Gillis Long Social Justice Fellowship Program
The Gillis Long Poverty Law Center and Southeast Louisiana Legal Services partner to offer the Gillis Long Social Justice Fellowship to recent Loyola College of Law graduates who work for one year in one of SLLS' six offices, serving the unmet legal needs of the community.
- 2016-2017 Fellow: Scott Ledbetter
- 2017-2018 Fellow: Rachel Campbell
- 2018-2019 Fellow: Kristina Bison
- 2019-2020 Fellow: Andrew Maberry
- 2020-2021 Fellows: Constance Tullier and Christopher Kerrigan
- 2021-2022 Fellow: Chloe Rippel
- 2022-2023 Fellow: Chanelle Johnson
- 2023-2024 Fellow: Reed Boulter
- 2024-2025 Fellow: Hannah Gauthreaux
Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS) is the largest non-profit law firm in Louisiana, serving twenty-two parishes east of the Atchafalaya basin. SLLS has offices in Baton Rouge, Covington, Hammond, Harvey, Houma and New Orleans. The organization provides free civil legal aid to low-income households and other vulnerable people.
2025-2026 Gillis Long Social Justice Fellowship Program
The Gillis Long Poverty Law Center and Southeast Louisiana Legal Services jointly offer the Gillis Long Social Justice Fellowship Program to recent Loyola New Orleans College of Law graduates.
1. COVINGTON FAMILY LAW & DOMESTIC VIOLENCE FELLOW
SLLS will host a Gillis Long Fellow in their Covington office which serves vulnerable clients living in St. Tammany and Washington parishes. The Fellow will assist our team with a range of activities including community outreach, legal representation in family law and/or domestic violence cases, and assistance with intake. The Fellow will be supervised by Managing Attorney Paula Charles who has over 20 years of experience in public interest work and is a respected legal advocate in the Northshore area. The Covington office primarily handles family law, domestic violence, consumer debt, wills, and succession work for low-income people living in the two parishes served by the office. The Covington team is composed of three support staff, one lead Attorney, one Staff Attorney, and our Managing Attorney. Law Clerks are typically available in the summer. Some cases are referred to pro bono attorneys. The Fellow will work closely with the Managing Attorney and the full team in completing tasks and supporting each other and our clients. The starting salary for the position is $60,000. Spanish-English bilingualism and/or Vietnamese bilingualism is a plus that receives an extra compensation of $1,800.
2. TENANT RIGHTS EVICTION FELLOW
The Fellow will be located at SLLS' downtown New Orleans office as part of our robust 20 plus member team engaged in eviction defense and tenant stabilization work for low-income tenants facing eviction in the Greater New Orleans area. The Fellow will provide legal representation for vulnerable tenants facing eviction, landlord-tenant disputes, and housing subsidy termination cases. This includes staffing shifts on a rotating schedule for our First and Second City Court Eviction Desks which provides on-demand legal assistance at Court every day that evictions are held under a collaborative model. Our project was awarded the 2022 Louisiana State Bar Association's Innovation in Legal Services Delivery Award and has been highlighted nationally including being featured in this City Health Video. The Fellow will be supervised by Elizabeth Harvey who has over 5 years' of housing justice experience with SLLS and is a recognized leader in the housing justice community. The starting salary for the position is $60,000. Spanish-English bilingualism and/or Vietnamese bilingualism is a plus that receives an extra compensation of $1,800.
Ideal fellowship candidates will demonstrate:
- Proficiency in written and oral communication, client counseling, advocacy, and social service referrals.
- Dependability, ability to respond to emergencies, good work habits, self-motivation, capacity to work well with others.
- Commitment to working with underserved legal communities as part of a dynamic team.
Full-time staff attorney positions, including Fellowships, require admission to practice law in Louisiana. SLLS does not permit the outside practice of law. The Fellow may qualify for loan forgiveness programs offered by the Louisiana Bar Foundation, the Legal Services Corporation, or their law school if employed for a full year with SLLS. It is incumbent upon the selected candidate to make those applications for loan forgiveness.
SLLS is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, or veteran status.
The Monica and Mark Surprenant Graduate Award
The Gillis Long Poverty Law Center and Southeast Louisiana Legal Services are delighted to partner with Monica and Mark Surprenant to offer the Monica and Mark Surprenant Graduate Award. This award will increase the salary of one fellow who continues working for Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS).