MBF Awards $120,000 to 15 Law Students Participating in Public Interest Internships
Established in 1996, the Massachusetts Bar Foundation’s (MBF) Legal Intern Fellowship Program (LIFP) was created to both inspire the next generation of public interest attorneys and provide legal aid organizations with critical, additional staff capacity over the summer.
This year, the MBF has proudly awarded stipends of $8,000 to 15 talented law students, the program’s largest cohort to date. These students represent seven law schools and will serve 11 different Massachusetts nonprofits, from Hyannis to Springfield and everywhere in between. Legal Intern Fellows will gain hands on experience and essential skills for their future legal careers while supporting access to justice for low-income residents of the Commonwealth.
Thank you to the 2025 Massachusetts Bar Foundation LIFP Review Committee members — Chair Paul Klehm, Esq., Hon. Mark Mason, Mary Jeanne Stone, Esq., and Kimberly Winter, Esq. — who reviewed applications from an impressive pool of 32 law students.
This year’s program is made possible by the generous support of the Clark R. Smith Family Foundation, MBF Fellows, and contributions from Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts. The MBF is pleased to announce the 2025 Legal Intern Fellows:
2025 LEGAL INTERN FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM RECIPIENTS
Paul Abrams
School: Northeastern University School of Law
Internship: Political Asylum/Immigration Representation (PAIR) Project
Brianna Benjamin
School: New England Law | Boston
Internship: Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
Amari Bruno Figueroa
School: Boston University School of Law
Internship: Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts
Alexandria Casarano
School: Boston University School of Law
Internship: Political Asylum/Immigration Representation (PAIR) Project
Nilda Chajon Navas
School: Roger Williams University School of Law
Internship: Community Legal Aid
Supported by: Clark R. Smith Family Foundation
Mariam Hassan
School: Northeastern University School of Law
Internship: Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts
Javier Irizarry
School: Boston College Law School
Internship: Central West Justice Center, an affiliate of Community Legal Aid
Supported by: Clark R. Smith Family Foundation
Emily Longmire
School: Suffolk University Law School
Internship: MetroWest Legal Services
May Lu
School: Boston College Law School
Internship: Greater Boston Legal Services
August Mann
School: Boston University School of Law
Internship: Northeast Legal Aid
Christina (Jingxuan) Ren
School: Northeastern University School of Law
Internship: Rian Immigrant Center
Alexandria Snyders Dykeman
School: Roger Williams University School of Law
Internship: Northeast Justice Center, an affiliate of Northeast Legal Aid
Vivian Tran
School: Suffolk University Law School
Internship: Greater Boston Legal Services
Katherine Yates
School: University of Massachusetts School of Law
Internship: South Coastal Counties Legal Services
Naomi Yuen-Schat
School: Boston University School of Law
Internship: Greater Boston Legal Services