The Conference on Public Service and the Law

at the University of Virginia School of Law

Public Interest Careers Workshop

Kimberly Emery, Moderator
Assistant Dean
Kimberly C. Emery has been Assistant Dean for Public Service at the University of Virginia School of Law since 1994 and Director of the Public Service Center since 1996. She graduated with a B.A. from Carleton College in 1986. Prior to coming to law school she worked as a Field Organizer for Common Cause in Washington, D.C. She received her J.D. from the University of Virginia in 1991, where she was honored with the Order of the Coif.

Kit Ballenger
Powell Fellow
Legal Aid Bureau of Maryland
Kit (Lasher) Ballenger graduated from UVA Law in 2002 and was the first recipient of the Louis F. Powell Fellowship in Legal Services. She is currently in her second year of the Fellowship working with the Legal Aid Bureau of MarylandÕs Child Advocacy Unit, where she represents children who have been abused or neglected. As a staff attorney at the Bureau, Kit has already participated in literally hundreds of cases, several appeals, and numerous educational and disability matters on behalf of her kids, who range in age from newborn to twenty-one years old.

Lise Adams
Powell Fellow
Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia
Lise Adams currently serves as a Powell Fellow at the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia. Lise represents low-income custodial and non-custodial parents in child support matters and advocates for systemic reform of the DistrictÕs child support enforcement program. Lise is a graduate of The College of William & Mary and the University of Virginia School of Law, where she served as Co-Chair of the 2002 Conference on Public Service and the Law and received the Mortimer M. Caplin Fellowship. Lise was awarded the Frederick B. Abramson Public Service Award in 2003, in recognition of her commitment to public service in the District of Columbia.

Forrest Christian
Trial Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division, Constitutional Torts Staff
Forrest Christian is a trial attorney with the Constitutional Torts Staff in the U.S. Department of Justice. He previously served as a law clerk to U.S. District Judge Bernice Bouie Donald. He received his law degree from the University of Virginia in 2001.

Maegan Conklin
Attorney-Adviser, Office of the Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of State
Ms. Conklin is an Attorney-Adviser in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State. She currently focuses on issues related to curtailing the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Prior to law school, she worked for several years implementing international development in the former Soviet Union. Ms. Conklin received her J.D. from University of Virginia Law School where she was the 2003 recipient of the Virginia State Bar Family Law award. She has a B.A. in Russian and International Relations from Washington University in St. Louis.