The South Florida community is ground zero for the national foreclosure crisis. In response, the University of Miami School of Law has created Foreclosure Defense Fellowships that will enable newly minted lawyers to give free help to local residents caught in the foreclosure crisis.

The law school is one of the first in the nation to create a program of this kind in response to the crisis sweeping the country. Recent UM graduates will acquire real-world work experience and address a serious need in the community at the same time.

“These fellowships engage the law school and its recent graduates in a difficult but rewarding process that serves a great public need,” said Dean Patricia D. White.

Eight UM law graduates were the winners of these fellowships. Six fellows — Siobhan Grant, Yolanda Paschal, Matthew Weintraub, Jaclyn Gonzalez, Francisco Cieza, and Bradley Shapiro — will work for the Legal Services of Greater Miami, Inc. Two additional fellows — James Duffy and Berbeth Foster — will work at the Legal Aid Service of Broward County, Inc. They will receive a limited grant totaling $10,000 in exchange for working at least three days a week for 27 weeks.

The fellows received training at a foreclosure workshop hosted by the UM School of Law, featuring April Charney, a consumer lawyer and nationally recognized foreclosure defense expert.

In addition, three students from the school of law’s LL.M. in real property development — Jessica Davis, Dushyant Amish Jethwa, and James Walter — will inaugurate a clinical track in that program by providing 15 hours per week of free foreclosure defense representation. The LL.M. students will work under the supervision of local lawyers who also will be working without pay. These fellows will be placed at “The Foreclosure Project,” created by Richard Burton, which provides free legal representation to homeowners facing foreclosure in Dade and Broward counties.