
The Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs is happy to welcome Katie Ryan, a new Staff Attorney with the Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative and Education Law Clinic. Katie graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law. She was an Echoing Green Fellow, high school teacher, and program associate at the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation’s Program for Student Achievement before returning to the University of Virginia. In 2004, Katie joined the Child Advocacy Clinic at UVA and supervised students in casework involving issues of special education, school discipline, and juvenile justice. She later developed and ran a pro bono program that was a partnership of the University of Virginia School of Law, the Legal Aid Justice Center’s JustChildren program, and Virginia law firms. In this position, Katie supervised law students to interview and provide advice to callers to JustChildren’s intake line. She also referred cases to and mentored private attorney and law student teams who provided pro bono representation to parents and children in special education, school discipline, and juvenile justice matters. In addition, Katie represented clients in special education and school discipline cases and worked with law students on a variety of policy and legislative initiatives to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged students in Virginia.