Campaign Legal Center Names Second Rapoport Legal Fellow, Adds Staff Attorney

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Today, the Campaign Legal Center announced Emma Simson as the recipient of the second Rapoport Legal Fellowship, and the hiring of Megan McAllen, the first Rapoport Fellow, as a staff attorney. The fellowship is made possible by a generous grant from the Bernard & Audre Rapoport Foundation. The one-year position is designed for recent law school graduates embarking on careers in campaign finance and election law.    

“The generosity of the Rapoport Foundation continues to allow us to bring in very talented young lawyers at a time when common sense campaign finance laws and voting rights are under siege in our nation,” said Campaign Legal Center Executive Director J. Gerald Hebert.  “The additions of Ms. Simpson and Ms. McAllen have allowed us to expand our role in the courts to defend campaign finance and disclosure laws and to help safeguard the fundamental American right to vote on Election Day.”

Cases involving voter suppression, which have spiked since the Supreme Court struck down key provisions of the Voting Rights Act this year, will be a primary focus for Ms. Simson.  Ms. McAllen, now an Associate Counsel at the Legal Center, will continue litigating a variety of campaign finance and election law issues before state and federal courts, and will be active in an expanding range of voting rights and election protection efforts. 

Ms. McAllen is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law (2011) and Princeton University (2007).  She is admitted to practice law in the State of California.

Ms. Simson is a graduate of Yale Law School (2013), the University of Oxford (MSc, 2010), and the University of Maryland (2007).

Since its inception in 1986, the Bernard & Audre Rapoport Foundation has dedicated almost $60 million in grants to improve the social fabric of life.  Its mission is to meet basic human needs while building individual and social resiliency.