LOS ANGELES - Sept. 6, 2016 – Global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP is sponsoring Jordan Aiken, through the 2016 Holly Skolnick Fellowship Foundation, in her work with Bet Tzedek, a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to providing free legal services to low-income individuals and families in Los Angeles. Aiken’s fellowship is part of a partnership with Equal Justice Works, a nonprofit organization that provides two-year fellowships to aspiring public interest lawyers.
Aiken is one of eight new fellows joining seven existing fellows, who are entering their final year of the two-year program, sponsored by Greenberg Traurig. Aiken, who earned her J.D. from University of California, Irvine School of Law, will be working with Bet Tzedek on housing and homelessness issues within the transgender community in in Los Angeles. The goal of the program is to alleviate the health challenges that low-income transgender individuals face by providing assistance with underlying legal issues through a medical-legal partnership.
“Hearing many first-hand accounts of the negative impacts that housing and employment discrimination can have on mental and physical health inspired me to start this partnership in Los Angeles,” said Aiken. “I am very excited to work at Bet Tzedek because of the dynamic team of attorneys and advocates that will provide expertise in so many of the interconnected legal areas.”
“Greenberg Traurig has a longstanding history of supporting Bet Tzedek,” said Jeff E. Scott, managing shareholder of Greenberg Traurig’s Los Angeles office. “We are thrilled to have a fellow work in an organization that plays such an important role in the Los Angeles community.”
Since 1999, Greenberg Traurig has invested more than $9 million to fund 142 Equal Justice Works Fellows. These fellows, working on issues ranging from community development and disability rights to domestic violence and immigration, have delivered critically needed legal services in more than 40 cities across the United States through local nonprofit organizations.
Equal Justice Works has 62 fellows in the 2016 fellowship class. The 2016 Equal Justice Works fellowship application attracted nearly 350 applicants from law schools across the United States.
View a complete list of the 2016 Equal Justice Works Fellows, their projects and their sponsors.
About Greenberg Traurig’s Pro Bono Program
Greenberg Traurig lawyers across the firm’s offices provide pro bono legal services to the indigent and working poor, as well as to numerous civic and charitable organizations dedicated to assisting them. The firm focuses its resources on specialized and interrelated issues including civil rights and affirmative action, anti-human trafficking, family law matters, criminal appeals, immigration and political asylum, housing and homelessness.
About Equal Justice Works
Equal Justice Works is the U.S. leader in creating public interest opportunities for law students and lawyers. Collaborating with the nation’s leading law schools, law firms, corporate legal departments and nonprofit organizations, Equal Justice Works offers a continuum of opportunities that provide the training and skills that enable attorneys to provide effective representation to underserved communities and causes. Equal Justice Works is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. For additional information about Equal Justice Works, please visit www.equaljusticeworks.org.
About Greenberg Traurig, LLP
Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GTLaw) has more than 2,000 attorneys in 38 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East and is celebrating its 50th anniversary. One firm worldwide, GTLaw has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, was named the largest firm in the U.S. by Law360 in 2017, and among the Top 20 on the 2016 Am Law Global 100. Web: www.gtlaw.com Twitter: @GT_Law.