Stories from UT Students and Alums
On this page you will find brief stories and reports from College
of Law students and alums, telling about their own experiences with
pro bono and public interest law, both during and after law school.
Pro Bono & Public Interest Headlines
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Tiffany Deadrick
Honored by Tennessee Bar Foundation
 Tiffany
Deaderick, a third-year law student at the University of Tennessee
College of Law, was honored Jan. 25 by the Tennessee Bar Association
as its 2003 Law Student Volunteer of the Year.
This award recognizes a Tennessee law school student who has provided
outstanding volunteer services while working with an organization
that provides legal representation to the indigent.
Deaderick, of Powell, first became interested in public service
as an undergraduate at UT while majoring in sociology and political
science. It was there Deaderick says, "that I first learned there
are people out there who are not given the same opportunities that
I have been given." Deaderick credits the College of Law with giving
her the opportunity to act on her passion to make a difference.
"We have a wonderful pro bono program at UT," she adds.
Deaderick has been an active volunteer with public service programs
at UT since her first year of law school, eventually coordinating
the program, a volunteer job that lead to a clerkship with Legal
Aid of East Tennessee (LAET). Deaderick came to law school interested
in criminal law, but "legal aid won my heart over," she says.
While Deaderick is known at LAET as a hard-working and reliable
clerk, it is her compassion that sets her apart. This trait was
highlighted in the service she gave one particular client, "Jane."
A single mother of two, Jane fell on hard times after developing
a serious, chronic heart condition. Working with the LAET attorneys
and fellow students at the UT Legal Clinic, Deaderick helped Jane
navigate a maze of bureaucracy for assistance with social security,
child support, and housing, personally driving Jane and her children
to look at apartments as they were facing eviction.
"I didn't nominate Tiffany for the award because of what she did
for Jane," says Terry Woods, director of the LAET Pro Bono. "I nominated
her because of what she said to me after she finished telling me
Jane's story: 'Why would a lawyer want to do anything else?'"
The award winners were chosen by the TBA's Access to Justice Committee.
The Tennessee Bar Association is a statewide voluntary organization
of more than 7,500 lawyers.
- 2003
Individual Pro Bono and Public Interest Stories
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Trisha L.
Booker 01
Habitat for Humanity
Georgia
"My interest in grassroots organizing and social change took shape
with two courses offered by the UT College of Law. One was Community
Partnership  Development
and the other was Public Interest Lawyering. After taking those
courses, I decided to take a risk and accept a non-traditional internship
with ACORN where I worked as a community organizer. My choice paid
off in the end; there is no doubt in my mind it was my experience
as a community organizer one summer that got me an internship the
next summer with the AFL-CIO and the Law Student Union Summer program.
The program combined organizing and the law, and it allowed me to
make contacts across the US that opened doors for me to enter the
labor law field after graduation. The most important thing I learned
from my experience is that, when I finally did begin doing a legal
internship in labor law, my work as a community organizer helped
me understand the clients who came into the office. I knew their
fears and concerns. It is that ability to connect with a client
and build a rapport with a client that makes an effective attorney."
- Spring 2001
Dumaka
Shabazz 02 Kingsport
Raney Irwin 02 Brooklyn, N.Y.
Van Davis Turner, Jr. 02 Memphis
"A group of us are working with a local theater ensemble of African
American youth to produce a freewheeling mock 'trial' of Hip-Hop
music. These young  people
are incredibly talented, and it is great to have the chance to work
with them as part of our assignment in a law school course. Our
project included research, teaching and learning on discrimination
law, free speech, and trial procedure. We also learned about the
power of the performing arts to enable powerful communication about
complex issues of justice and social policy. We are grateful to
the law school, to Carpetbag Theater (the ensemble's sponsoring
organization), and most of all to the young people themselves for
this opportunity."
- Spring 2001
Heather
White 99
In-house Counsel, Environmental Working Group
Washington, D.C.
 "The
UT College of Law is consistently ranked as one of the best law
schools in America because of its tradition of excellence and service
to the community. UT's emphasis on public interest law and on practical
legal skills has helped me immeasurably in my public interest law
career. Through legal clinic and my environmental law seminar, I
realized that public interest law can provide a direct way to advocate
for your community and for your beliefs. Now, as a public interest
attorney, I continue the volunteer spirit by educating the public
about how corporate malfeasance can result in toxic chemical exposure
and other forms of environmental pollution. As in-house counsel
to the Environmental Working Group, I provide legal advice on nonprofit
corporate law issues, write amicus briefs on toxic tort issues,
talk to legislators about toxic chemicals, and work with other attorneys
to obtain documents for our website, www.chemicalindustryarchives.org.
Bill Moyers used the documents from this website to create "Trade
Secrets," a powerful documentary on the inner-workings of the chemical
industry. My work is varied, complex, and truly rewarding. I am
a lawyer and I am proud of what I do. I thank UT for introducing
me to and preparing me for a career that can literally help make
the world a safer, healthier place."
- Spring 2001
Mary
Michelle Gillum 00
Staff Attorney, Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands,
Oak Ridge, Tennessee
 The
combination of the University of Tennessee College of Law's public
interest organizations, fellowship and internship opportunities,
curriculum, and faculty provides a package ripe with opportunities
for law students interested in pursuing a public interest law career.
For me, with an undergraduate degree in accounting and a strong
desire to work in the public interest, the University of Tennessee
College of Law provided a unique environment that established the
foundation for my present public interest law career. Through the
Tennessee Association for Public Interest Law, a student public-interest
organization, I gained leadership opportunities and funding for
public interest internships during law school, including work with
the Haitian Refugee Project in Miami, Fla., an internship with UT's
grassroots Community Partnership Center, and a clerkship with Rural
Legal Services of Tennessee. The curriculum -- which includes public
interest law courses such as Nonprofit Corporations and Community
Legal Education -- helped me to develop a winning proposal for my
graduate fellowship with the National Association for Public Interest
Law. Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of my law school experience
was the faculty's active assistance and encouragement in developing
the Tennessee Taxpayer Project -- a clinic that provides legal representation
to low-income taxpayers who have controversies with the Internal
Revenue Service. As part of the Tennessee Taxpayer Project, the
UT Legal Clinic now provides transactional and business law students
the unprecedented opportunity to obtain hands-on experience with
clients in actual tax cases.
- Spring 2001
Stephen Ross
Johnson '02
Co-director, UT Pro Bono
Coordinator, Innocence Project
 "The
College of Law fosters a great environment for allowing students
to utilize their creativity in helping others. Working within the
fabric of UT Pro Bono, a student-led community service organization
that helps those in need with their legal problems, I was able to
help start an Innocence Project at the University of Tennessee.
Our mission is to help ensure that no person who is actually innocent
remains in prison or on death row. We take cases from all over the
state, and we are one of the few working Innocence Projects in the
nation. Without the law school's support, assistance, and sensitivity
to the issues surrounding wrongful convictions of the innocent,
I and the others who have helped me with this project would never
have been able to get it off the ground."
- Spring 2001
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