Ana Torres, a May 2019 graduate of The John Marshall Law School, has been selected as a recipient of the 2019 Equal Justice Works Fellowship. The fellowship is one of the most prestigious and competitive post-graduate legal fellowships in the country.
Each year, Equal Justice Works selects a class of passionate public service leaders who have designed two-year projects in partnership with legal services organizations that help build sustainable solutions in the communities where they serve. The projects are funded with support from law firms, corporations, foundations and individuals. Torres was one of the individuals selected from the 450 applications Equal Justice Works received this year.
For her fellowship, Torres has partnered with the American Civil Liberties Union to advocate for people of color undergoing a cycle of poverty and debt due to government policies such as Chicago’s punitive vehicle impoundment practices, which impose excessive financial penalties and other barriers to success. This project with the ACLU will provide direct client services and use impact litigation to alleviate the system’s burdens on low-income people of color. Her fellowship is being sponsored by Lisa Foster and Alan Bersin.
Torres was born in the U.S. but raised in Monterrey, Nuevo León, México. She received her bachelor’s degree from the Universidad de Monterrey and worked for a small immigration law firm for four years before starting law school.
“My experiences as a first-generation immigrant and working with Chicago’s immigrant population inspired me to go to law school and become a lawyer,” Torres said. “Throughout the years working with immigrants, I strengthened my commitment to advocating for those who do not have a voice in this country and to challenge the systems that unjustly oppress the most vulnerable. There is a vast need for passionate attorneys in Chicago’s public interest sector, and my education places me in a position of privilege. My goal is to use that privilege toward serving the communities that need it the most.”
While a student at John Marshall, Torres served as Chief Justice of The John Marshall Law School Moot Court Honors Program, Lead Articles Editor of The John Marshall Law School Law Review, a research assistant for Professor Marc D. Ginsberg and a teaching assistant for multiple legal writing courses. She also recently competed in the Hispanic National Bar Association’s Uvaldo Herrera Moot Court Competition, where her team brought home three awards.
