Summer Job Diaries: Clinic Experience Prepares Abby Martin '25 for Legal Clerkship Helping Human Trafficking Survivors
Rising 3L Abby Martin is applying her legal education and her experience working at Loyola's RISE clinic to her summer legal clerkship at the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST), a nonprofit that provides legal services to survivors of human trafficking.
How did you land your summer job?
This summer I have had the opportunity to work at the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST) as a summer legal clerk. CAST is an organization that I have admired for a long time so getting to spend my summer here is a dream come true. I came to law school with the intention of working in public interest law, specifically in anti-human trafficking and have focused my studies while at Loyola on that. During my 2L year I participated in the Rights in Systems Enforced (RISE) Clinic where I worked under Professor Stephanie Richard. Professor Richard prior to her time here at Loyola had worked at CAST for 15 years as a senior attorney and shared her knowledge of working with trafficking survivors with us. While at RISE I was able to work on cases of four different trafficking survivors and learned a lot more about the field and how to provide trauma informed lawyering to clients who have had such an incredibly difficult path to where they are today. I truly enjoyed my time working with the RISE clinic and Professor Richard connected me to CAST to continue pursuing work in the field of anti-human trafficking. I was lucky enough to land an interview and get the position.
What is the most interesting part of your job?
I think the most interesting part of the job is that every day looks a little different, you are never quite sure what you might be working on. The legal team at CAST screens every potential client to determine if they are a victim of human trafficking and to connect them to whatever services they might need. On any given day you could be helping a client with all kinds of different problems they might face like immigration support, housing, civil needs or criminal vacature. I really enjoy getting to touch all different parts of the law in the work I am doing.
What has been your most challenging assignment thus far?
There isn’t one specific assignment that feels more challenging than the rest but I think the most challenging aspect of the job in general is holding clients' stories well. They are telling me incredibly hard things about the worst moments of their lives and it is not always natural to respond professionally. You want to do whatever you can for your clients to be made whole again but it is not good for me or them if I make false promises. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to just be transparent about the broken criminal and immigration systems we have here in the US and give them an honest picture of what may be years of waiting to navigate through them to get the relief they are seeking. I want to be their hero that can just grant whatever they need right then but that’s just not possible. Clients who have already been through so much and are used to being lied to want honesty and to simply know that you will be there with them through the whole process no matter how long it ends up being.
What new legal skill have you acquired during your summer job?
As I previously mentioned, the legal team at CAST screens every potential new client that calls the hotline to determine if they are a victim of human trafficking and qualify for CAST’s services. I have never previously been part of a screening like this and it has been really informative and interesting to learn what specific questions to ask to get enough of the client's story that you can make your legal determination while also doing our very best to not retraumatize the client. CAST does an excellent job at this and it has been incredible to get to shadow the attorneys in their work. Additionally, just because someone calls and the team determines that they are not a HT victim that does not mean that they are not the victim of some other crime. If a potential client does not qualify for CAST services because they are not a HT victim the legal team does their best to determine if they might be the victim of another crime like domestic violence or sexual assault and provides a warm referral to another organization that can provide them with services. Thus, the attorneys at CAST are screening for all kinds of legal issues to help a client.
What bit of legal knowledge have you been able to display?
My time at the RISE clinic was critical in preparing me for my position at CAST. Professor Richard spent significant time with us teaching us how best to work with survivors of violent crimes and the importance of victim advocacy. Furthermore, I learned how to complete practical legal tasks like a criminal vacature and Adjustment of Status. My first assigned case at CAST was an Adjustment of Status for a T-Visa, something I had been able to complete during my time at RISE. It felt so good to know what I was doing and stretch myself now by completing it on my own instead of with a student partner. It feels really good to already have the legal knowledge and understanding of how to help a client.
How has Loyola helped you map your career path?
Loyola has been instrumental in mapping my career path. While I came into law school with the desire to do public interest law I did not know where to get started. Your 1L classes are all chosen for you and it feels like most of the people around you are pursuing positions in traditional BigLaw settings so it was all very overwhelming. I joined the Public Interest Law Foundation during my first semester and was assigned an amazing mentor who was also pursuing public interest law in the human rights field. I learned so much from her and she really helped me find the resources I needed. I also attended all the events put on by Loyola related to working in public interest law and they were so informative and helped me plan out my law school career. The Career Development office has also been invaluable to me as they have reviewed all my resumes, done mock interviews with me, and have always been available to me for whatever questions I might have as I navigated landing jobs for the summers. I am so grateful for all the amazing resources LLS has readily available!