Kayla Fox ’25
Kayla Fox ’25
JD Student
Hometown
Chicago, Illinois
Undergraduate Institution
Tulane University
Undergraduate Major(s)
Early Childhood Education and Psychology, Minors in Theatre and 'Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship'
Year of Undergraduate Graduation
2020
Area(s) of Legal Interest
Public Interest, Education Law, Child Advocacy, Civil Rights, Criminal and Juvenile Justice, Public Defense, Public Policy
In terms of support and resources, what do you recommend to prospective students considering Northeastern Law?
I would highly recommend that prospective students reach out to current students as a way to get a feel for our day-to-day experiences. The best way to imagine yourself at a school is to hear about different ways students get involved in campus or the types of things that they invest their time into — if it feels like those are the types of things or people that you were envisioning yourself doing in law school, that is a good sign that Northeastern Law would make a great fit. I would also recommend taking a look at the course offerings, clinics and faculty profiles to try and see if the areas of law that you are most interested are available here.
What extracurricular activities have you been involved with at Northeastern?
Student Bar Association
Curriculum Committee and Community Council
If/When/How (reproductive justice organization), executive board
Family Law and Juvenile Justice Society, executive board
Jewish Law Student Association, executive board
Research Assistant: 1) Collecting Cradle-to-Prison Pipeline data to create a tool for activists to use in support of laws and reforms, 2) Examining the Floating Lung Test, a test that has sent nine women to prison for “murdering” their stillborn babies
Independent Research: NuLawLab partnership using interdisciplinary innovation and legal design to explore the relationship between failing education legislation and the missing perspective of educators
Clinics: 1) Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Clinic and 2)Prisoners’ Rights Clinic
Legal Skills in a Social Context (LSSC) Lawyering Fellow
What is your favorite aspect of Northeastern Law’s co-op program?
I had the privilege of undertaking a co-op/clerkship at the US Senate, specifically with the Office of Senator Hirono, where I worked closely with her Judiciary Committee staff. The Senate Judiciary Committee covers an incredibly broad jurisdiction, including making judicial nominations for federal judges and the Supreme Court, as well as overseeing various agencies, including the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. This expansive scope of oversight places the committee at the forefront of crucial matters shaping the nation’s legal landscape. The experience was truly transformative, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the legislative process on Capitol Hill. Engaging with senators on a daily basis, developing a personal relationship with Senator Hirono and participating in the lawmaking process allowed me to actively participate in the democratic process, contribute to legislative initiatives and gain a firsthand understanding of the complexities of governance at the highest levels.
Kaylas’s Journal
As a lawyering fellow for Legal Skills in Social Context (LSSC), I have the opportunity to support 1Ls in their year-long social justice course. LSSC pairs students with real clients and partner organizations. This gives 1Ls the opportunity to put their legal skills to the test and make social change from their very first day at Northeastern Law. Whether you hope to work in public interest, big law or anything in between, LSSC often sparks student interest in a brand new area of the law and can even reroute your legal path.
Below, you will find a sampling of the important projects LSSC is working on this year to get a taste of the types of organizations and legal projects you could be working on!
Strategies for Youth (SFY)
Strategies for Youth is a national training and policy organization dedicated to ensuring best outcomes for youth interacting with law enforcement, with the overall goal of reducing youth arrests and system involvement. Northeastern law students are developing Juvenile Justice Jeopardy (JJJ) programming – educational games that focus on a wide array of topics targeting various pipelines to system involvement. Specifically, the students are designing a Boston-specific “Street Game” and a “School Game” based on the Boston Public Schools’ student code of conduct. In addition to drafting game questions and answers to teach the underlying legal concepts in a developmentally appropriate way, the students are creating extensive resource guides and presentation materials to aid credible community messengers in facilitating JJJ games to help empower youth with education.
National Whistleblowers Center
Northeastern law students are working in partnership with the National Whistleblowers Center, which has worked with whistleblowers around the world to fight corruption and protect people and the environment. Students have been tasked with researching non-disclosure agreements (“NDA”) and developing content to communicate with workers nationwide. As part of the project, students will be creating a social media “Know Your Rights” campaign on NDAs that will be deployed by NWC in their communications and public education strategy.
Jane Doe, Inc.
Northeastern law students are working with Jane Doe, Inc. to engage in a court-watching project regarding the experiences of individuals seeking restraining orders under MGL ch. 209A. Students researched and independently designing a court watch form that they and other community volunteers have used to conduct the court watches in Massachusetts district courts. Utilizing their data, students identified common problems related to litigants’ experiences and produced advocacy materials to help address these ongoing issues.
Louis D. Brown Peace Institute
On behalf of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, Northeastern law students are creating an advocacy toolkit. This toolkit includes advocacy materials tailored to specific stakeholders: fact sheets for MA state legislators, local council people, and law enforcement agencies, for example, as well as lobbying strategies for the Peace Institute. Students are engaging in a deep dive on the legislative process, in coordination with policy experts from the Institute, to inform how to maximize efforts at policy change. The students’ research focuses on two key legislative priorities for the Peace Institute: The MA Victims of Violent Crime Compensation scheme and the Crime Victim Bill of Rights.
City of Boston Equity and Inclusion Cabinet
Students are partnering with the City of Boston Equity and Inclusion Cabinet to research jurisdictions that have implemented affordable housing programs that target historically excluded communities, including those that base eligibility on race-conscious and race-neutral criteria and those that serve the disability and LGBTQ+ communities. The city has asked students to examine the components of these programs and to assess their susceptibility to legal challenges. To situate their project within a historical context, students are conducting a historical survey of local and national housing policies and their discriminatory effects. Using specific cities and towns as case studies, they are examining jurisdictions’ current policies in detail and analyzing their legality. Ultimately, students will create a user guide for municipal policy officials assessing similar programs.
Project Unloaded
Students are partnering with Project Unloaded, a nonprofit working to change the gun culture narrative by empowering young people to choose not to own or use guns. Project Unloaded has asked students to research jurisdictions that have enacted requirements for warning labels on firearms and to assess their legal viability. Through research on the regulatory framework governing firearms, an examination of the components of specific jurisdictions’ laws, and a survey of relevant legal challenges, students will draft recommendations to aid Project Unloaded in its policy and advocacy efforts. Students are grounding their recommendations in their examination of the systemic factors that affect gun use and ownership and that cause gun violence to continue to disproportionately impact historically marginalized communities.
The National Council for Incarcerated & Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls
Northeastern law students are supporting the work of the National Council for Incarcerated & Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, by drafting individual clemency petitions, as well as creating valuable resources for other organizers, activists, and lawyers. Students have met with currently incarcerated women to prepare the petitions; they have also done extensive research and interviewed numerous experts to prepare a how-to guide to clemency petitions in MA and federal prisons and a short report on the legal and policy foundations of clemency in MA and federally.