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Alumni Spotlight: 1992 PILI Intern, Siobhan Albiol

Without her PILI Internship, Sioban Albiol wonders whether she would have pursued a career in public interest law. But thanks to that experience, Albiol has worked in public interest since she was sworn in as an attorney. “I feel extremely lucky to have had that opportunity, which I owe in part to my start as a PILI Intern,” she says. Since 2001, Albiol has been a Clinical Instructor and Coordinator of the Asylum and Immigration Law Clinic at DePaul College of Law (one of several law school clinics that hosts PILI Fellows).   Reflecting on her PILI Internship experience, Albiol notes “I really benefited from being able to observe and learn from truly knowledgeable and dedicated advocates. I saw that being a good attorney meant more than doing a good job on the cases assigned, but also seeing how you could help your colleagues in the field, and what steps you could take to advocate at the local or national level for better laws and policies.”  Albiol was a PILI Intern for two years with the agency formerly known as Travelers and Immigrants Aid (now National Immigrant Justice Center, or NIJC). She presented her first asylum case in immigration court as an Intern, and remembers the support she had from her supervisor and co-workers who came to see the hearing. Following law school, Albiol worked as a staff attorney at Prairie State Legal Services before returning to Travelers and Immigrants Aid. Today, Albiol’s work is public interest focused and concentrated on serving the same population and communities as when she was doing large volume direct services work. “In the Clinic, we are committed to improving access to legal services to low-income immigrants and refugees and ensuring that they receive quality legal services,” Albiol explains. “In my current position I have the added benefit of seeing so many students who are committed to public interest work and to immigrant and refugee rights, and these future lawyers fill me with optimism about what impact they might have on the individuals and communities they serve.”

Alumni Spotlight: 2006 PILI Fellow, Patrick Spangler

Patrick Spangler’s experiences as a PILI Fellow at Chicago Volunteer Legal Services (CVLS) drove home the point that pro bono legal services can impact a person’s life in a way that goes beyond the simple result in a case or proceeding. Spangler explains, “Working at CVLS and with PILI helped me to understand the significant gap between the need for basic legal services and access. Through my experiences at PILI and CVLS, I have come to appreciate a commitment to the public interest as an obligation of every attorney and not just something we choose to do when we have time.”   As an attorney at Vedder Price P.C., Spangler practices in the labor/employment and benefits groups and continues to work with and support a number of pro bono and public service agencies, including CVLS. Spangler has a broad pro bono practice, ranging from immigration to child custody to school expulsion cases. He serves on the boards or junior boards of CVLS, Metropolitan Family Services, the PILI Alumni Circle and the Chicago-Kent Young Alumni Council. In addition, he and his wife co-chair a scholarship fund for their alma mater, Illinois Wesleyan University.  Spangler also looks forward each year to working at the annual Race Judicata event – a tradition that started during his summer as a Fellow, working alongside the other CVLS Interns and Fellows. While a Fellow at CVLS, Spangler primarily handled divorce, custody and adoption cases, including taking several cases from intake to conclusion. Spangler believes one of the unique benefits of his Fellowship was the opportunity to work inside a public interest law agency – one that most attorneys pursuing a career in private practice will never have again. “Just being inside the walls of CVLS was a worthwhile experience for me because I now better understand the issues involved with running a non-profit – fundraising, resource limitations and the incredible people who sacrifice financial success for helping people,” says Spangler.

Past Alumni Spotlights