The legal profession has long been captured by corporate interests. As a result, we have a legal system built to serve those same interests, rather than the everyday people most in need of justice. This corporate capture begins as soon as law students arrive on campus; rarely, if ever, do those campuses have well-organized and adequately-supported forces pushing back against this capture. In order to effectively challenge the pro-corporate nature of the legal profession, organizing efforts are needed on two fronts. First, the culture on law school campuses must change so that pro-corporate work is no longer seen as politically and morally neutral, but rather understood as something that actively harms already marginalized and vulnerable people. Second, pro-people, public-interest careers need to be more accessible for students and recent graduates who, even when interested in pro-people work, often find that pro-corporate legal jobs are their only practical option.
In order to make this a reality, we are thrilled to announce our next cohort of PPP Leadership Fellows — six second-year law students from around the country who will dedicate approximately ten hours per week for the next two years to deepening their understanding of the law and legal profession and leading organizing efforts on their campus to end corporate capture.
Divya Goel
Kassidy Mahoney
Kassidy (she/her) is a 2L at the University of Chicago Law School, where she serves in a number of student organizations: President of the Education and Child Advocacy Society; Events Coordinator for Disability Rights, Advocacy, and Community; and Board Member of the National Lawyers Guild chapter at her school. She is a Law School representative on the university’s Graduate Council and serves in the Law Students Association, the internal student government at the Law School. She also works on the Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project clinic, and in her free time, she volunteers as a Legal Observer Coordinator with the National Lawyers Guild.
Kassidy is thrilled to be a part of People’s Parity Project and is looking forward to learning from other fellows and mentors, acquiring new and invaluable skills in organizing, and building a public interest career that advocates for the rights of the most vulnerable, particularly when it comes to young people facing an inequitable child welfare and juvenile justice system.
Matthew Ospina
Matt Ospina is a 2L at Southwestern Law School where he is a Judge Harry Pregerson Public Service Fellow, serves as Vice-Chair for the local NLG Chapter, and is involved with the Asylum Clinic in partnership with the Los Angeles LGBT Center. He previously served as a Fair and Just Prosecution Summer Fellow working with local DA’s on restorative justice projects and convictions integrity policy reform. Prior to law school, he worked in the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office as a Partners for Justice Client Advocate. He brings to PPP a long background in activism first as a student at UCLA and later within local inner-city church networks. In his free time, you can find him surfing, playing soccer, or supporting friends in the local live music scene.
Alexandria Petrie
Alexandria Petre (she/her) is a J.D. candidate at University of Oklahoma College of Law in Norman, OK. As the only child of a Navy veteran, Alexandria learned the importance of adaptability and resilience from an early age. Friends describe her as someone “forever on side-quests,” always seizing opportunities to take the lead in new ventures. Her introduction to American politics came in 2008 during her middle school’s mock presidential election, sparking a lifelong passion for understanding and questioning democratic processes.
In 2019, Alexandria earned a B.S. in International Business from Oklahoma State University. However, the world drastically shifted in 2020, leading her to pursue a career as a legal assistant. In this role, she found fulfillment in the direct impact the legal field had on people’s lives. Originally entering law school with a focus on family law, Alexandria’s path evolved as she became deeply committed to advocating for the rights of immigrants and marginalized communities across the U.S. She is involved in several groups including Immigration Law Society, Disabled Law Student Association, and Law Students for Palestine.
Matthew Shor
Matthew Shor is a non-traditional 1L and legislative coordinator for PPP. With a background ranging from political campaigns to organic farming and tech operations to tile factories, he knows how the law touches every aspect of the labor force.
Pratistha Shrestha
Pratistha is 2L at DePaul University College of Law in Chicago. She serves as Treasurer of the Women’s Bar Association and Staffer for the Social Justice Journal. This past summer, Pratistha completed an internship providing legal writing and research assistance to victims of domestic violence in the Orders of Protection division at Ascend Justice. This semester, she is a student clinician at the Asylum & Immigration Clinic, and the International Human Rights Practicum at DePaul. As a PPP fellow, Pratistha is excited to create a space for progressive legal discourse in the DePaul Law community.