CHILD AND FAMILY LAW CLINIC
John Kelly
My name is John Kelly, and I am so grateful to be the David A. Paige Fellowship recipient for the 2022-2023 academic year. I followed in my sister’s footsteps to go to law school, and I could not be happier. I have found some of the greatest friends I could ask for and areas of law like family law and trademark law that interest me.
The Child & Family Law Clinic has given me the opportunity to grow personally and professionally over the past year. I have had the pleasure of working with clients, attorneys, and other state officials to represent the interests of children in child custody proceedings. The clinic has been one of the most rewarding experiences I have had in law school, and I cannot describe how great it feels to see the children happy with the outcome in the end.
Professor Bennett approached me with a gap in the system that the Florence Immigration and Refugee Right’s Project had notified him about. Children in Arizona’s foster care system may qualify for special immigrant status when they are older, but unfortunately, they and their attorneys are not aware of this. With the help of the David A. Paige Fellowship, I hope to correct this gap and begin helping children across Arizona access these resources if they would like to. Additionally, the education of attorneys across the state will be imperative in ensuring that this issue will be addressed much earlier than it is now.
It is an honor to be recognized by the David A. Paige Foundation for my hard work and dedication to law school. With their generosity, I am excited to be able to focus on this project and create a lasting impact across Arizona. Being an attorney means being in a profession of life-long learning and I am looking forward to expanding my own knowledge and helping my peers learn as well.