Chicago-Kent grad Militza Pagán awarded 2017 Skadden Fellowship

Chicago-Kent alumna Militza Pagán is the recipient of a 2017 Skadden Fellowship. Established in 1988 by the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, the prestigious two-year fellowship supports graduating law students and judicial clerks who are pursuing careers in public interest law.

Pagán, who graduated from Chicago-Kent in December 2016, is one of only 30 individuals selected nationwide as a 2017 fellow.

During her fellowship period, Pagán will work at the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, a Chicago-based nonprofit organization that advocates for laws and policies that improve the lives and opportunities of people living in poverty. Pagán's work will focus on enforcing new legal rights for domestic workers under the Illinois Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights.

Pagán earned her bachelor's degree in history from Yale University in 2010. At Chicago-Kent, she earned a certificate in public interest law in addition to her J.D. degree. During law school she worked for the Disability Rights Bureau of the Illinois Attorney General's Office, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Business and Professional People for the Public Interest, and the Puerto Rican Cultural Center. Through Chicago-Kent's Judicial Externship Program, she also worked for Chief Judge Rubén Castillo of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

The Skadden Fellowship Program provides funding for graduating law students who wish to devote their professional lives to providing legal services to the poor, the elderly, the homeless and the disabled, as well as those deprived of their civil or human rights.

Founded in 1888, Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school of Illinois Institute of Technology, also known as Illinois Tech, a private, technology-focused, research university offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, science, architecture, business, design, human sciences, applied technology, and law.

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