Marlena McMurchie '14 works with Public Counsel assisting homeless population
Story and photo by Meghan Heneghan
Done with the classrooms and entry-level courses that defined her first year of law school study, Marlena McMurchie’s work with Public Counsel’s Homelessness Prevention Law Project has “helped to remind me why I went to law school in the first place,” she says. “I’m enjoying the client interaction and helping people so much.”
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| Marlena McMurchie '14 |
Her attitude embodies the ideal of the Equal Justice Works (EJW) Summer Corps, a prominent organization supporting law students who dedicate their summer to legal projects at nonprofit public interest organizations. The Corps, according to its website, “exemplifies the mission of EJW—to create a just society by mobilizing the next generation of lawyers committed to equal justice.”
McMurchie is one of USC Law’s three students selected to be members of the Corps.
Hailing from UCLA, where she completed her undergraduate studies, McMurchie ’14 says she was drawn to USC Law for a number of reasons. Besides a fresh experience and strong alumni ties, USC offers what McMurchie describes as “a small, tighter-knit community” of students.
McMurchie is one of 30 USC Law students to receive a Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF) Summer Grant—awarded to select students who have completed at least 25 hours of pro bono work. McMurchie qualified for the grant after dedicating time throughout the school year to help victims of domestic violence file temporary restraining orders against their abusers.
“It was heartbreaking but fulfilling,” she says of her experience with the Domestic Violence Project.
McMurchie’s commitment to public service drew her to pursue summer work with Public Counsel’s Homelessness Prevention Law Project. The project, one of Public Counsel’s nine, encompasses more than homelessness prevention: McMurchie works with the CARES (Connecting Angelenos to Resources and Essential Services) team, advocating for poor and homeless clients who are being denied or having trouble receiving their benefits.
“It allows me to work directly with the homeless, something in which I was very interested,” McMurchie explains. “Beyond providing legal services, arguably the most important part of what we do is in being able to listen to these peoples’ stories, look them in the eye and tell them that they’re not alone. It’s amazing going into the office and asking, ‘What can I help you with?’ and the way people open up to that.”
Law firms in the Los Angeles Area partner with Public Counsel by sending summer associates and law clerks to the CARES program, where McMurchie and colleagues train and supervise them in their advocacy at the Department of Public Social Services.
Nothing compares to the difference McMurchie feels her presence makes in the lives of this population, she says.
“Surveys have found that homeless people believe loneliness, that social isolation, is the thing they hate the most about being homeless,” McMurchie says. “We provide, more than anything, the basic human interaction that they’re deprived of day to day. That’s the part that really draws me to this project.”
McMurchie’s work will extend beyond the length of her 1L summer. McMurchie is on PILF’s executive board for the 2012-13 year, through which she intends to continue her involvement in the CARES program.
“My colleagues at other law schools in the area and I can continue to work [on CARES] throughout the year, continue to supervise, and encourage our fellow students at Los Angeles law schools to become involved and active in the program,” she says.
“When you’re in law school and looking at the numbers on your loan certificate, it’s kind of scary to consider going into public interest work right at the start of your career,” she says. “But you have to balance that with what’s going to personally fulfill you. On that level, definitely public interest work is fulfilling and what I’d like to do long-term—whether through pro bono work at a private firm or as an actual career path.”
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