Kristin D’Souza, ’18
Contra Costa County Public Defender’s Office, Martinez, California
Kristin came to Michigan Law ready to feel lost, but instead found her passion. The classes she took—particularly those with her mentor, Professor Eve Primus, ’01—shaped the way Kristin thinks critically about the law and its ability to protect the vulnerable.
Through her work as a student-attorney with the Pediatric Advocacy Clinic, Michigan Unemployment Clinic, and Criminal Appellate Practice Clinic, Kristin gained firsthand experience in poverty law, an area that excited her most because of its potential for great impact.
She continued pursuing these interests by joining the Project Access pro bono initiative and interning with her future employer.
Through her work as a student-attorney with the Pediatric Advocacy Clinic, Michigan Unemployment Clinic, and Criminal Appellate Practice Clinic, Kristin gained firsthand experience in poverty law, an area that excited her most because of its potential for great impact.
Kristin also was a research assistant for Professor Amanda Alexander, founder of the Detroit Justice Center, doing important research on economic inequality and community lawyering, themes she will confront and continue to address as a public defender.
“Every person here, especially those I befriended while leading the Michigan Immigration and Labor Law Association and Reproductive Rights and Justice at Michigan Law, has given me support in ways that I never knew I needed,” says Kristin. “No one has had an experience like I have, and it’s all because my scholarship made it possible to come here—a place that offered me more than I thought any law school could.”