Somalia Samuel (’14) Selected as Thurgood Marshall Fellow

CUNY School of Law

Somalia Samuel (’14)

Somalia Samuel (’14) has been selected as a Thurgood Marshall Fellow at the New York City Bar Association. The fellowship is designed to honor the legacy of Justice Thurgood Marshall by providing internship experience in public service or civil rights to talented minority law students. As part of her fellowship, Samuel will conduct research and policy analysis for the New York City Bar’s Committee on Civil Rights and will be working with the City Bar Justice Center on immigration issues.

While at CUNY Law, Samuel has interned at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, known nationally and internationally for its innovative, community-based, holistic public defense practice. She was also selected as a New York City Bar Diversity Fellow and worked on enterprise regulatory law within the legal department of Prudential.

Samuel is currently a student defender within the Criminal Defense Clinic at CUNY Law, where she represents indigent clients charged with misdemeanors in Queens Criminal Court. “I want to provide people in poor communities, like mine, with representation that is fair, effective, and treats them with dignity,” she said.