Angela Schultz – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

3L Shannon Strombom Wins State Bar Outstanding Public Interest Law Student of Year Award

Post author:Angela Schultz
Post published:March 5, 2019
Post category:Immigration Law Legal Profession Marquette Law School Poverty & Law Public

head shot of Shannon Strombom Shannon Strombom (3L) has been chosen as the winner of the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Outstanding Public Interest Law Student of the Year.

The criteria used to determine a winner of this award includes a demonstrated commitment to working in the public interest, public interest involvement before and during law school, exceptional volunteer work or activism in the community, and a commitment to helping others.

Strombom came to law school with a mission to help others, and she wasted no time getting involved. She started doing pro bono work in her first weeks as a 1L and has performed nearly 250 pro bono hours in seven different pro bono projects including the Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinics, Milwaukee Justice Center, Eviction Defense Project, Guardianship Clinic, Domestic Violence Project, U-Visa Project, and Youth Law Day. In other words, if a pro bono project is offered to students, Strombom signs up to do it.

Strombom is also the two-time recipient of a Public Interest Law Society fellowship. She has focused her fellowship work on immigration law, working one summer with Catholic Charities Legal Services for Immigrants and the next summer in the Arlington, Virginia, Immigration Court.

As for her plans after graduation, Strombom plans to build upon past experience and practice immigration law in a government, non-profit or small firm setting. Strombom particularly hopes to focus on family-based immigration law or humanitarian immigration law, such as asylum.

Strombom is an inspiration to us all. We are proud she will soon be a Marquette Lawyer.

Pro Bono: A Lot to Celebrate

Post author:Angela Schultz
Post published:November 3, 2011
Post category:Legal Practice Marquette Law School Public

Last week, as part of the American Bar Association’s coordinated effort to showcase the great difference pro bono makes, we hosted our third annual Pro Bono Celebration. This gave us opportunity to highlight some of our community partners. We celebrated with balloons and cake in the conference center and heard from Beth Cordes Thompson, Director of Wisconsin English Language Partners of Wisconsin and a recent beneficiary of the Marquette Legal Initiative for Nonprofit Corporations’ services; Gerri Sheets-Howard, Director of the House of Peace where the Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinic (MVLC) is in its tenth year of operation; Jim Duff, Director of Milwaukee County Veterans’ Service Office where the MVLC has hosted a clinic since 2009; Dr. Luis “Tony” Baez, Director of the Council for Spanish Speakers where the MVLC has operated a clinic since 2008; and John Barrett, Milwaukee County Clerk of Courts, where our clinic has run since 2009. These speakers are pictured from left to right in the photo accompanying this post. I heard from multiple attendees that they were refueled after hearing about the reach of the legal services our law students and a dedicated cadre of volunteer attorneys provide.