refugee law

Georgia Law’s Community HeLP Clinic wins asylum case for long-time client

The University of Georgia School of Law’s Community Health Law Partnership Clinic recently secured asylum for a long-time client.

Under the supervision of Director & Hosch Professor Jason A. Cade and Staff Attorney Kristen Shepherd, Elizabeth M. “Beth” Boland (J.D. ’26) and third-year student Lauren R. Harter (J.D. ’25) represented the client at her most recent hearing in Arlington, Virginia, marking the end of nine years of advocacy. Clinic Paralegal Sarah Ehlers served as interpreter.   

Other students who worked on the case, which included litigation before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, Board of Immigration Appeals, and the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, were Carolina Mares (J.D. ’25), Hope Skypek (J.D. ’24), Anna T. Ratterman (J.D. ’24), Ariane C. “Ari” Williams (J.D. ’22), Thomas A. Evans (J.D. ’22) and Frederick King (J.D. ’21). 

Georgia Law hosts roundtable discussion for 2024 Mandela Fellows

This month, a group of participants from the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders visited the University of Georgia School of Law for a roundtable discussion as part of their 6-week program at the university. The Fellows met with Christine M. Scartz, Clinical Associate Professor & Jane W. Wilson Family Justice Clinic Director; Joan Prittie (J.D. ’93), Executive Director of Project Safe; and two LL.M. alumnae, including Lydia Lartey (LL.M., ’24), a Court Appointed Special Advocate and former Mandela Fellow.

The 10 Fellows in attendance have work experience in anti-human trafficking, advocacy for women and girls, human rights, and refugee and victim assistance, among other topics. A total of 10 countries were represented in this group: The Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Mali, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Uganda, and the Ivory Coast.

Scartz, Prittie, and Lartey began the roundtable by discussing their respective backgrounds and work, and then answered the Fellows’ questions. This is the second year that the law school has hosted a group of Fellows.

The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders is the flagship program of the U.S. government’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) and sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. Since 2014, nearly 4,200 young leaders from every country in Sub-Saharan Africa have participated in the Fellowship. Mandela Washington Fellows, between the ages of 25 and 35, are accomplished innovators and leaders in their communities and countries. 

In 2019, UGA became a Fellowship Institute Partner and hosted its first cohort of Fellows on the UGA campus. The Mandela Washington Fellowship is delivered through a collaborative effort between the Office of Global Engagement, the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development, and the African Studies Institute at Franklin College.