New fellowships begin at the Reporters Committee

Five young lawyers have begun fellowships at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, where they will play an active role in the organization’s work on behalf of individual journalists’ rights and press freedom generally.

The fellows – whose responsibilities will include drafting amicus briefs and legal comments, answering queries from reporters, and developing media law news analysis and research reports – are:

Ethics & Excellence in Journalism Foundation Legal Fellow: Kimberly Chow will spend this one-year fellowship focusing on privacy, libel, confidentiality, and newsgathering. A May graduate of New York University School of Law, Chow was an editor for the Journal of Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law and published a note on journalists' use of Internet sources. She received her bachelor's degree in history from Yale University, where she worked as a reporter and news editor for the Yale Daily News, as well as editor in chief of The Insider's Guide to the Colleges. Before law school, Chow founded the college counseling office of a private international school in Shanghai and worked in communications and development for a legal education and college prep nonprofit in Queens, New York. She has interned at The Associated Press in Brussels, in the legal department of the New Yorker, for the U.S. Department of Commerce, and at the New York office of Reed Smith LLP. This fellowship is sponsored by a grant from the Ethics & Excellence in Journalism Foundation.

McCormick Foundation Legal Fellow: During this one-year fellowship, Tom Isler will be involved primarily in access to courts and prior restraint cases. Isler is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he was a senior editor of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and spent two years as a law clerk to Chief Judge Jerome B. Simandle of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. During law school, Isler interned for the Hon. Kermit Lipez of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Isler also worked as a journalist for a number of newspapers and magazines, including the Portland (Maine) Press Herald, the Boston Phoenix, and the Southampton (N.Y.) Press. He holds a bachelor's degree in American Studies from Yale University, where he wrote for the Yale Daily News, among other publications, and earned the George A. Schrader, Jr. Prize for his work in journalism and documentary filmmaking. This fellowship is sponsored by a grant from the McCormick Foundation.

Jack Nelson Freedom of Information Legal Fellow: Adam Marshall will spend his fellowship year working on freedom of information and access issues and on tutorials for the Reporters Committee’s “iFOIA” system for sending and tracking FOIA requests. Marshall graduated from The George Washington University Law School in May. During law school, he volunteered for the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, worked as a research assistant, and served as the president of the GW ACLU student group. Marshall also served as an associate for the George Washington International Law Review. Before joining the Reporters Committee, Adam interned at the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the National Whistleblowers Center. He has a bachelor's degree from Kalamazoo College where he graduated magna cum laude, and studied abroad at the London School of Economics. This fellowship is supported by an endowment by the late Jack Nelson of the Los Angeles Times, a Reporters Committee founder and longtime Steering Committee member.

Stanton Foundation Free Press/National Security Legal Fellow: Hannah Bloch-Wehba is the first Stanton Foundation Free Press/National Security Legal fellow at the Reporters Committee. She will spend the two-year fellowship working on issues related to national security, privacy, and free expression. Bloch-Wehba was previously a litigation associate at Baker Botts LLP in Houston. She earned her bachelor's degree in history from the University of Texas at Austin and her J.D. from New York University School of Law. While in law school, Bloch-Wehba held a number of research assistantships, including at the Brookings Institution and the Center on Law and Security, and was a member of the Privacy Research Group. During the summer of 2012 she was a legal intern with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. This fellowship is sponsored by a grant from the Stanton Foundation.

William & Mary Public Service Fellow: Kristin Bergman is a recent graduate of William & Mary Law School and comes to the Reporters Committee after two summers with the Berkman Center’s Digital Media Law Project. During law school, Bergman externed for Judge Theresa Chafin of the Court of Appeals of Virginia, and was a senior articles editor for the William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal. For two years, Bergman chaired the Institute of Bill of Rights Law: Student Division and worked as a teaching assistant in constitutional law. Bergman is a graduate of Brown University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in English and History and worked at a radio station. She recently published an article in the Richmond Journal of Law & Technology on the use of Google Glass recordings in litigation and has blogged for the Digital Media Law Project, IT-Lex, and the Constitutional Sources Project. This fellowship is sponsored by William & Mary Law School.

About the Reporters Committee

Founded in 1970, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press offers free legal support to thousands of working journalists and media lawyers each year. It is a leader in the fight against persistent efforts by government officials to impede the release of public information, whether by withholding documents or threatening reporters with jail. In addition to its 24/7 Legal Defense Hotline, the Reporters Committee conducts cutting-edge legal research, publishes handbooks and guides on media law issues, files frequent friend-of-the-court legal briefs and offers challenging fellowships and internships for young lawyers and journalists. For more information, go to www.rcfp.org, or follow us on Twitter @rcfp.