The Richey Fellows Program, launched in the 2023-24 academic year, brings mid-career public interest lawyers to the GW Law campus as a resource for students considering non-profit or public sector careers. Named in honor of the Hon. Charles R. Richey of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, the program provides students with diverse perspectives about non-profit and public sector careers in a wide variety of practice areas, including criminal and civil direct legal services, law reform litigation, and public and nonprofit regulatory and policy practice.
Read more about Samburg and Geraghty below.
Mark Samburg
Senior Counsel, Democracy Forward
Samburg, who will be visiting October 21-23 is the Senior Counsel at Democracy Forward, where he litigates on behalf of labor unions, individuals, and other clients fighting to advance democracy and social progress.
Samburg previously worked for a decade at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, including as Chief of Staff of the Bureau’s Division of Supervision, Enforcement, and Fair Lending. Before the CFPB, he worked in private practice as outside counsel to state and municipal attorneys on consumer protection actions.
Samburg clerked for Judge Leonard I. Garth of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and for Associate Justices Lubbie Harper, Jr. and Joette Katz of the Connecticut Supreme Court. He was a Harvard Law School Heyman Fellow and has served as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center. He graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School and summa cum laude from Brandeis University.
Throughout his visit, students will have the opportunity to talk to Samburg about labor unions, democracy, affirmative litigation against the federal government, impact litigation, consumer protection and the CFPB, working for a federal agency, lawyering-adjacent roles, developing and writing amicus briefs, navigating an unsuccessful job hunt, the regulatory process, and Supreme Court clerkships. Students can schedule a one-on-one advising appointment with Samburg here.
Samburg will also join Lerner Family Associate Dean for Public Interest and Public Service Law Alan Morrison in a community event titled “The State of Our Democracy” on October 21st. In the fireside chat, Samburg and Dean Morrison will discuss the current state of our democracy and the erosion of democratic institutions.
Bridget Geraghty
Senior Counsel, MacArthur Justice Center - National Parole Transformation Project
Geraghty, who will visit November 4-6, is Senior Counsel at the MacArthur Justice Center, leading the launch of the National Parole Transformation Project, a coordinated campaign of strategic impact litigation and community-based advocacy directly challenging the parole systems feeding mass incarceration. She has represented clients throughout all stages of the criminal legal system, from arrest and arraignment, to trial and appeal, to conditions of confinement and parole.
Geraghty began her legal career as a trial level public defender in Richmond, Virginia. She then joined the Office of the State Appellate Defender in Illinois, where she represented clients challenging their criminal convictions on appeal. Before coming to MJC in 2022, she was a staff attorney at the Uptown People’s Law Center representing Illinois prisoners in federal civil rights cases and parole proceedings.
Geraghty received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and a law degree from the George Washington University Law School.
Throughout her visit, students will be able to schedule one-one-one advising appointments to discuss public defense, civil rights impact litigation, post-grad public interest fellowships, transitioning between criminal and civil practice, burnout, being a queer lawyer, parole, prisons, mass incarceration, and anything Chicago-related. Students can schedule an advising appointment with Geraghty here.
Geraghty will be hosting a community event titled “Mass Incarceration and Impact Litigation” at noon on November 4 in the Burns Moot Courtroom.