Nikki Herst-Cook L’13

Working with public service organizations before coming to Penn helped Nikki decide that her career path led to public interest law. She first considered a legal career while still at Emory University, but it was her time with the Federal Defenders in New York that, according to her, “solidified that a legal education was the right path.” Her dedication to the needs of indigent defendants brought her to law school and now guides her student pro bono work.

Nikki divides her time at Penn Law among numerous public interest projects, including the Prisoners Education and Advocacy Project, the Reproductive Rights Law Project, and the National Lawyers Guild. She also volunteers for the Supervision to Aid Reentry (STAR) Program, a project of  the Philadelphia federal reentry court program.  After law school she plans to continue working in the criminal justice field through either direct involvement with criminal law reform or as a public defender.