Stephanie joined the Consumer Justice Clinic during her very first semester of law school in our small-claims focused student-led service project (SLPS), which she eventually led. Immediately apparent were her strong research and writing skills and her sensitivity to her clients’ needs and desires. Stephanie is a thorough, detail-oriented, and exceptionally smart law student, unafraid to keep digging into the material until she has a strong grasp of the issue, at which time she turns in work product that we as attorneys can rely on. In one case, Stephanie drafted a complaint and a discovery plan for a federal court case based on a wide range of civil rights and consumer claims, all of which needed to be researched from scratch due to the novelty of the issues. All of us in the unit were deeply impressed by how she mastered each one of the areas of law. Stephanie’s nuanced understanding was apparent in how she focused on the correct facts in the complaint and in how she touched on all the necessary details in her discovery plan. Most significantly, Stephanie formed meaningful relationships with her clients and supported them in seeking their vision of justice. Whether it is taking on a small fly-by-night debt settlement scam in small claims court, deposing a party in a lawsuit against a municipality, drafting a press release or policy letter of opposition, or submitting an insurance claim for PACE construction damages, Stephanie centered her clients’ vision and voices, and used her exemplary legal skills and deep compassion to achieve great advocacy in her three years in our clinic.

–Kara Acevedo, Consumer Justice Clinic