The Public Legal Services Society (PLSS) at the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law is now accepting applications for the 2022 Summer Grant Program.

In order to qualify for the Summer Grant Program, students must fulfill a minimum of 15 hours of community service throughout the school year at various community organizations. This year, PLSS students volunteered to help WEAVE, a nonprofit providing crisis intervention services to survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and sex trafficking to the Sacramento community.

Founded in 1990 at McGeorge, the mission of PLSS is to advocate for social justice by supporting students and recent graduates pursuing careers that serve the public interest. Most public interest internships are unpaid; PLSS provides modest grants to help students defray living expenses while they volunteer as summer interns.

PLSS depends on the support of alumni and community members to fund the summer grants. The organization’s annual Spring Celebration Event will take place on Friday, April 8 from 5:30-7:00 p.m. via Zoom. All proceeds will go to funding the public interest work of students.

Learn more about the impact of the program from previous grant recipients below.

Isabella DeSisto – Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office

Third-year law student Isabella DeSisto, who serves on the PLSS Executive Board, is a two-time recipient of the summer grant. She is passionate about criminal prosecution, criminal justice reform, and assisting victims of crime and found a natural fit working at the Los Angeles District Attorney’s (LADA) Office.

In 2020, DeSisto clerked in the LADA Legislative Advocates Office, working on public safety legislation. While the work was engaging, DeSisto was eager to get back inside the courtroom. She returned to LADA in 2021, this time as a Certified Law Clerk in the San Fernando Branch. DeSisto worked in the Preliminary Hearing Unit and completed over 40 preliminary hearings, including hearings relating to assaults, burglaries, robberies, DUIs, and arsons. She also wrote and argued various motions.

“My favorite part of my summer clerkship was working in a fast-paced learning environment and interacting with judges and defense counsel,” DeSisto said.

DeSisto is grateful for the assistance of the summer grant in making it possible to advocate for victims of crime and the community.

Angela Fuentes – Children's Law Center of California

Second-year law student Angela Fuentes interned at the Children's Law Center of California (CLC). CLC represents youth in the foster care system and provides independent investigations into allegations of abuse and neglect to advocate for the client's wishes/best interests in dependency proceedings.

Throughout the summer, Fuentes assisted her supervising attorney with cases at each stage of the investigation and pretrial process, including interviewing clients, conducting legal research, preparing pre-trial statements, and assisting with trial preparation.

Fuentes’ most memorable experiences are the opportunities she had for hands-on work while visiting and interviewing clients.

“I really enjoyed building rapport with the youth and speaking with them to learn what we could do to best advocate for them,” Fuentes remarked. “Not only was I able to improve my client interviewing skills – but more importantly – I was able to connect with clients and use the privilege of obtaining a legal education to serve others.”

April La Torre – Yolo County Public Defender’s Office

Second-year law student April La Torre, who serves as vice president of PLSS, received the summer grant for her work at the Yolo County Public Defender’s Office last summer. At the office, La Torre had the opportunity to work in both felony and misdemeanor departments.

Throughout the summer, La Torre had the experience of conducting research and writing motions that were reviewed by her supervising attorneys and submitted in court. Additionally, she interviewed potential clients at the Yolo County Jail prior to their arraignments. She had opportunities to attend court and enjoyed watching the supervising attorneys in action, as well as sitting at the counsel table during preliminary hearings.

La Torre used her grant to offset the cost of transportation from Sacramento to the Yolo County office.

Kevin Woldhagen – California Department of Water Resources

Second-year law student Kevin Woldhagen, who serves as secretary of PLSS, used the grant funds to support working at the California Department of Water Resources (DWR). Woldhagen believes he will continue to benefit from his involvement in PLSS in the future.

“I intend to go into public service after law school and having limited debt will make committing to important causes much easier,” he said.

In the Office of General Counsel, Woldhagen researched and drafted legal memorandums on California Water Law as it intersects with California Environmental Quality Act and Energy Law. He also prepared and presented on the topic of Environmental Justice to the entire DWR staff, summarized and reported on the Climate Change Resiliency of DWR projects, and attended court hearings on pleading and record-related motions.

Woldhagen’s favorite experience was a memo that he wrote synthesizing the circuit courts’ approaches to defining what it means "to act" under the Clean Water Acts Section 401 Waiver of Water Quality Certifications. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is currently set to decide this issue.

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Media Contact: Ashley Golledge, Director of Marketing and Communications, agolledge@pacific.edu, 916.325.4687.