Third-year Emily Kaas has a very long resume — too long to list here. Beyond her achievements as the Note Editor of the Quinnipiac Law Review, and the President of the Society for Dispute Resolution, she has the law school dean’s personal recommendation.
“Emily is an extraordinary leader, passionate advocate for the underserved, and dedicated mentor to fellow students,” Dean Jennifer Brown said. “Impressive as these accomplishments are, it is her character and her spirit that set her apart. She has taken her considerable talents and, through determination and a vision of a world made better by clear-eyed action, deployed those talents in ways that have made a difference to many.”
She has honed mediation and client counseling skills as a legal intern focusing on housing issues with Legal Aid; as a housing mediation extern with the Connecticut Judicial Branch/Dispute Resolution Program; and as a legal extern with the Connecticut Judicial Branch, Public Defender’s Office, where she met with clients held in lock-up, crafted bond arguments, and argued arraignments in court. For three semesters she worked in Quinnipiac Law’s Civil Justice Clinic, where she lent her talents on numerous cases and projects and stepped up to mentor newer students.
In her first year at Quinnipiac Law, as a member of the law school’s Public Interest Law Project, she brought representatives from Hands On Hartford’s “Faces of Homelessness” to address her classmates, providing crucial perspective for her law school colleagues and a valuable platform for the speakers. As president of the Public Interest Law Project, she has been instrumental in spearheading a Public Interest Career Fair, doubling it in size its second year, bringing in 25 different organizations and institutions.
Each year Quinnipiac’s International Human Rights Law Society travels to Nicaragua where students host an interdisciplinary legal conference at a Nicaraguan law school. The members attending the trip perform service work and learn about Nicaraguan culture. During her 2L year, Kaas took on the role of managing the service project for International Human Rights Law Society’s trip to Nicaragua. Under her leadership, they painted a village school.
Her top priority is achieving her goal of becoming a Public Defender. In December 2015, she completed her externship with the Connecticut Judicial Branch, Public Defender’s Office. And although she will move on this spring to another externship experience as a clerk in the appellate court, she is continuing with the Public Defender’s Office on a volunteer basis.
Kaas is one of 25 future lawyers honored in the National Jurist’s inaugural “Law Student of the Year” feature.
