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Hello Friends, Family, and Friends of Friends,
8/13/25
Excellent News - My fundraiser is now closed! I've reached my goal and have enough funds to apply and study for the bar exam!! Thank you!!!!
I’m raising donations and loans to take (and pass!) the bar exam in February 2026! Suggested donation is $25. Suggested loan is $100. Turns out a lot of JD grads have fundraisers for the bar - who knew? After surviving lupus and lup-opause, the pandemic, homeschooling our son, all while succeeding in law school, while both my parents were diagnosed with cancer, and saying goodbye to my Dad, and taking care of my mother in between Contracts and Civil Procedure virtual classes, I’m almost there — and I cannot be stopped now. The application and related fees total around $2,100.
Here’s the truth:
After graduating from law school, I couldn’t take the bar right away — I needed several surgeries. I couldn't see well enough to read due to Lupus medication side effects. After I recovered, I was honored to be selected for a prestigious Public Policy Fellowship with the National Disability Institute. I helped finalize two major agency rules: banning the repossession of prosthetic limbs and removing medical debt from credit reports. This was huge! But the fellowship didn’t pay enough to live on. Just after the election, none of the non-profits were hiring, so all the connections I made there didn't lead to a job.
More recently, I completed a part time law clerkship for a private law firm. I did incredible work — a plea withdrawal in a 2nd degree murder case, several prisoners’ rights claims, and a tough family law case involving termination of parental rights. But when their government contracts were frozen, they couldn’t pay me for May and June. I’ve had to file claims with the Department of Labor and the IRS to try to recover my wages. I would have earned enough for the bar on my own if that hadn't happened. It would have been super tight, but I would have been ok.
Luckily, I was also working part-time at the Vermont Department of Labor, focusing on employment law. I can pick up more hours there, but it doesn't pay enough to live on. I’ll keep working to cover as much of the bar costs as I can — but we need a little help to close the gap. We're having yard sales and I'm trying to book a few paid speaking engagements as well - talking about my breastfeeding advocacy work, Lupus, brain and spinal cord injury, homeschooling, ice climbing, and the rest of it all.
Good news:
Bar prep is covered (thanks Mom!!). That course alone was $2,000! It’s part-time and starts in August. And thank you Uncle Marty and Aunt Ronnie for your generous and unexpected graduation gift — the check is going in a frame on my dad's desk in my future office!
Please help me finally join the ranks of our family’s other lawyers — the late Uncle Bob, Cousins Nancy, Greg, and Tracy, and my first cousin once removed, a U.S. District Judge. I'll be the first lawyer in my family of origin. Despite having so many lawyers in the family, it's a silent rule that asking for money isn't polite. I'm feeling quite anxious I won't have enough, so I'm breaking that rule as respectfully as I can.
Even with both of my husband and I working, our family could use a bit of extra support for these final months while I study and take the exam. The exam is for 2 long days and is only offered twice a year. It's important for me to pass the first time around, so I can help provide for my family and get to helping others - who like me - have lost their jobs due to discriminatory reasons.
Thank you for all the love and encouragement you’ve already given. I know I can do this!
With deep gratitude,
Kate Frederick, JD
Please view my LinkedIn to see all the pubic service legal work I've accomplished!!