Profiles in Success

Fletcher, L'08, is Presidential Management Fellow

Steven D. Fletcher, a 2008 Law School graduate, has been named a Presidential Management Fellow. He has accepted a job with NASA in Houston, Texas.

The prestigious Presidential Management Fellows Program attracts outstanding men and women to the Federal service. The program is limited to graduating students who are completing an advanced degree during the current academic year and are nominated by their college or university. The program evaluates candidates based on their breadth and quality of accomplishments, capacity for leadership, and a commitment to excellence in the leadership and management of public policies and programs. Upon review of their nomination, applicants are invited to participate in a rigorous assessment process of their analytical problem solving skills, leadership competencies and written communication abilities. Based upon everyone’s assessment scores, finalists are then determined. Being named a President Management Fellow Finalist allows the applicant to take part in the interviewing and hiring process with federal government agencies participating in the program.

Fletcher’s fellowship is for two years. During this time he will be working in the procurement office for the NASA Johnson Space Center and rotating to the counsel’s office in the second year. He is the first Presidential Management Fellow from Capital University Law School.

Fletcher already has had a distinguished 6 ½ year career in the U.S. Army. After graduating from Colorado State University with a B.S in Environmental Geology and an ROTC Scholarship, he was commissioned to the U.S. Army Infantry. He became a platoon leader in Ft. Hood, Texas where he was in charge of 30 soldiers and then served as a battalion communications and electronics officer. Fletcher left the Army in May of 2005 having obtained the rank of Captain. At the time, he was the assistant brigade operations officer for the 3 rd Brigade Combat Team, 101 st Airborne Division in Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. There he was in charge of receiving mission operation orders for the brigade and discharging them to the brigade’s six subordinate battalions which totaled nearly 3,500 soldiers.

Fletcher says the decision to leave the military was a difficult one, but he always knew he wanted to go to law school. It proved to be a good decision, for he had a successful law school experience as well. A Trustee’s and Presidential Merit Scholar, he graduated magna cum laude. He was a member of the Capital University Law Review for two years, serving as associate notes editor his second year. He was a judicial extern for Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio and he also served as the clinic coordinator of and participated in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Clinic.

Fletcher and his wife, Wendy, have twin 5-year-old girls. While he’s preparing for the July Ohio bar exam, the family is preparing for the move to Houston this summer for Fletcher to begin his job with NASA in September.

Saltzman, L'07, Receives Equal Justice Works Fellowship

Ashley Saltzman, L’07, began her academic career focusing on both Spanish and psychology at Miami University ( Ohio), knowing that the confluence of these two majors would advance her ultimate career goal — working in the public interest for underserved populations. Coupled with her law degree, Saltzman was able to use her knowledge and experience to design a legal aid project that was worthy of an Equal Justice Works Fellowship.

By partnering with public interest lawyers, nonprofits, law firms and others, the Equal Justice Works Fellowship Program is intended to address the shortage of attorneys working on behalf of traditionally underserved populations. The program, created in 2004, funds 50 new fellows nationwide each fall. The two-year fellowships offer salary and generous loan repayment assistance, a national training and leadership development program, and other forms of support during the fellowship term.

Saltzman is Capital University Law School’s first alumna to be awarded an Equal Justice Works Fellowship. She is working with the Legal Aid Society of Columbus to address the unique set of legal challenges that immigrants face in the area of public benefits, specifically hardships they endure in applying for Medicaid, food stamps, and cash assistance from the Franklin County Department of Job and Family Services.

A Columbus native, Ashley’s undertaking of a Spanish major at Miami University took her to Costa Rica for a semester, an experience that inspired her to explore the possibility of a career assisting immigrants within the U.S. After graduating, Ashley spent a year interpreting for the domestic and juvenile courts in Franklin County. Her involvement with the Franklin County Domestic Relations Mediation Program motivated her to apply to Capital with the hopes of a public interest career in mind.

“Capital has a very good reputation in Columbus. The school’s emphasis on building good legal research and writing skills appealed to me when I was considering which school would offer me the best groundwork for real life lawyering skills,” Ashley explains.

Ashley worked as a law clerk for Legal Aid during her third year of law school. As a law clerk, she established relationships with immigrant organizations around Columbus with whom she continues to collaborate during her fellowship.