DC Pro Bono Week 2019 Profiles: Complete Set
28 October 2019 Blog, DC Pro Bono Week, Featured
During DC Pro Bono Week 2019 we profiled lawyers who made a profound difference in the lives of their pro bono clients despite heavy demands on their time. We hope they have inspired you to take on your own pro bono case.
Pro Bono in Protest: Protecting First Amendment Freedoms in the District
24 October 2019 Blog, Featured
D.C. hosts over 2,000 protests a year. This unique landscape gives local lawyers an amazing chance to protect democracy and uphold the First Amendment.
To highlight and promote pro bono opportunities in this exciting area, the Washington Council of Lawyers hosted Pro Bono in Protest: Protecting First Amendment Freedoms in the District on October 22, 2019 at Steptoe & Johnson, with co-sponsorship from the American Constitution Society, the Filipino American Lawyers Association of Washington, DC, and the Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association.
Discussing Black Maternal Health and Domestic Violence
23 October 2019 Blog, East River of the River Profiles, Featured
Every year, pregnancy-related complications kill about 700 women. That’s bad enough, but the racial disparity makes it even worse: Compared to white women, black women are three times more likely to die because of pregnancy. Ujima: The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community wants more people to learn about this gap and, more generally, that too many black women and black babies suffer avoidable deaths. Ujima provides culturally specific services and resources about domestic, sexual, and community violence. Says its Executive Director, Gretta Gardner, “We hope to bring awareness that will spur conversations in the community about how we have to rely on each other to reduce harm and raise awareness instead of relying solely on systems and institutions.” So two weeks ago (on Monday, October 14), Ujima held an event at Busboys and Poets in Anacostia to discuss black maternal health and how it relates to domestic violence. The program was one of over thirty District events held in October for Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Moderated by Ujima Senior Policy Attorney Megan Simmons, the panel featured two reproductive-rights leaders: Dr. Jamila Perritt (a local OBGYN and member of the District’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee) and Jessica Pinckney (Vice President of Government Affairs at In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda). The panelists were blunt about the relationship between domestic violence and maternal health. “Many folks who will someday become pregnant or potentially become mothers or parents have often experienced some type of abuse or violence in their life,” said Pinckney. And “there is no way to separate the trauma or that experience from both the experience of being pregnant and the experience of being a parent.” In fighting these problems, the panelists stressed, there’s no substitute for knowing about reproductive justice and its history. As Dr. Perritt explained, “If you don’t understand reproductive justice, you will continue to see inequities.” And, she added, “you can’t understand the inequalities with medical care unless you understand the history.” Because of this history, for instance, some African-Americans distrust medical professionals; that distrust can affect the quality of care delivered and received. As a result, doctors and other medical providers need to ask better questions to learn whether someone is a victim of violence: “You have to ask if something is going on.” Unfortunately, quite a bit is going on. According to the National Network to End Domestic Violence, last year District domestic-violence organizations served an average of 589 victims—each day. Bit by bit, groups like Ujima are working to change that. Learn more about Ujima, Inc. here.
Pro Bono Week 2019: Paul Thompson – Appellate Pro Bono
21 October 2019 Blog, Featured
Paul Thompson, a partner with McDermott Will & Emery LLP, is a very successful, well-known appellate lawyer. Despite his busy practice, he regularly uses his skills and experience to advocate on behalf of pro bono clients. He handles a wide-range of appeals on behalf of pro bono clients and is a frequent author of amicus briefs. Two of his most noteworthy efforts this year highlight Paul’s commitment to pro bono.
Pro Bono Week Profiles 2019: Jane Garrido – Making Housing Vouchers Work
21 October 2019 Blog, Featured
Voucher discrimination is rampant in DC. Every day, new apartment ads are posted online that say no vouchers, and every day people are illegally rejected from housing because a landlord does not want to accept vouchers. This problem is so widespread and so harmful that it demanded the attention of Neighborhood Legal Services Program. Once we started working on it, we quickly realized the significant impact pro bono attorneys could have. In 2017, NLSP piloted the idea of collaborating with government pro bono volunteers to file Office of Human Rights (OHR) complaints against landlords who turned people away from housing because they had vouchers. Jane Garrido was one of the first pro bono attorneys to file an OHR complaint on behalf of someone experiencing voucher discrimination. She and one of her colleagues at the Department of Labor helped a man who was experiencing homelessness to navigate the OHR process and to demand justice from the landlord who had rejected him illegally. After that first experience, Jane came back for more. And kept coming back!
Pro Bono Week 2019: Tammy Hui – Inspired by the Entrepreneurial Spirit
16 October 2019 Blog, Featured
For Tammy Hui, a volunteer with the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center’s Small Business Legal Assistance Program, entrepreneurship is in her blood. Tammy is a native of Edmonton, the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta, where she grew up as the daughter of a general contractor father and the niece of automotive shop owners and restauranteurs. “That’s what attracted me to business owners, that entrepreneurial spirit,” she says. “Folks who are willing to make huge leaps without any protection. I’m drawn to helping those people as best I can.”
Pro Bono Week 2019: Karen Zacharia – Prioritizing Pro Bono
16 October 2019 Blog, Featured
“Busy.” It seems this one word has become an increasingly acceptable answer any time a friend or colleague asks “How are you?” As Chief Privacy Officer of Verizon, Karen Zacharia would be justified in doing this. But she won’t. Not unless you ask her outright. And she is never too busy for pro bono. In a city full of capable, ambitious attorneys eager to prove how busy they are by commiserating about outlandish deadlines and skipped meals, Karen, sets an example by finding time to do pro bono work and encouraging others to do the same. “I recently heard someone use the phrase ‘ruthless prioritization.'” She says. “That phrase very aptly describes how I manage my time. I determine what is most important for me professionally and personally and try to focus on those items as much as possible. I appreciate how fortunate I am, and it has always been important to me to try to ‘give back’ to others.”
Pro Bono Week 2019 Profile: Jody Cummings – Removing the Barrier of a Criminal Record
09 October 2019 Blog, Featured
Jody Cummings, a partner at Steptoe & Johnson LLP, has been an ardent pro bono volunteer for the Expungement Clinic for Rising for Justice (formerly Law Students In Court) for more than two years. His service to the people of the District of Columbia through his volunteerism is exemplary. Jody is the model of sustained excellence in pro bono service.
Pro Bono Week 2019 Profile: Bez Stern – Representing Unaccompanied Children
09 October 2019 Blog, Featured
In recent years, the complexities of immigration advocacy have dominated headlines and galvanized the legal field. Representing unaccompanied children is a uniquely difficult task due to fear within the immigrant community, mistrust of legal and immigration systems, and challenges like family separation and increased barriers to relief. Children come to the United States fleeing horrific violence, severe abuse, deep poverty, gangs and other unimaginable harm. As the number of unaccompanied minors entering the United States rises, so does the need for quality representation of these children in their immigration cases. Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) recruits child-friendly pro bono attorneys to take on this important casework and KIND’s Washington, D.C. office was fortunate to find Bezalel Stern, Special Counsel at Kelley Drye & Warren LLP.