2024 PILP Auction Raises $60,230 and Funds Nine Summer Award Applicants
The Public Interest Law Project held a successful auction this year, funding nine students with summer stipends to work for a public interest entity. The auction also provided each student with an additional $800 of support. Kenneth Kreuscher was announced as the 2024 Amburgey Award Winner.
Open gallery
Every year, the Public Interest Law Project (PILP) hosts an auction to raise funds to finance unpaid internships of student applicants. This year, the auction raised over $60,000 and funded nine summer internships.
PILP aims to help fill the justice gap by educating students about opportunities to practice public interest law while also financially supporting them in public interest positions. Students who have secured unpaid summer internships may apply for PILP Summer Awards, which provide them with a stipend of up to $3,250 for part-time work and up to $6,500 for full-time work to make their unpaid opportunity possible. This year, PILP provided each student with an additional $800 of support, thanks to auction funds.
The auction also announced its 2024 Amburgey Award Winner: Kenneth Kreuscher ’06 of the Oregon Innocence Project. Established in 2011, the Amburgey Award recognizes Lewis & Clark graduates who have demonstrated their passion and commitment to public interest work. When he was a law student, Kreuscher received a PILP Summer Award in 2005, financing his opportunity to work with the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York City. Today, Kreuscher embodies these public interest ideals in his life and career, seeking to use his skills to increase access to justice for criminal defendants and civil rights plaintiffs in state and federal courts.
2024 PILP Summer Award Winners:
Matthew Bratek (Metropolitan Public Defender)
Aidan Hall (Catholic Charities of Oregon - Immigration Legal Services)
Christian Larson (Metropolitan Public Defender)
Amanda Lee (Oregon Innocence Project)
Fernaz Mohamadi (Metropolitan Public Defender)
Isaiah Putnam (Deschutes Defenders)
Victoria Reiners (Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center)
Gabby Renae (Metropolitan Public Defender)
Claire Walters (SOAR Immigration Legal Services)
