Each year, the Squire Patton Boggs Foundation awards several Public Policy Fellowships to exceptional law students who demonstrate a steadfast commitment to public service and a developed interest in public policy. These law students commit their summers to advancing public policy issues through non-profit institutions, government agencies, and domestic or international organizations. This year, Mercedes Wilson-Barthes (1L) has been named one of Catholic Law's 2020 recipients of the Squire Patton Boggs Public Policy Fellowship.

Wilson-Barthes is "studying law to gain knowledge that will equip [her] to work toward more effective, long-term solutions" for challenges facing vulnerable communities. This summer she will be interning for the Public Justice Center, a nonprofit legal advocacy organization in Baltimore that focuses on systemic change for people who live in poverty. In addition to acting as direct service providers to their clients, public policy and advocacy are core components of all of the Public Justice Center’s work. Building on her previous career in international development, Wilson-Barthes plans to apply her experience at the Public Justice Center to work in the field of immigration policy, so that she can use the law to influence sustainable change.