May 6, 2025
More than 20 years ago, Kimball and Karen Anderson began funding their groundbreaking Kimball R. Anderson and Karen Gatsis Anderson Public Interest Law Fellowship. Now, after already contributing almost $1 million to the CBF to annually fund the Fellowship over the past two decades, the Anderson’s have made another major gift to permanently endow the Fellowship. This permanent endowment will assist the next generation of legal aid attorneys to serve our community well into the future.
The Anderson Public Interest Fellowship recognizes and assists outstanding newer lawyers who are pursuing careers in legal aid. The rising cost of law school and resulting debt is a real impediment to young lawyers pursuing careers in legal aid and public service. Often faced with mortgage-sized student debt, newer lawyers cannot afford to stay in public interest careers without financial assistance. The Anderson Fellowship directly addresses this problem.
“We saw a problem almost 25 years ago that was keeping the best and brightest lawyers from pursuing or staying in careers in legal aid, and we wanted to do something about it,” Kimball and Karen Anderson noted. “We have seen the huge impact it already has made on the fellows themselves, many of whom are now in leadership positions at legal aid organizations because they had early financial support. The financial challenges newer lawyers face in managing law school debt have not diminished. Accordingly, we are grateful for the opportunity to permanently endow the Fellowship to help outstanding lawyers pursuing legal aid careers for years to come.”
Thanks to Anderson’s generous endowment, the CBF will continue to award a $25,000 CBF fellowship annually to an outstanding legal aid lawyer. The Andersons’ leadership and financial support for this Fellowship over the past 20+ years has made it possible for many dedicated lawyers to follow their passion and to use their legal education to give back to the community. Current Anderson Fellows are serving the community in myriad ways, including advocating for the educational rights of unhoused students, providing services to youth to prevent gun violence, and serving incarcerated survivors of gender-based violence.
“Kimball and Karen have already made such a huge impact through this fellowship, both in the often life-changing impact it has had on the outstanding legal aid lawyers who have received it and by raising awareness and inspiring others to tackle this critical issue,” said CBF Executive Director Bob Glaves. “With this amazing gift to permanently endow the Fellowship, both their impact and inspiration will grow exponentially at a time when the work that legal aid lawyers do every day for people in need is more important than ever for our community.”
The CBF is currently accepting applications for this year’s Fellowship from attorneys at CBF legal aid partner organizations who are less than five years out of law school and are committed to continuing their careers in public service. Thanks to Kimball and Karen’s generous gift, more outstanding legal aid lawyers will have this opportunity for many years to come.
“We hope our gift will inspire others to step up to support the dedicated legal aid lawyers who make the financial sacrifice to pursue these careers that are so critical to our justice system and our community,” said Kimball and Karen.