Our “Spotlight Series” will share with you who the people working behind the scenes to provide access to justice and more for our clients and their environments. This series will include interviews from both our all of our virtual offices to give you an idea of who are and what we do.
Emily is working from her home in Pittsburgh, PA (Yes that is a Jeff Goldblum pillow behind her…
What Virtual Office are you working form? Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Where are you actually working from? Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
What school are you attending, and year are you going into? University of Pittsburgh, School of Law. I will be going into my 2L year.
Why did you decided to go to law school? I wanted to solve problems involving real situations with real outcomes.
What do you like to do when you are not working? In my spare time I like to read (mostly fiction), play board games (my husband and I are really into “Dominion” right now), social dance (mostly salsa and swing), and practice violin.
What might someone be surprised to know about you? I have a 1st degree black belt in two styles of Tae Kwon Do.
What is your favorite skill that you have, unrelated to what you do at Fair Shake? I have a great skill of creating an amazing meal out of the random odd and ends from the back of my fridge when I haven’t gone grocery shopping in a few weeks.
What are you working on at Fair Shake? I am working on a few different projects. I am putting together a short guide to adverse possession in Pennsylvania, I am helping with an appeal to a non-coal surface mining permit, I am helping to draft a notice of intent for a case involving violations of the Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act through oil and gas waste making their way to surface water from a wastewater treatment facility, and I am going to help draft a notice of intent for the building of a pipeline with a potentially vacated permit.
What do you like most about working with Fair Shake? I like that I am working on cases helping real people.
What has surprised you about Fair Shake? I didn’t have any clear expectations coming into this internship, so I wasn’t exactly surprised by anything. I did recognize that everyone here seems very easy going and approachable, which was not surprising but certainly a pleasant observation.
What do you wish other people knew about our work? That it helps to create a balance by holding regulators and polluters accountable.
Do you think the work you are doing is important? Why? I think it’s important because Fair Shake provides an opportunity for people to seek remedies to environmental problems affecting them that they might not otherwise have the resources to obtain.
Tell me how you first heard about/ got involved with Fair Shake? I first heard about Fair Shake while researching environmental law firms before deciding to come to Pitt Law.
How has this time at Fair Shake inspired you? The people who work here are all very clearly passionate about what they do. That is a very powerful and inspirational environment to be around. I am also inspired by the work Fair Shake does. It’s a wonderful mix of helping to protect the environment and people.
