Research Assistants

2019-2020 Research Assistants

AMBER POON

Amber Poon is a second-year J.D. student at Loyola Law School. Before attending law school, she received her B.A. in Politics at New York University and served as a JusticeCorp Fellow at the Pasadena Resource Center, Los Angeles County Superior Court. As a fellow, Amber assisted pro se litigants seeking recourse through family and housing law actions and collaborated with local organizations to meet the legal needs of our diverse community. This past summer, she served as a judicial extern to the Honorable R. Gary Klausner at the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

DIANA P. HERNANDEZ

Diana Hernandez is a second-year J.D. student at Loyola Law School. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Sociology and Latin American and Iberian Studies from UC Santa Barbara, Diana worked as an Undergraduate Advisor. While in her advisor role, Diana became interested in disability rights and educational law. This summer, she served as a judicial extern at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. As a 2L Diana will be working as a Certified Law Student at Loyola's Juvenile Innocence and Fair Sentencing Clinic. She also currently volunteers for a non-profit legal organization in their Los Angeles educational law division. 

VEJAS VASILIAUSKAS 

Vejas Vasiliauskas has just started his senior year as an English major at Loyola Marymount University. He has been blind since birth, but has never let this stop him from achieving what he wants in life. He began interning at the Coelho Center starting last summer and was able to take an  active role in the creation of the Center's first law fellowship program. He has a passion for both creative and informational writing, and has found these skills very useful throughout his time at the Coelho Center. His interest in law began when he nearly became an alternate juror for a criminal case. He is considering a law career, but is also thinking about becoming a vocational rehabilitation counselor for the blind. 

2018-2019 Research Assistants

YASMIN GOMES

Yasmin Gomes is a L.L.M. student at Loyola Law School, originally from Brazil. After graduating from the Federal University of Amazonas, she became a licensed attorney in Brazil in April of 2018. After that, she choose to pursue her legal studies in the United States with the L.L.M. Program. Her background includes International Human Rights and Criminal Justice and she volunteers her time to the Loyola Law School's Project for the Innocent. Back in Brazil, she participated in some Human Rights competitions and also at the 20th Inter-American Human Rights Moot Court Competition of American University in Washington, D.C. She will sit for the California Bar Exam in Spring 2019. Also, she aspires to work with human right causes. 

KATHERINE ULLRICH

Katherine Ullrich is a second-year J.D. student at Loyola Law School. After graduating in 2014 with a Bachelor’s in Anthropology from Wheaton College (Norton, MA), Katherine began working at an autism therapy provider. In her three-year role as a Medicaid insurance contractor, Katherine developed an interest in policy pertaining to disability rights and healthcare. She is currently working as a Student Advocate at the Lanterman Regional Center Law Clinic where she advocates on behalf of students who are legally entitled to special education services. Katherine is interested in bridging her interest in disability law and her passion for healthcare.