James Wolff
Udall Family Fellow
2026-2027

James Wolff grew up in Los Angeles and had the opportunity to live abroad as a child and as an adult. During his time abroad, he encountered a range of legal systems and approaches to prosecuting crimes. This range of experiences led him to care deeply about pursuing justice. This pursuit of justice led him to become interested in prosecution, safeguarding rights from abuse, and building a law enforcement system worthy of trust and respect. James studied political science as an undergraduate at California State University, Northridge, and received a master's in defense, development, and diplomacy from Durham University in the United Kingdom. He was fortunate enough to work in the College of Law’s Prosecution and Child and Family Law Clinics. He is also a writer and 2026-27 articles editor for the Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law. James conducted his journal research on the Department of the Treasury 311 special measures, a tool created by the USA PATRIOT Act, to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. When he is not doing schoolwork, you can find him training in martial arts, hanging out with his special-needs cat, hunting for books, and donating at the Red Cross. After he finishes law school, he plans to become a prosecutor. 

Lily Sklar
Udall Family Fellow
2025-2026

Lily Sklar grew up in Columbia, Maryland, before moving to Tucson in high school—and she’s been a loyal Wildcat ever since! An alumnus of The Gregory School (Class of 2018), her teenage years were spent acting and performing in every play and musical that she could. She went on to graduate summa cum laude from the University of Arizona in 2022 with a Bachelor’s in Psychology. During her time at the U of A, she served as Vice President of Wildcat Dancesport, the university’s competitive ballroom dance team. Ms. Sklar’s foray into the legal field began with an internship at Southern Arizona Legal Aid’s Family Law Clinic. After her first year of law school, her interest in prosecution was sparked by an externship with the U.S. Attorney's Office (Criminal Division) in Phoenix. During her second year of law school, she worked for the University of Arizona’s Innocence Project Clinic, which deepened her appreciation for informed and accountable prosecution. Currently, Ms.Sklar serves as a Staff Writer for the Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law, focusing her research on international drug trafficking and the ethical enforcement of federal drug laws. In Ms.Sklar’s free time, she enjoys ballroom and swing dancing, karaoke, and exploring Tucson’s local coffee shops with her mini Aussiedoodle, Teddy. After law school, Ms. Sklar hopes to pursue a career in criminal prosecution in the Southwest.

Jackson Bednarczyk
Udall Family Fellow
2024-2025

Jackson Bednarczyk was born and raised in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in Texas. From a young age, Mr. Bednarczyk was interested in reading, writing, and public speaking. As a senior in high school, he joined and became the copy editor of his high school's national award-winning student newspaper - the Marcus Marquee. As copy editor, Mr. Bednarczyk won multiple state awards for his news, opinion, and column writing, including the award for best personal column of all Texas high school students. Mr. Bednarczyk graduated high school as a National Merit Scholar and then attended the University of Oklahoma, where he double majored in History and Sociology and minored in Chemistry. While at OU, Mr. Bednarczyk also interned for a history of science research librarian, Dr. JoAnn Palmeri, which increased his love for scholarship and learning. After college, he traveled west to the University of Arizona for law school. Mr. Bednarczyk had the amazing opportunity to extern for Arizona Supreme Court Justice Kathryn King during the summer of 2023, which inspired him to pursue a career in public service and to use his legal education to help Arizona citizens. In his free time, Mr. Bednarczyk loves to hike, read, and learn languages. He taught himself Spanish and is currently learning Japanese. 

Derek Kilgore
Udall Family Fellow
2022-2023

Derek Kilgore is a native Arizonan and Phoenician. After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the United States Army where he served as a Military Police officer for six years. While on active duty he served in Hawaii and Germany. He also participated in numerous NATO missions throughout the European theatre in various countries including Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. After leaving active duty in 2017, Mr. Kilgore attended Arizona State University where he majored in Philosophy and minored in Justice Studies, graduating Summa Cum Laude in 2020. During his senior year at Arizona State University, Mr. Kilgore served as an AmeriCorps intern in Maricopa County. During that internship, Mr. Kilgore worked in the self-service center at the Maricopa County Superior Courthouse helping litigants through the process of filing motions in their respective courts. Mr. Kilgore began his legal education at the University of Arizona in the Fall of 2020. Currently he is a fellow for the Program in Criminal Law and Policy at the law school. He assists in organizing a weekly speaker series that is held at the law school in which different professionals from the criminal law field come and present on different topics.

Jessica Smedley
Udall Family Fellow
2021-2022

Jessica Smedley is considered a non-traditional law student by most standards.  After earning her Political Science degree from San Jose State University in 2012, she enlisted in the United States Navy.  While active duty, Jessica spent most of her time stationed in Washington, DC working in the Intelligence community.  There, she principally worked in explosive safety and military law enforcement. She also served as the command’s suicide prevention coordinator and wrote for the U.S. Naval Institute to bring awareness to veteran suicidality, veteran criminality, and the role of Veteran Treatment Courts in reducing veteran recidivism.  Jessica was medically discharged in late 2018, after which she decided to apply to law school.  Jessica now works on the Arizona Journal for International and Comparative Law, and is a student member of the Federal Bar Association and 2L Delegate for the Student Bar Association. Jessica is also an avid equestrian and competes in classical dressage.  She owns two horses and has enjoyed incorporating them into her volunteer efforts with 4H, Veteran’s Day parades, and other events—to include bringing her retired gelding, Boden, to Arizona Law for Wellness Week in Fall 2019.  She hopes to pursue a career in criminal prosecution in Prescott so she can continue serving the community alongside her husband, Brenden, who is also a law enforcement professional.

Samantha Walker
Udall Family Fellow
2020-2021

Samantha Walker is a third-year law student at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. She is an Articles Editor for Arizona Law Review and the President of the Christian Legal Society university chapter, serving as Vice President her 2L year.  She received an award for Outstanding Performance in Legal Writing her 1L year and a CALI Award in Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance her 2L year. Prior to attending law school, Samantha earned a double-major in English and Creative Writing, magna cum laude, from the University of Arizona, graduating in three years. Samantha worked for the Town of Marana legal department throughout the summer after 1L year, where she developed her interest in the public sector.  After graduating in May of 2021, Samantha plans to become a prosecutor in Arizona, hopefully in her hometown of Tucson.

Jocelyn Tellez-Amado
Udall Family Fellow
2019-2020

Jocelyn Tellez-Amado, is a third-year law student at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. She is the Senior Note Editor for the Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law and is involved with the Student Bar Association, Latino Law Student Association, and the Law Women’s Association, serving on the boards for all three organizations as a 2L. Jocelyn interned in the Southern Arizona White Collar and Criminal Enterprise Section of the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, beginning in the summer after 1L year and throughout her 2L year.  Before attending law school, Jocelyn earned her B.B.A. in Finance and Latino Studies from the University of Notre Dame and worked for two years as an associate banking advisor at Northern Trust in the Chicago and Phoenix offices. During her undergraduate studies, she completed internships with the Law Library of Pima County Superior Court, the Pima County Legal Defender’s Office, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
As a native Tucsonan, Jocelyn hopes to become a prosecutor in the area after graduating from law school in May 2020.  

Kristen Canada
Udall Family Fellow
2018-2019

Kristen Canada, is a second-year law student at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. She is on the Family & Juvenile Law Association Board as well as the Federalist Society Board. She is also a competitor in the Fegtly Moot Court Competition. Kristen is currently enrolled in the Prosecution Clinic at the Town of Marana, where she previously worked as a law clerk.
Before attending law school, Kristen earned her B.S. in Criminal Justice Studies, summa cum laude, from the University of Arizona. As an undergraduate student, Kristen served as Vice President of the Delta Iota Chapter of the Pi Sigma Alpha Political Science Honor Society and was active in the Criminal Justice Club. She also interned with the Pima County Legal Defender’s Office as well as the Office of Congressman Duncan D. Hunter.
After graduating from law school, Kristen hopes to become a prosecutor in the greater Tucson area.

Jairo E. Holguin
Udall Family Fellow
2017-2018

Jairo Holguin, a third-year law student at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law and the recipient of 2017 – 2018 Udall Family Prosecution Fellowship. I discovered my love for public service during my four-year service as an Auxiliary Police Officer with the New York City Police Department. After concluding my service, I interned at the European Parliament in Brussels Belgium where I attended meetings held by the International Criminal Court. In 2013, I completed my undergraduate studies at the University of Rochester and shortly after, I become a high school teacher in New York City. After two years in the classroom, I began my first year of law school at SUNY Buffalo Law School. My first summer of law school, I worked at Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC, a large full-service New York law firm.
Immediately after transferring to Arizona Law, I felt I wanted to get back into public service and began volunteering with the Southern Arizona Legal Aid. There, I helped low-income families obtained guardianship orders of minor children. My second year of law school, I applied to be the Udall Fellow and was honored to have been chosen. My second summer of law school, I worked at the Tucson City Prosecutor’s Office where I litigated a bench trial and a jury trial at City Court. In the Fall of 2017, I worked at the Pima County Attorney’s Office where litigated more than ten misdemeanor trials at Justice Court. In January 2018, I began rotating between the Criminal Appeals section of the Arizona Attorney General’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. In Criminal Appeals, I write appellate briefs to the Arizona appellate courts while in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, I assist federal prosecutors by conducting legal research on interesting issues of criminal law.