Class of 2025 Public Service Leaders Tackle Pressing Societal Challenges

Five graduates receive top honors for extraordinary commitment to service and public interest law
Fenton Award honorees
The Fenton Award honorees with Ann Santos (far left), dean of law and graduate student affairs 

Suffolk Law congratulates the Class of 2025 John E Fenton, Jr. Public Service Award winners, Katie Bryce, Emily Cortes, Caela A. Hall, Cassidy Long, and Lauren Martins Diener. The Fenton Awards are given to graduating students who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to public service and are pursuing public interest careers. The awards are the highest paid public service honors given by Suffolk Law.

Katie Bryce: Supporting Exploited Women

Bryce coordinates the Trial Court's Dee Kennedy Project, working across justice and community systems to identify and support sexually exploited women. Her experience as a domestic violence counselor at RESPOND, Inc. (New England's first domestic violence agency) included providing crisis intervention and trauma-informed services at Suffolk County House of Corrections through the SAFER program for incarcerated survivors. As a court advocate at Rosie's Place, Bryce connected vulnerable women with housing, rehabilitation, and legal aid, while training court staff to recognize exploitation at various points in the justice system—from initial arrest through probation and re-entry.

Emily Cortes: Fighting Housing Discrimination

At HUD (Washington, D.C.), Cortes investigated Fair Housing Act violations, drafting memoranda on discriminatory rental application practices and language discrimination. At Suffolk's Housing Discrimination Testing Program, she designed tests to uncover illegal housing provider practices and created multimedia campaigns on disability-based housing discrimination. Her advocacy expanded to helping first-time homebuyers understand their rights through collaborative community education initiatives with local development corporations.

Lauren Martins Diener: Advocating for Criminal Justice

Martins balanced prosecutorial work representing the Commonwealth in the Boston Municipal Court with victim advocacy in the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Unit. She conducted comprehensive trial preparation, drafted legal memoranda, and supported victims while completing over 425 pro bono hours with the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office. Martins’ master's capstone on gender-based inequity in criminal justice reflects her commitment to systemic reform.

Caela A. Hall: Advancing Human Rights

Hall’s dedication to humanitarian immigration law at MCD Immigration, a firm in Salem, Massachusetts, included preparing asylum and T visa petitions for trafficking survivors. Her research contribution to the Suffolk Law Ukraine Accountability Project documented Russian war crimes violations of international humanitarian law. As a Rural Summer Legal Corps Fellow at Community Legal Aid, she conducted legal needs assessments for underserved North Central Massachusetts communities.

Cassidy Long: Protecting Indigenous Rights

Cassidy applies her military leadership background to human rights advocacy through Suffolk's Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples Clinic, where she works on behalf of Native American tribal governments and indigenous organizations. Her clinic experience includes learning to represent clients before international bodies such as the United Nations and Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Previously, her research for the Ukraine Accountability Project (UAP) demonstrated her commitment to documenting international humanitarian law violations, providing succinct summaries of relevant articles from applicable International Treaties for the UAP’s White Paper on Russian Atrocities.