preLaw - Back To School 2008 - (Page 34) specialties CAREER PROFILE Challenging laws to change lives obody forgets their first trial and first win. Working as a public defender in Florida right after law school, Steckley Lee knew what she was getting into. She weathered enough disturbing cases during her internship. Her first client, charged with battery, refused plea deal after plea deal. But he was very adamant that he was going to fight the charge, she said. Preparing witnesses and diagrams, going to the scene of the crime and discrediting prosecution witnesses were all part of her role as public defender. In the end, a not guilty verdict and her first win. Lee, a University of Florida Recent University of Florida law grad makes waves in criminal defense, advocacy BY URSULA FURI-PERRY, ESQ. N Levin College of Law graduate, said the ability to help her clients through difficult situations is the most rewarding part of working in criminal law. “I’ve had a lot of clients say to me, ‘I can’t believe how nice you are,’” she said. “I feel like I am making that person feel better about the situation.” After working a year as a public defender, Lee was selected for the prestigious Equal Justice Works Fellowship, which places law graduates in funded public interest positions in which they work to serve the public in various legal areas. Lee currently works with sex offenders as an Equal Justice Works Fellow at Florida Institutional Legal Services, a nonprofit law office that provides free legal assistance to indigent people incarcerated in Florida. “We’re trying to challenge the residency restrictions of where people can live,” she said. “I’m outreaching to people who are in custody, who are eligible for release but can’t be released because they don’t have a place to live.” As a student, Lee intend- “ 34 preLaw I am able to see what happens to people after they're incarcerated. That keeps me excited to keep doing this work. —Steckley Lee ”
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