Community Justice Fellowship

Our Commitment to Local Justice and Leadership

Please Note: The application period for the 2026–2027 fellowship has ended. The fellowship will be awarded at the end of July.

Sponsored by Paul Padda Law, the Community Justice Fellowship is designed to give passionate new attorneys—including recent law school graduates, outgoing judicial law clerks, and attorneys with less than three years of postgraduate experience—valuable legal training and the opportunity to gain hands-on experience fighting for those who need it most.

The purpose of the fellowship is not only to assist with the immense, unmet legal needs at the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada, but to immerse the fellow in the daily workings of a high-impact public interest law practice. To ensure this experience is the launchpad for a purpose-driven career, fellows are awarded a full-time position with the Legal Aid Center at the conclusion of their one-year fellowship.

Click here for more information.

The Impact You Will Make

The recipient of the Fellowship provides critical, life-changing assistance to thousands of low-income and vulnerable residents. By rotating through the Legal Aid Center’s core project areas, the fellow will gain exposure to all facets of practice—from initial interviews with vulnerable clients to processing complex cases to final resolution.

During the fellowship, you will make a difference through:

• The Children’s Attorneys Project: Give a voice to abused and neglected children in the foster care system. Fellows help ensure siblings stay together and advocate for timely reunification with family or quicker adoptions to prevent the trauma of long stays in foster care.
• The Family Justice Project: Serve as a vital lifeline for victims of domestic violence, helping them reclaim a life free from abuse. Fellows assist in obtaining protective orders, divorce decrees, and custody orders, and help immigrant victims secure relief under the Violence Against Women Act.
• The Consumer Rights & Housing Justice Project: Fight back against unscrupulous businesses, predatory debt collectors, loan sharks, and bad-faith landlords. Fellows defend tenants against illegal evictions, address severe habitability issues, and connect families to life-saving rental assistance programs.
• The Guardianship Advocacy Project: Protect the legal rights and dignity of seniors and individuals with disabilities. Fellows advocate for the least restrictive alternatives to maximize independence, protect clients from inappropriate guardians, and stop the unilateral liquidation of their property and family heirlooms.

If you have questions, contact Jim Berchtold, Director of Supervised Practice and Law Student Programs, at JBerchtold@lacsn.org or 702-386-1495.

Legal Aid Center Honors Paul Padda

Watch Paul Padda being honored by the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada for his instrumental role in establishing the Community Justice Fellowship, a program dedicated to bridging the local justice gap by funding new legal advocates to support vulnerable communities. You can read more here.

Why Paul Padda Law Sponsors This Fellowship: A Message from Paul Padda

“I’m Paul Padda and I would like to share with you why my sponsorship of the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada’s “Community Justice Fellowship” is so vital.

“For those that aren’t aware, the mission of the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada is the preservation of access to justice and the provision of quality legal counsel, advice and representation for individuals who are unable to protect their rights because they cannot afford an attorney.

“This Community Justice Fellowship will be awarded to a recent law school graduate, outgoing judicial law clerk, or an attorney with less than 3 years of postgraduate legal experience who wants to work in a public interest law firm and learn how the top legal aid in Nevada assists over 125,000 individuals a year.

“The Center focuses on serving low income residents and the most vulnerable among us, with programs focusing upon: abused and neglected children, domestic abuse, senior/nursing home abuse, financial fraud/exploitation and much more.

“The recipient of the Fellowship will rotate through the Legal Aid Center’s project areas. As a result, the fellow will be exposed to all areas of practice, from interviewing vulnerable clients to processing cases to final resolution.

“To say that this is my way of supporting a livelihood that has been good to me would only be telling half the story. During my time as an Assistant United States Attorney and Trial Attorney with the United States Department of Justice, I had occasion to observe people encountering the legal system with varying degrees of success. The one resounding conclusion I arrived at, and I am sure almost every judge and lawyer would agree, is that “justice” can be dramatically impacted by quality lawyering and advocacy.

“As an attorney I have come to appreciate and realize that trouble is very random. It can hit anyone, anytime, at any place. It is the one area where you don’t find any discrimination. It was this realization, and my natural instinct that caused me to launch my own law practice in 2011 and focus upon being an advocate for the vulnerable against the powerful.

“As an attorney I have been a witness to injustice and tragedy. However, I must admit that growing up I was personally very fortunate. I come from a home of loving immigrant parents who nurtured me with the values of achievement coupled with a sensitivity to the good you can do for your fellow human beings. Indeed, my parents taught me the value of honoring the dignity of all people, irrespective of their social, economic or racial/ethnic background.

“So what this Fellowship will provide is a crash course on the needs of the overlooked, the under-served and the marginalized, early on in a lawyer’s career. The Fellowship will help fund an outstanding attorney that can make a significant impact in the lives of others. And over time, this Fellowship will build a “pipeline” of amazing lawyers who will grow a discipline of compassion for the disadvantaged.

“Let me close with a bit more on the philosophy surrounding my law firm, Paul Padda Law. If you’ve ever joined one of my podcasts you will see that I am a super fan of Las Vegas. I have adopted this town and I appreciate how it has embraced me. But, underneath all the glitz and glamour, we are a city, not unlike any other, where there are many challenges and hard-luck stories. At Paul Padda Law we view the entire community of Las Vegas as our client. For our main practice, our slogan is: “It’s Not About The Injury, It’s About The Recovery.” This means that we see the people we serve as much more than a settlement or transaction. They are injured, be it physically and or emotionally. And as one of our clients once said, “after the settlement our grief continues.” That’s why we help our clients with more than legal services. We guide them through many stages to help with their full recovery. We call it kinship. In essence, it is that kinship mindset that we would like to see ingrained in more lawyers, regardless of their practice. And that is why this Fellowship is so important, because that is exactly what it will do for the fortunate recipient of this award. It will help build sensibilities, sensitivity, skills, and character that will benefit them and all they serve throughout their life.

“And even more important, this helps build more vital resources to help the vulnerable, well, become less vulnerable! Together, we can make the world a better, more just place!” – Paul Padda

Community Justice Fellows