02.19.20 —Brandon Vesely ’20 and Thera McAvoy ’20 have been named to the Class of 2020 Justice Fellows by the Immigrant Justice Corp (IJC). Each year, IJC awards Justice Fellowships to recent law graduates and law clerks from around the country – individuals with tremendous talent, promise and a demonstrated commitment to providing legal services for low income people and for immigrants. IJC trains Justice Fellows to become experts in immigration law and pairs them with leading non-profit legal services providers and community based organizations. The number of Justice Fellow applications received by IJC rose by 34 percent this year; Vesely and McAvoy are among only twenty-six graduates from top law schools around the country were chosen for the prestigious program.

Thera McAvoy ’20 is a graduate of the University of New Mexico and Cranfield University in the United Kingdom, with a background in education. They gained immigration law experience through work with the International Refugee Assistance Program and the Dilley Pro Bono Project, as well as significant clinical work through Northeastern University Law School. Thera will be working for Innovation Law Lab in El Paso, Texas, on a mixture of defensive asylum cases and helping to coordinate EPIC, a pro bono bond hearing service for detained immigrants.

Before law school, Brandony Vesely ’20 worked as a paralegal at Empire Justice Center, where he provided legal services to low-income people grappling with barriers to healthcare. As a student at Northeastern University School of Law, he interned with the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project and the Immigration Unit at MetroWest Legal Services. Brandon also participated in the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Clinic and the Domestic Violence Clinic. He will be placed with the Fresno Office of KIND (Kids in Need of Defense) where he will provide removal defense for unaccompanied immigrant youth.