More than 130 rising second- and third-year Fordham Law students are engaging in rewarding and meaningful full-time public service work this summer at non-profit organizations and government agencies across the country.
Alexa Jean-Baptiste ’25 is spending the summer months gaining hands-on experience in public service work under the Susheel Kirpalani LAW ’94 Public Interest Fellowship Fund. Thanks to Kirpalani’s generosity, she is working at Advocates for Children of New York, whose mission is to ensure a high-quality education for New York students facing barriers to academic success.
Established in 2017 by Kirpalani, founder and chair of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP’s bankruptcy and restructuring group, the fund provides philanthropic support for students interested in pursuing public interest law through summer fellowship opportunities administered by the Law School’s Public Interest Resource Center.
What is your hometown?
I spent my most formative years in Elmont, NY, in a tight-knit Caribbean working-class community on western Long Island.
Where did you study before Fordham Law?
I went to St. John’s University for my undergraduate studies where I majored in political science with a minor in French.
What are your areas of interest?
While I aspire to do public service work after graduation, public interest family law practice in particular piques my interest. During my 1L summer, I interned at Queens Legal Services in its Family Law and Domestic Violence Unit, building my trauma-informed lawyering skills as I worked with survivors of abuse. In the fall of my 2L year, I participated in Fordham’s Family Defense and Advocacy Clinic, where, collaborating alongside the amazing clinic team and my peers, I performed advocacy work for families whose children had been subject to removal by the New York City Administration for Children’s Services. Both of these experiences showed me the different sides of public interest family law practice, which brought me to where I am this summer at Advocates for Children of New York as a legal intern.
What are you doing this summer?
I am immersed in education law practice at Advocates for Children of New York, working in their New York City office until early August. I have gotten the opportunity to prepare materials for and appear on the record of administrative hearings, deliver opening and closing statements, and even be able to cross examine a witness. As daunting as it was to closely participate in the matter, the attorneys at Advocates for Children have been continually supportive in ensuring me they would be here along the way if I had any questions or concerns. This is the first time in my entire law school career I have endeavored to enter a notice of appearance and speak on the record, and this memory is one that I will surely cherish long after the summer is over.
What attracted you to Advocates for Children of New York?
What drew me to this opportunity was the population Advocates for Children serves. Bringing suits against the New York City Department of Education (DOE), Advocates for Children ensures that students from indigent backgrounds who are experiencing school-based discrimination get the services they need. Advocates for Children works with students with disabilities, students in the foster care system, and immigrant students, to name a few. Given my clinical and personal experience, this was the first thing that stuck out to me about this organization. I was curious about how educational law intersects with family law for students who are under the penumbra of the family regulation system.
As a Haitian-American who was in an English language learners program as a child, I empathize with students who come from immigrant backgrounds who may be falling through the cracks, particularly new arrivals to the country. They have to navigate a new country, language, and a confusing educational framework. Many of these students have been subject to copious amounts of trauma that can hinder their academic success.
What were you most excited about for this opportunity?
Since starting in late May, I’ve been excited to train my advocacy “muscle” and see my work change the trajectory of these students’ lives. So far, I have been attending trainings on education law practice held by the supervising attorneys, visiting schools to assess if they meet our clients’ needs, and drafting materials in preparation for DOE proceedings.
What has been your favorite part of the experience so far?
My favorite part of the experience thus far has been visiting schools in the New York City metropolitan area and seeing the methods of instruction they use for children with learning disabilities such as ADHD and dyslexia. I have been humbled to meet students who were at first failed by their schools, but were able to thrive in a new school placement that implemented methods that fostered their learning. I think this summer experience will help me when I return to Fordham and beyond in that I will become a better advocate, lawyer, and human being.
How do you think this summer experience will help you when you return to Fordham Law?
In just a few short weeks at this internship, my perspective quickly shifted regarding students who face academic challenges. I have realized that there is a wealth of resources available to help these students and they can thrive in the right environment using the arm of the law. Lawyers can be an impetus for societal change. In the spring of 2025, I am ecstatic to join the ranks of Fordham lawyers that have proven this to be true.
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