ABA appoints three UCI Law students to student leadership team

July 24, 2014

Image of Shurig, Lopez and Vera

Caroline Shurig (’15), Ricardo Lopez (’16) and Eric Vera (’16) have been chosen to serve as student liaisons for American Bar Association committees and commissions for the 2014-2015 academic year.

Shurig was selected as the ABA Law Student Division Liaison to the Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services, dedicated to improving access to lawyers and legal services for people of moderate incomes — those who do not qualify for legal aid yet lack the resources for full legal representation. As a clinical student in UCI Law’s Community and Economic Development Clinic last spring, Shurig helped negotiate a settlement for clients in a highly contested mobile park closure action and, in a separate case, worked to stop a condo conversion on behalf of a mobile home owner association. “I feel very strongly that the Committee’s mission is one of the most essential elements to a successful democracy and an efficient economy,” said Shurig, who is spending her summer as a law clerk with the Education Law Practice Group at the Legal Assistance Foundation in Chicago.

Lopez was named student liaison to the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession, a catalyst for enhancing opportunities for racially and ethnically diverse lawyers to excel throughout the legal profession and in the ABA. “As a first-generation Mexican-American, I understand the importance of a diverse legal profession,” said Lopez, who this summer is serving as a judicial extern for Hon. Amy D. Hogue at the Los Angeles Superior Court’s Department of Complex Civil Litigation.

Vera will work with the Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights & Responsibilities, which seeks to identify and address the legal challenges and responsibilities facing Latinos in the United States. “As a student liaison, I hope to provide fresh ideas, help increase access to legal services and contribute to the profession I will soon be joining,” said Vera, a UCI Law Public Service Fellow who is currently a summer law clerk with the California Appellate Project in San Francisco.

The ABA’s selection of Shurig, Lopez and Vera came just weeks after UCI Law received full ABA accreditation. An announcement of all ABA liaison appointments will appear in the September issue of Student Lawyer magazine.

For more information about ABA Accreditation, contact:

Office of the Consultant on Legal Education /
Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar
American Bar Association
321 N. Clark Street, 21st Floor
Chicago, IL 60654
Phone: 312.988.6738
Fax: 312.988.5681
Email: legaled@americanbar.org