Rising Leaders in Justice: Celebrating RWU Law’s Class of 2025 Honorees

Each year, RWU Law honors graduating students for their achievements and important contributions to both the law school and the wider community. Among this year’s honorees are Public Interest Award winner Kaiya Letherer, Pro Bono Collaborative Award winner Sydney Barletta, Clinical Legal Education Association Outstanding Clinic Student Andrew Dunphy, and Clinical Legal Education Association Outstanding Externship Student Samantha Lobato. These four members of the Class of 2025 share a steadfast dedication to justice and public service – a commitment that has shaped their journeys and inspired their legal paths.

Serving the community and promoting justice 

Before enrolling at RWU Law, Public Interest Award winner Kaiya Letherer built a meaningful career teaching college courses in prisons and managing educational programs across the East Coast. After transitioning into nonprofit management, she felt a strong pull back to the criminal justice field, leading her to pursue law school.

Letherer says that RWU Law “provided me with many opportunities to engage in public interest related to criminal justice,” deepening her passion for this work. A pivotal moment came during her internship with the Rhode Island Public Defender’s office – “a transformational experience” where she gained invaluable insight into the criminal justice system. “Mentored by some of the best attorneys – both appellate and trial – in the state,” what began as a broad interest in justice work evolved into a focused commitment to public defense, where she plans to begin her legal career.

Laurie Barron, Director of the Feinstein Center for Pro Bono & Experiential Education at RWU Law, describes Letherer as “a zealous advocate” with a “tireless work ethic and fierce commitment to clients who are at the greatest risk of having their rights violated.” 

Armed with practical skills and a strong sense of purpose as she enters the legal profession, she is ready to continue to fight for justice for the underrepresented.

A pro bono champion

The winner of this year’s Pro Bono Collaborative Award, Sydney Barletta began her path toward public interest law during the final year of her undergraduate studies, when she interned at a nonprofit focused on helping human trafficking survivors. While she had been studying hospitality and business, the experience sparked a passion for justice and inspired her to pursue law school. “It was a lot more interesting to me than the other work that I was doing,” she says. “And it felt like I was really doing something important; something that was helping people.” 

RWU Law stood out to Barletta for its strong pro bono programs, which she immersed herself in as soon as she was permitted, during the second semester of her 1L year. She completed well over 100 hours of pro bono service throughout her time in law school – “a pro bono rock star,” according to Eliza Vorenberg, Director of Pro Bono & Community Partnerships at RWU Law.

Barletta “participated in a full range of pro bono projects, including Street Law, Alternative Spring Break, the Eviction Help Desk, and the 134 Collaborative Homeless Legal Project, which she stayed with for almost 2 years!” says Vorenberg.

Her work in these roles, as well as an internship at Rhode Island Legal Services and an externship at South Coastal Counties Legal Services, solidified her commitment to serving the community and promoting justice for the underserved. After sitting for the bar this summer, she will join South Coastal Counties Legal Services as a Staff Attorney in their family law unit.  

A pursuit of justice through grief

After a distinguished career as a U.S. Coast Guard officer and federal criminal investigator, Clinical Legal Education Association Outstanding Clinic Student Andrew Dunphy found new purpose in the aftermath of unimaginable grief. 

Following the loss of his twenty-one-year-old son in 2021, he retired from federal service and was left searching for direction. His wife reminded him of a long-held dream of attending law school. “The beacon of law school drew me out of the land of the lost and lit my passion for justice,” Dunphy says. 

During his 2L year at RWU Law, Dunphy learned about a new clinic focused on defending the constitutional rights of individuals in the state prison system. The Prisoners’ Rights Clinic would be led by Professor Jared Goldstein, who had taught Dunphy in two semesters of Constitutional Law. “Knowing little about the clinic’s mission,” he says, “I had no doubt that I could benefit from working with Professor Goldstein.”

Dunphy spent his final two semesters at law school enrolled in the clinic, where, according to Goldstein, he “demonstrated that student lawyers can, through hard work, attention to detail, and commitment to their clients, prove themselves to be every bit the equal of long-serving professional attorneys.” 

Dunphy will begin a new chapter as a Fellow at the Rhode Island Center for Justice in August. With a self-described "short shelf-life" as a lawyer, he is driven to make every moment count. His goal is simple yet profound: “to become as effective an advocate as I possibly can be, to help as many people as possible, as soon as possible.”

A path rooted in empathy and purpose

Clinical Legal Education Association Outstanding Externship Student Samantha Lobato came to RWU Law after a career working with children, engaging in leadership development initiatives, and creating documentary films. Her journey to law school was shaped by personal experience: “I grew up navigating poverty and disability, and I witnessed how defense lawyers helped my own family in times of crisis,” she says. “I wanted to be someone who shows up for others when the system tries to push them aside.”

A Colorado native, Lobato was thrilled to return home for her Semester-in-Practice externship at the Colorado State Public Defender’s Office. “Mentored by fierce, dedicated attorneys” who were “honest about the emotional and systemic challenges of the work,” Lobato learned how to prepare under pressure and discovered her own advocacy style, grounded in empathy, resilience, and humanity. The experience affirmed for her that public defense was the right fit.

Throughout law school, Lobato has embraced her strengths – compassion, lived experience, and the ability to connect deeply with others – as assets in her legal work. After graduation, she will return to Colorado to begin her career as a public defender. Her goal is to provide trauma-informed, culturally aware advocacy, and never lose sight of the individuals behind every case. Laurie Barron expressed full confidence in her future impact, saying, “Samantha’s dedication, passion, and perseverance are second-to-none, and her clients will be very fortunate to have her by their side.”