Juvenile Justice Advocate Graduates with Lifelong Connections
When Loyola’s commencement announcer called Krithika Santhanam ’17 to receive her JD recently, a swell of applause rose from the audience. The broad reaction is no surprise given the wide range of projects in which Santhanam immersed herself during law school.
As a member of the Juvenile Justice Clinic of the Center for Juvenile Law & Policy, Santhanam represented youth clients in court as attorney-on-record. The experience gave her the chance to work one-on-one with clients under the supervision of JJC Director Samantha Buckingham, while also giving her the opportunity to collaborate with her peers.
“I've made lifelong connections with fellow students and professors at Loyola,” she says. “Loyola has undoubtedly shaped my vision for my legal career; my experiences at this school have helped me discover the areas of legal advocacy that I'm truly passionate about and the type of advocate I'd like to be.”
During her time at Loyola, Santhanam was a summer law clerk at the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Central District of Los Angeles, a Jails Project Intern at the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, and a judicial extern to the Hon. Consuelo B. Marshall, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
Most recently, Santhanam was a summer associate at Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, where she will now begin a career as a first-year associate after taking the California Bar Exam this summer. From her perspective, Loyola is the foundation on which she will continue to build.
“My educational experience at Loyola has been phenomenal,” she says. “I love that our courses are intellectually rigorous and geared toward practice-oriented learning. To me, this represents the best of both worlds: The professors here are always accessible and are willing to devote the extra time to help you understand the material.”
Learn how you can make a difference: Learn more or apply to Loyola’s Evening Division program.