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Meet the Fellows in the Opioid Crisis Response Program
/ Fellows in Action
Equal Justice Works is proud to announce the 2025 cohort of Fellows in the Opioid Crisis Response Program: Maegan Pirtle, Courtney Brothers, Carrie Stambaugh, Lauren Williams, Julia Cummings and Justin Apperson.
The federal government has declared the opioid crisis a nationwide public health emergency. Responding to this emergency requires a multidisciplinary approach, with lawyers playing a critical role in raising awareness, building community partnerships, and responding to subsequent legal issues that the opioid crisis acted as a catalyst for. The six Fellows in the inaugural class of the Opioid Crisis Response Program will provide free legal representation to low-income individuals and families affected by the opioid and overdose crisis.
“We are thrilled to welcome the first cohort of Fellows to the Opioid Crisis Response Program,” said Touri Goode, the program manager of fellowship implementation at Equal Justice Works. “Communities across the country need lawyers as a part of our nationwide response to the opioid epidemic, and these Fellows will provide invaluable support in their advocacy and bandwidth-expanding efforts to save lives.”
Meet the six new Fellows in the Opioid Crisis Response Program below:
Hosted by the Legal Aid Society of Louisville, Maegan will help opioid-impacted individuals address legal barriers to their treatment and long-term recovery. She will provide legal clinics, create medical-legal partnerships, and conduct outreach with community partner organizations. Maegan aims to provide assistance with common legal issues, including custody, divorce, housing, eviction, government benefits, and criminal record expungement.
Courtney Brothers and Carrie Stambaugh
Co-Fellows Courtney Brothers and Carrie Stambaugh will work together at Legal Aid of the Bluegrass to initiate a medical-legal partnership. They aim to resolve clients’ civil legal issues arising from the opioid epidemic across Kentucky. By providing legal and educational resources and assistance for opioid affected individuals, families, and communities at large; Courtney and Carrie will seek to support recovery, ensure family stability, and prevent relapse.
Lauren’s project with Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio will help bridge gaps in communities by developing a direct referral system for people affected by Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) throughout the state. Lauren will aid communities by providing direct legal services and building partnerships with medical, harm reduction, judicial, and community organizations to reduce opioid fatalities.
Julia Cummings
Julia will work at Bronx Legal Services to provide direct legal services, advance policy reform, and develop a needs assessment for OUD-affected patients. Julia will work with the Public Benefits Unit at the organization, which aims to retain and improve critical public benefits for clients.
At AppalReD Legal Aid, Justin will build a medical legal partnership through Project Renew with OUD treatment providers in Eastern Kentucky, helping clients overcome significant legal barriers to recovery and workforce reentry. Having spent Summer 2024 with AppalReD as an Equal Justice Works Rural Summer Legal Corps Fellow, Justin felt inspired to bring his experiences of helping people create happier and healthier lives back to his home state.
The CDC states that “Increasing communities’ overdose prevention and response support, capacity, and education may help save lives.” Together, Fellows in the Opioid Crisis Response Program will build a network of legal expertise to help inform policies that holistically address issues faced by communities impacted by the crisis and help opioid-impacted communities heal.
The Opioid Crisis Response Program is funded by the Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts (FORE). Click here to learn more about the current Fellows in the Opioid Crisis Response Program. Click here to view FORE’s resources on overdose prevention.
About Equal Justice Works
Equal Justice Works is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that creates opportunities for lawyers to transform their passion for equal justice into a lifelong commitment to public service. As the nation’s largest facilitator of opportunities in public interest law, Equal Justice Works brings together an extensive network of law students, lawyers, nonprofit legal aid organizations, and supporters to promote a lifelong commitment to public service and equal justice.