Carl L. McConnell Fellowship

Promoting Integrity, Social Justice, and Fairness

Carl L McConnell had a special connection throughout his career with legal services for our low-income neighbors. After graduating from Yale Law School 1968, he held a Reginald Heber Smith Community Law Fellowship at Legal Aid SMC for three years. He directed the Health Law Clinic at the University of Pennsylvania for two years before returning to Legal Aid SMC, serving as a Managing Attorney for seven years.

In 1980, Carl, with fellow former Legal Aid attorneys, Byron Mellberg and David Packard. formed a law partnership in Palo Alto for sixteen years. From 1996 until his retirement in 2010, Carl was of counsel at Hoge, Fenton, Jones and Appel, in San Jose. During his years in private practice, he maintained close ties to Legal Aid, providing advice on complex matters of litigation, and he received the Legal Aid Guardian of Justice Award in 2002.

The Carl L. McConnell Fellowship is an incredible opportunity which reflects Carl’s fundamental principles as an attorney— integrity, social justice, and fairness— and his dedication to mentoring. Each summer, law students pursuing a future in public interest law work directly with attorneys who are experts in their field to build their legal knowledge and help our low-income community. For many, the opportunity to learn more about how attorneys shape local policy and create lasting change in our clients’ lives fuels their passion for helping the underserved. We recognize that similar opportunities may not offer compensation for a law student’s efforts, creating an economic barrier for many. We’re proud to offer a paid fellowship to be part of creating a more diverse legal services community.

The first Carl L. McConnell Fellow, Wenfei Cai, worked with Legal Aid SMC’s Family Advocacy Program in summer 2017 after her first year at Santa Clara University School of Law. She was a critical part of the team, advocating for students with disabilities. She also helped low-income families get healthcare through Medi-Cal. Wenfei was glad to translate for Chinese clients, which helped build their trust in Legal Aid. “Looking back at the experience I had this summer, I feel extremely proud to be a part of Legal Aid and to have contributed to the community in the best way I could.”

Katie Rabago, also a Santa Clara Law student, worked with our housing and immigration teams in summer 2018. By the end of her first week, she was at our weekly housing clinic helping tenants stay in their homes. Soon after, Katie joined attorneys in court at a guardianship hearing to help a young boy stabilize his life and immigration status. She was passionate about helping the immigrant community and called the work exciting and motivational. Katie said her time as a McConnell Fellow was invaluable and helped shape her as a future lawyer.

Alex Favela joined Legal Aid SMC’s housing team in the summer of 2019, while studying at Stanford Law School. He appreciated the firsthand experience helping tenants navigate the complexities of housing law. He was an advocate for families impacted by extreme wealth disparity and found his McConnell Fellowship impactful and rewarding.

When the COVID pandemic hit in 2020, our transition to remote work coincided with increased demand for the housing team’s services. We were grateful to have McConnell Fellow Leah Kennedy, who played an important role in our ability to continue serving clients when we were no longer able to see them in person. She helped tenants understand their rights under the statewide eviction moratorium and her policy work is shaping our advocacy for protections once the moratorium is lifted. After her fellowship concluded and she returned to Stanford Law, Leah continued to work with Legal Aid SMC part-time to continue building her skills.

In 2021, Cinthia Padilla Martin joined Legal Aid SMC’s LIBRE Program for the summer, where she supported immigrant clients working through application processes for DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), Special Juvenile Immigrant Status visa classification, and more. Cinthia was grateful for the opportunity to work with the immigration team and be a part of the Legal Aid SMC family in the summer of 2021.

Arden Lee served as the McConnell Fellow after her second year of law school at Santa Clara University in 2022. As a member of the Health Consumer Center she focused on financial assistance programs in local hospitals, where she uncovered a pattern of improper charity care denials for low-income clients.

In 2023, we were excited to welcome back Melina Torres as our McConnell Fellow! Melina initially worked as a Project Coordinator on the LIBRE team before beginning her studies at Santa Clara Law and continued her work on a variety of immigration cases. Born and raised in San Jose, she plans to practice public interest law in the Bay Area after graduating.

Tracy Vu spent her summer in 2024 as the McConnell Fellow after finishing her first year of law school at the University of San Francisco. On our housing team, Tracy worked hands-on with clients facing housing security and eviction. She also joined our weekly clinics in the community to help families understand their housing rights.