Gemillie Giron Soto is a law student at the West Virginia University College of Law (WVU Law), where she is actively involved in many of the school’s community efforts, specifically focused on diversity initiatives. She’s involved with both the Hispanic Law Student and Black Law Student associations and volunteered to be a student representative for the university’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Council.

Because of her relationships at WVU Law, she learned about the Legal Aid of WV Archibald Diversity Equity and Inclusion Fellowship, now in its fifth year.

“I applied, and my interview with Legal Aid was the only internship interview I had where another minority was part of the panel,” she says. “That made an impact. I haven’t had the opportunity to work with other minorities in a professional setting, so this experience has been beneficial. I am working in the Morgantown office, a pretty diverse office.”

Gemillie is originally from Arlington, VA, but she has been living and studying in Appalachia for about a decade, first as a college student at Virginia Tech University, then at WVU, where she got her master’s degree in resource economics and management before attending law school.

Though diversity might carry different meanings for everyone, the spirit of the Archibald Fellowship is to ensure LAWV is giving opportunities to students that might be less able to take other internships. One advantage for this fellowship is the stipend to help with cost-of-living expenses, which LAWV is able to offer due to a generous donor, Ellen Archibald.

Gemillie also explains her view on diversity expands regularly.

“I think DEI is very wide,” she says. “Focusing on racial diversity is what I’ve done in my law school experience. However, I think diversity is a wide range, especially as I’ve seen it in LAWV’s clients. You can have diverse family types—for example, a grandparent and a child. Diversity is not just racial; it just means not every person and not every family looks the same.”

During her fellowship, Gemillie has attended hearings and helped LAWV advocacy staff on a variety of cases, including several adoptions, housing issues, public benefits, other family law cases, domestic violence, and one client who experienced financial exploitation.

“I have appreciated that as an intern, I’ve been able to see the nuts and bolts of going to Court,” says Gemillie. “Because at Legal Aid, there’s not a paralegal for every attorney, I get to learn more from the attorneys about the process, including how to work with individuals who have different needs.”

Beyond hearings, Gemillie has also completed an internship project: an article to help West Virginians with questions about child abuse and neglect proceedings.

“Gemillie has worked hard this summer,” says her staff mentor attorney, Maria Borror. “She has not been shy about reaching out to other attorneys to help her understand different legal issues and procedures. She has also helped with other research, drafting letters, and reviewing pro bono resources for me; she’s never hesitated to jump right into anything I’ve asked her to work on. She’s also fun to talk with; she has an interesting background and has fit in really well with our office this summer.”

As her 10-week fellowship comes to a close, Gemillie reflects on her time at Legal Aid as a fellow, saying, “I feel fortunate. Because of the populations LAWV serves, I’ve gotten to see things other interns may not get to see.

“Regarding the fellowship, I will probably always be a part of DEI efforts as a minority. I’ve benefitted from being in an office setting with more diversity, and I think DEI is a concern in practice. Some groups are more adversely affected by policy and processes than others, so the way I might look at a case might be different than someone else.”