DC Pro Bono Week Profiles: Partnership to Freedom: Supporting Maryland Lifers in Access to Justice through Parole
17 October 2024 Blog, DC Pro Bono Week, Featured
The Prison Policy Initiative projects that Maryland incarcerates 475 persons per every 100,000 people in the state. Maryland’s exceptionally high rate of incarceration stands out on an international scale, outpacing several NATO-member nations. See id. As the State’s Attorney General recently acknowledged, Maryland’s prisons are among the worst in the nation for their racially disparate incarceration of Black people. The disparities are particularly extreme among the more than 2,000 people serving life-with-parole sentences: about 77% of Maryland lifers are Black, in a state that is about 31% Black. For those who were children at the time they were first incarcerated, the numbers are even more stark – 84%.
DC Pro Bono Week Profiles: Tim Cordova: A Commitment to Helping the Disabled
17 October 2024 Blog, DC Pro Bono Week, Featured
Tim Cordova, an associate in the Health Care Group at Alston & Bird, has built a reputation for his meticulous work in health care legislative and regulatory compliance matters. But beyond his daily practice, Tim’s has established a commitment to pro bono work, particularly in helping disabled individuals secure much-needed Social Security disability benefits and health care coverage. Tim has become an advocate for those who need it most, working tirelessly to assist clients through difficult appeals processes and ensuring they receive the support they deserve.
DC Pro Bono Week Profiles: Strengthening Support for Immigrant Survivors: The Power of Medical-Legal Partnerships
11 October 2024 Blog, DC Pro Bono Week, Featured
In Washington, D.C., the collaboration between La Clinica Del Pueblo and the Tahirih Justice Center is significantly impacting the lives by—Latiné* immigrant survivors of gender-based violence (GBV). This medical-legal partnership represents a crucial lifeline for communities often excluded from traditional healthcare and legal support, particularly for those within the Latiné immigrant population. By combining the expertise of La Clinica Del Pueblo in providing culturally appropriate health services with the legal advocacy strength of the Tahirih Justice Center, this initiative provides an integrated and holistic approach to the complex challenges faced by these individuals.
DC Pro Bono Week Profiles: Empowering Progress: Volunteer Lawyers Changing Lives with DCVLP
11 October 2024 Blog, DC Pro Bono Week, Featured
Nonprofits play a critical role in serving low-income, historically underserved communities. In Washington, DC, the DC Volunteer Lawyers Project fills these gaps by recruiting, training, and supervising pro bono attorneys who in turn represent clients in family law, child advocacy, and immigration matters. DCVLP and its volunteers focus on serving survivors of domestic violence, survivors of gender-based violence, and vulnerable children. Volunteer attorneys donated 48,000 pro bono hours in 2023 alone. Two of these volunteers are Anne (Annie) Bonfiglio and Sarah Tunney.
DC Pro Bono Week 2024 Affiliated Trainings
08 October 2024 Blog, DC Pro Bono Week, Featured
In addition to the main DC Pro Bono Week events, a series of affiliated trainings will take place before, during, and after Pro Bono Week. The full list is below: October 9 Introduction to Pro Bono Advocacy for Unaccompanied Immigrant Children 2:00-3:15 pm CT Register October 23 Family Separation Learn about the Ms. L v. ICE settlement agreement and the legal processes it provides for separated families. 12:00 – 1:00 pm ET Register November 7 Understanding Family Law vs. Probate Law 1:00-2:00 pm ET Virtual Register If you are hosting a training between now and the end of November, we would love to feature it on our Affiliated Trainings page! Please email Chris Marin at cmarin@wclawyers.org for more information.
DC Pro Bono Week Profiles: DLA Piper’s Knowledge Management Team Supporting DC Access to Justice Commission
03 October 2024 Blog, DC Pro Bono Week, Featured
Pro Bono Week profiles frequently highlight traditional client work done by lawyers, but law firms and their professional staff can also be a resource for advancing access to justice in systemic ways. For over a decade, DLA Piper has provided a range of support to the D.C. Access to Justice Commission to further its efforts to examine and address the access to justice crisis in the District.
DC Pro Bono Week Profiles: Barb Burr, Passionate Family Law Advocate
03 October 2024 Blog, DC Pro Bono Week, Featured
Barb Burr always wanted to help people. A certified CPA, she decided to pivot into a legal career because she missed the opportunity to engage with “people in a deep and meaningful way.” After graduating from Harvard Law School, Barb started her legal career as a civil rights lawyer, eventually falling in love with family law. Her background in civil rights and her commitment to low bono and pro bono work reflect her original mission: “I find it really rewarding when I can help people,” Barb shares, “including people of modest means through DC Refers.”
DC Pro Bono Week Profiles: Pro Bono Partnership that Increase Capacity for Advocacy
27 September 2024 Blog, DC Pro Bono Week, Featured
As sponsors of one of Tzedek DC’s prior Equal Justice Works Fellows, PayPal and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP expressed interest in pro bono opportunities at Tzedek DC. Together, the organizations decided that having PayPal and Orrick employees conduct intakes would be the most helpful to Tzedek DC and provide an easy and rewarding opportunity to volunteers. When volunteers conduct intakes, Tzedek DC staff attorneys can devote more time to their other cases, increasing the capacity of Tzedek DC to assist DC residents.
DC Pro Bono Week Profiles: Shaun Boedicker and Gammon Fain
19 September 2024 Blog, DC Pro Bono Week, Featured
DCALF and Steptoe LLP are thrilled to profile a recent, tremendous pro bono collaboration. One of DCALF’s long-standing clients had been awaiting an asylum interview for nearly 7 years when we had the opportunity to collaborate with the Steptoe team. Shaun Boedicker and Gammon Fain, with the support of Pro Bono Partner, Paul Lee. The team quickly rallied to file a mandamus brief in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia demanding that USCIS hear our client’s long-pending asylum case. Our client is a gay man who suffered persecution in his home country in west Africa where being gay is illegal. With Steptoe’s filing, within weeks, the 7-year wait was over – USCIS quickly scheduled him for an asylum interview and was granted asylum. Our client’s fears and anxieties are now lifted and he is able to plan for his future and continue his small business.