We honored eight students this spring for their outstanding contributions in and out of the classroom.
From enduring homelessness to advocating for youth, wellness and mentorship, this year’s Law Students of the Year know firsthand that commitment to a cause can break down barriers and shed light on labels such as “first-generation,” “disabled” and “refugee.”
With compassion for community, this year’s honorees created associations and foundations, reached out to write for and speak with national media outlets, organized events for mentorship development and human trafficking awareness, and spearheaded wellness initiatives.
Grounded in perseverance, each of them has risen above their own boundaries to help others, working to lessen the plight of injustice and give hope to those in the legal system. Their backgrounds are varied and so are their intentions after law school.
To determine the Law Students of the Year, we asked each law school to nominate one student. The nominees were diverse and all deserving of recognition. After careful deliberation, the list was narrowed to eight by the editors of The National Jurist. Congratulations to this year’s Law Students of the Year.
Timothy Scalona: 3L, Suffolk University Law School
Scalona acts as a voice for housing and homelessness law reform, writing op-eds for The Boston Globe and The Washington Post. He experienced homelessness as a child.
While some might avoid talking about their experiences with homelessness, Scalona has spoken on National Public Radio and the BBC World Service about the precarious position of housing- and food-insecure college students during college holiday breaks.
After graduation, he hopes to work with people experiencing eviction and housing insecurity and, eventually, run for public office. He defines his primary goal as “doing something about the systems in place that make homelessness seem inevitable, when it’s not.”
Haley Miller: 3L, Seattle University School of Law
Haley Miller has used her time at Seattle University School of Law to act as a champion for people with disabilities. With a classmate, she co-founded the Disability Justice Collective, the law school’s first disability-focused student organization, and she has served as the group’s president since its inception.
Miller’s passion for disability rights grew out of her own experience. As a person with multiple nonvisible disabilities, she suffered discrimination while working in the tech sector. This inspired her to go to law school and work toward a career in civil rights litigation, representing people with disabilities in employment, education and housing discrimination cases.
Tatyana Norman-Webler: 2L, The University of Akron School of Law
Tatyana Norman-Webler is a former registered nurse and president of the Health Law Society and assistant editor of the Akron Law Review. She spearheads student wellness initiatives, including bringing in therapy dogs and healthy treats during exams.
Miller’s professionalism and willingness to educate and focus on collaborating have been instrumental to helping make Seattle U Law’s environment better for people with disabilities.
Ashley Kim: 3L, Southwestern Law School
Ashley Kim is a first-generation Korean and Mexican American law student and co-founder of the First-Generation Law Student Association at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles. The association helps encourage and support first-generation law students by addressing their specific challenges during law school.
At the time of this published article, Kim was an extern at Tubi, a free television and movie streaming service, where she was developing guides for marketing and creative teams that explain Federal Trade Commission guidelines regarding advertising and influencers.
Emily Worline: 3L, Case Western Reserve University School of Law
Emily Worline was working in refugee camps in Greece in 2016 when her perspective on immigration was upended. She saw people from Middle Eastern countries — many of whom had fled their homes to escape war and instability — sleeping along freeways and crowded into makeshift tents.
Driven by this experience, Worline sought to make changes at home.
As an undergraduate student, she reached out to a resettlement agency in Michigan to see how she could help. There, she helped create the Refugee Outreach Collective, a volunteer-run nonprofit that leverages university resources and networks to expand access to educational opportunities for those who have experienced forced displacement. A few years later, she went to Case Western as a law student and brought her organization with her.
After graduation, Worline plans to continue to lead the Refugee Outreach Collective while pursuing a career as an immigration attorney in Michigan.
Madison Scarfaro: 3L, Touro University Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center
Madison Scarfaro has dedicated much of her time to helping others, including advancing women’s rights while establishing herself as a leader on campus.
A founding member of Lehigh Valley Anti-Trafficking Awareness Week in her home state of Pennsylvania, she brought similar awareness to the community near her New York law school.
She is currently planning the first Long Island Human Trafficking Awareness Week, slated for next fall. To bring about this week of events, she has been working with court agencies, nonprofit organizations and with individuals who have experienced labor and sex trafficking.
Stephanie Wise: 3L, University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Stephanie Wise leads her own know-your-rights presentations and has led multiple discussion panels as an officer with the Children’s Legal Advocacy Group.
During her first year of law school, Wise served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for children. In her second and third years, she provided childcare for support groups of parents in recovery from substance use disorder. Wise has also mentored numerous law students.
She externed with Chief Justice Brian D. Boatright of the Colorado Supreme Court, as well as at the Denver Juvenile Court and the civil rights law firm of Rathod Mohamedbhai, where she is set to begin work as an associate following her graduation in May.
Heather Fithian Romansky: 3L, Widener University Delaware Law School
Before heading to law school, Heather Fithian Romansky traversed the professional world for seven years, working in accounting and as a personal injury paralegal in Philadelphia. It was here that she honed her skills, cultivated her passion for justice and laid the groundwork for her future.
Inspired by her own journey and the support of a first-generation law student mentor, Fithian Romansky — herself a first-generation student — is spearheading an effort to create a first-generation law student mentorship network. She collaborates with key stakeholders to ensure inclusivity and support for aspiring legal minds.
After graduation, she expects to begin her career as a law clerk for The Honorable Bonnie W. David of the Delaware Court of Chancery.
Check out the full article in the Spring 2024 issue of The National Jurist.
