Just Keep Swimming: A Discussion with Caela Provost, Rural Summer Legal Corps Fellow
By Liani Balasuriya
Last summer, Caela Provost served as a Rural Summer Legal Corps Fellow at Community Legal Aid (CLA) in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, a Legal Services Corporation grantee. The fellowship gave Caela, a native of North Central Massachusetts, the opportunity to spend her 1L summer making a difference in the area where she grew up.
Caela was born into a family of educators and spent the first decade of her career in international education. Law school had been in the back of her mind until the Covid-19 pandemic kicked it to the forefront. As an international educator, Caela’s efforts helped individuals who achieved an education embark on study abroad opportunities. While this career was exciting and rewarding, she knew that a pivot to law school would provide her with the skills to advocate for individuals and communities outside or on the margins of the system.
Consistent with her values, Caela enrolled in Suffolk University Law School — a vibrant, diverse institution with a strong alumni network — that was founded on the belief that the law should be accessible regardless of background or circumstances. There, she discovered CLA, a free civil legal aid provider for residents of Central and Western Massachusetts. Through the Rural Summer Legal Corps (RSLC) fellowship, Caela was able to work at CLA’s newest office in Fitchburg, Massachusetts during her 1L summer. There, she received exposure to the office’s practice areas, from shadowing housing attorneys, sitting in on mediations, performing research related to education and attending lunch and learns about subjects ranging from elder care to CORI (criminal offender record information) law. She supported multiple CLA attorneys by completing various research and writing projects across practice areas, and was mentored by a wonderful supervisor, Inês Kenney.
Caela’s primary contribution, however, was developing and conducting an assessment survey for the new Fitchburg office to identify the legal needs of the Worcester County communities served by the office. She worked hard to build trust with local organizations and counter mistrust of the legal system. Individuals and community partners from ten communities filled out her survey. This resulted in a comprehensive research paper and a deep list of contacts for CLA’s Fitchburg office that’s helped them better customize their services and build a network of partnerships.
“For individuals navigating the complexities of the law, becoming more informed about basic legal rights can be life changing.”
Caela aptly summarized the value of the Rural Summer Legal Corps program. “I love what CLA is doing,” she said, noting that the services CLA provides are those that positively impact members of her hometown community. She further observed, “For individuals navigating the complexities of the law, becoming more informed about basic legal rights can be life changing. Even the little things can make a huge difference.”
Furthermore, given that the environmental and economic pressures of law school can lead students to believe Big Law is their only option, for Caela, RSLC highlighted the fact that there are other viable opportunities to make a living as a lawyer and enjoy a rigorous practice.
“I really enjoyed my experience,” she said, describing the lessons learned from RSLC training in Washington DC., and networking with other fellows from across the country. She also appreciated being part of a national legal aid community.
As Caela said, “keep swimming in the direction that makes you feel most passionate.”
Learn more about the Rural Summer Legal Corps program, a joint partnership between the Legal Services Corporation and Equal Justice Works.
Liani Balasuriya works at the U.S. Department of Commerce. She is a member of the Legal Services Corporation’s Emerging Leaders Council.
