The American Bar Foundation (ABF) has selected five outstanding undergraduate students from across the nation to take part in the 2026 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program. These young scholars were admitted from a highly competitive pool of applicants for their exceptional work in their undergraduate careers and their interest in the mission of the ABF. The 2026 SURF fellows are Brizeida Cruz Hernandez, Elsa Holahan, Justin Lee, Kristina Veskovic, and Vivian Reutens.
The SURF Program allows students from underrepresented backgrounds who are considering careers in the fields of law or social science to gain hands-on experience with an ABF researcher over eight weeks. In addition to the mentorship they receive from ABF researchers, SURF Fellows gain unparalleled insight into possible career paths through site visits to local law firms, legal aid clinics, law schools, and advocacy groups.
The 2026 fellows join a community of alumni who have made and are making significant contributions in law and social science. SURF alumni have built careers in academia, government, and the private sector; many are professors, legal practitioners, or leaders of colleges or universities.
Notable alumni include Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar (1992), former California Supreme Court Associate Justice and President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Erika George (1992), the Samuel D. Thurman Professor of Law at the University of Utah S. J. Quinney College of Law; Danielle Holley-Walker (1995), President of Mount Holyoke College; and Grey Mateo-Harris (2004), Partner at Fox Rothschild LLP.
“The SURF program is a wonderful service to the profession and the academy, building future scholars and lawyers who are important contributors to our summer community,” ABF Interim Executive Director Bryant Garth said of the program. “We look forward every year to their energy and the sharp insights they bring to the ABF.”
The SURF Program has received generous support from the Kenneth F. and Harle G. Montgomery Foundation, the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC), Walmart, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Heckler Fink LLP, AT&T, and several individual donors.
This summer, the ABF will also welcome back Isaac Yoo as the Communications Intern. Yoo, who is a recent graduate of the University of Chicago, will assist with the creation of digital and print communications content for the ABF.
Meet the 2026 SURF Fellows:
Brizeida Cruz Hernandez is a junior at the University of California, Berkeley majoring in Sociology and Legal Studies. She will work with ABF Research Professor Laura Beth Nielsen on two projects: Consent to Sex on Campus: How Undergraduates Understand and Enact Sexual Consent in the Title IX Era, and Representations of Vengeance, Justice, Expertise, and Emotion in True Crime Podcasts.
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Elsa Holahan is a rising senior at Yale University studying American Studies. She will work with MacCrate Research Chair in the Legal Profession Robert L. Nelson on the After the JD project.
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Justin Lee is a rising senior at Carnegie Mellon University majoring in Business Administration and Data Science (Economics and Statistics) with a minor in Political Science, Security and Technology. He will work with ABF Research Professor Mark C. Suchman on his new research project, Governing New Health Information Technologies: Politics, Policy, and Law.
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Kristina Veskovic is a rising senior at the University of Chicago studying Economics and Russian and East European Studies. She will work with ABF Research Professor William H. J. Hubbard on his research centered on access to justice, civil procedure, and the economics of litigation.
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Vivian Reutens is a rising junior at New York University pursuing a dual major in Economics and Mathematics and a minor in Chinese Language. She will work with ABF Research Professor Jacob Goldin on his research projects centered on US tax policy affecting low-income households.
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About the American Bar Foundation
The American Bar Foundation (ABF) is the world’s leading research institute for the empirical and interdisciplinary study of law. The ABF seeks to expand knowledge and advance justice through innovative, interdisciplinary, and rigorous empirical research on law, legal processes, and legal institutions. To further this mission the ABF will produce timely, cutting-edge research of the highest quality to inform and guide the legal profession, the academy, and society in the United States and internationally. The ABF’s primary funding is provided by the American Bar Endowment and the Fellows of The American Bar Foundation.