NCLC Awards Inaugural Rossman Fellowship to Harvard Law Student

January 29, 2024 — Press Release

Nora Van Horn is first student to receive honor named for recently retired NCLC Director of Litigation 

BOSTON – The National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) has awarded its first-ever Stuart Rossman Fellowship to Nora Van Horn, a second-year student at Harvard Law School.  

“Nora has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to consumer protection and legal services for people with low incomes,” said Richard Dubois, executive director of NCLC. “She embodies the spirit of public service and generosity that Stuart Rossman brought to his consumer lawyer career, and we are thrilled to present the inaugural Rossman Fellowship to her.”

With generous donations from consumer lawyers, NCLC created the Rossman Fellowship in 2023 to mark the retirement of Stuart Rossman, who served as NCLC’s director of litigation for 24 years. He was committed to inspiring a new generation of consumer lawyers and, along with Senior Attorney Jeremiah Battle, led NCLC’s Summer Intern Program. 

“I had the privilege of meeting Nora in her 1L year during her moot court presentation, where she demonstrated her impressive legal talent,” said Stuart Rossman. “I couldn’t be happier that she pursued an internship with NCLC and that she has been named as the first Stuart Rossman Fellow.”

At Harvard Law School, Van Horn serves in the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, and she is on track to complete more than 1,000 hours of pro bono service. She was a teaching assistant to Professor James Greiner, faculty director of the Access to Justice Lab. 

Last year, Van Horn served as a fellow in the Consumer Protection Division of the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Schreyer Honors College at Penn State University.

Launched in 2023, the Stuart Rossman Fellowship, funded by generous supporters of NCLC’s Campaign for the Future, will be awarded each year to a rising third-year law student to learn consumer law through a summer internship at NCLC. Rossman founded NCLC’s litigation program and served as its Director of Litigation from 1999 through 2023.  

NCLC legal interns are assigned to teams of four-to-five attorneys, which focus on litigation, non-mortgage lending (credit cards, auto student loans, and various forms of predatory loan products), mortgage lending, bankruptcy, access to utilities, and racial justice and equal economic opportunities issues. Assignments range from researching and drafting litigation memos and briefs to work on NCLC’s manuals, investigative reports, training materials, policy analyses, and articles.