crucial tool for accountability within the U.S. legal system. The 2026-2027 Jonathan W. Cuneo COSAL/Justice Catalyst fellowship projects include:
Jordan Cozby, who will work at Salahi PC to undertake antitrust litigation with a focus on workers’ rights, consumer protection, and civil rights and liberties.
Cynthia Murphy, who will work at Shinder Cantor Lerner LLP to undertake antitrust litigation with a focus on holding powerful entities accountable to consumers by combating anticompetitive agreements and monopolization through all stages of litigation.
A full list of fellows will be available at https://www.justicecatalyst.org/fellowships/fellows. If you are a law student or recent graduate interested in a 2027-2028 fellowship, or an organization interested in hosting a fellowship project, please visit https://www.justicecatalyst.org/fellowships or contact fellowships@justicecatalyst.org
Justice Catalyst Partnerships activates path-breaking approaches to social justice lawyering and affirmative litigation that have real-world impact and improve the lives of low-wage workers, the poor, and the marginalized. More information at. More information at https://www.justicecatalyst.org/fellowships