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Richey Fellows Program

The purpose of the Richey Fellows Program is to bring mid-career public interest lawyers to the GW Law campus as a resource for students considering non-profit or public sector legal careers. The program is named in honor of the Hon. Charles R. Richey of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and its funding has been provided by his law clerks and friends. Each semester, two distinguished attorneys from a broad range of public interest and public sector practice areas will be invited to provide diverse perspectives about their careers for the benefit of GW Law students. Richey Fellows will be selected from a wide variety of practice areas, including criminal and civil direct legal services, law reform litigation, and public and non-profit regulatory and policy practice.

Program Overview

Expectations

Each Richey Fellow spends three days on the GW Law campus. Fellows participate in a large GW Law community event, typically a Fireside Chat, coordinated by the Public Interest and Public Service Law Center. In addition, fellows meet with small groups of students and interested faculty over lunch and dinner. If circumstances allow, there may also be an opportunity for fellows to speak in classes addressing subject areas within their expertise. Each fellow receives a $1,500 stipend in addition to having their travel and related expenses reimbursed.

Selection Criteria

This program selects attorneys with approximately 10-15 years of experience to ensure that they are both well-established in their respective fields and able to relate to law students. We select from a wide range of practice areas, employer types, and career paths to provide a comprehensive overview of careers in the public interest landscape.

Timeline

The Richey Fellows Program application is now available. You may submit an application on your own behalf or nominate a public interest law career professional who meets the above criteria. To nominate someone, please provide their name and email to the Public Interest and Public Service Law Center at publicinterestatlaw [dot] gwu [dot] edu.

The application process will close on June 17, 2025. The selection committee, consisting of faculty, senior staff, and three students, will review the applications and make final selections for the entire following academic year by mid-June. The chosen fellows will be notified by the end of June, and the dates of their visits will be determined by mutual agreement.

Students talking at a patio table on the quad

Specifications & Responsibilities

The Richey Fellows Program seeks applicants who are both well-established in their fields and are able to relate to law students seeking information about career choices.

Academic Year 2025-26 Fellows

 

Headshot of Bridget Geraghty. She is wearing a green top, black blazer, and glasses. Her reddish-brown curly hair is down. Her arms are crossed and she is smiling..
 

Bridget Geraghty

Senior Counsel, MacArthur Justice Center - National Parole Transformation Project

Visit: TBD
Community Event: TBD

Bridget Geraghty 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.  


Bridget 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.  


Bridget received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and a law degree from the George Washington University Law School.

Headshot of Angelo Mathay. He is outside with trees i the background. He is wearing a blue button down, black-framed glasses, and is smiling.
 

Angelo Mathay

Administrative Judge, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Visit: TBD
Community Event: TBD

Angelo Mathay is an Administrative Judge with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, where he adjudicates employment discrimination claims filed by federal employees across three southeastern states. From 2021 to 2022, he served as a Trial Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. His prior work in immigration law and policy includes positions with the National Immigration Law Center, Migration Policy Institute, and The Pew Charitable Trusts. Angelo has also managed grant-making in immigration legal services and food security at the Robin Hood Foundation in New York City. He currently serves on the North Carolina Human Relations Commission and the North Carolina Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Angelo teaches Administrative Law at NC State University and taught Public Law at Wake Forest University. A graduate of UCLA and UCLA School of Law, he enjoys trying new restaurants in the Triangle (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill) and hiking and with his partner and rescue dog.

Headshot of Mark Samburg. He is wearing a blue suit, white shirt, blue tie, clear-framed glasses, and has a half-smile.
 

Mark Samburg

Senior Counsel, Democracy Forward

Visit: TBD
Community Event: TBD

Mark Samburg is a Senior Counsel at Democracy Forward, where he litigates on behalf of labor unions, organizations, individuals, and other clients fighting to advance democracy and social progress.

He 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.

Mark 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.

Headshot of Brian Tronic. He is wearing a black suit, white shirt, blue tie, and is smiling.
 

Brian Tronic

Director, Fred Hiatt Program to Free Political Prisoners - Freedom House

Visit: TBD
Community Event: TBD

Brian Tronic is the director of the Fred Hiatt Program to Free Political Prisoners at Freedom House. He previously served as Counsel at Perseus Strategies, where he represented some of the most high-profile political prisoners in the world, including Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, former heads of state, and leading activists and opposition leaders. Brian has over a decade of human rights experience, which includes teaching academic and clinical courses at Fordham Law School, Jindal Global Law School (India), and Georgetown University Law Center. Before attending law school, he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Kenya, where he taught Math and Physics at a small village high school. He is a graduate of Penn Law School and holds an LL.M. from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. (Math, Philosophy) from the University of Virginia.