CLINICAL AND PRO BONO PROGRAMS
LEARNING THE LAW | SERVING THE WORLD
NEWSLETTER
October, 2014
HARVARD LAW SCHOOL
CELEBRATES
NATIONAL PRO BONO WEEK
CLINICAL AND PRO BONO PROGRAMS PAGE 1
Celebrating Our Pro Bono Champions
OCP: Why did you choose to
study law and what sparked
your interest in pro bono work?
Edmonds: I decided to study law
because it seemed like many of
the people I admired as social
change agents were lawyers and
the practice of law seemed like
one of the best ways to fight for
justice. I can't exactly say what
sparked my interest in pro bono
work since that is redundant with
my interest in law. It never
occurred to me that I would work
for a client who could afford to pay me. I was only ever
interested in representing people who would not be able to
pay me because they would be the ones who would most need
my services.
OCP: What were your biggest learning experiences at
HLS?
Edmonds: I was fortunate to have extraordinary mentors and
teachers both during my summer internships and during my
two years as a student-attorney at the Harvard Legal Aid
Bureau. I probably learned the most from my mistakes --
things I did which still make me blush, but which my clinical
supervisors helped me to reflect upon and learn from. Above
all, my clinical experience, which is where I did most of my
pro bono hours, taught me how to be self-reflective about my
practice, so that no experience went wasted. In any situation,
whether I performed well or performed poorly,
I was asked to reflect on how I could have done better.
OCP: What do you find most challenging and satisfying
about pro bono work?
Edmonds: Working with clients! Working with clients is so
often the most challenging part of pro bono work, particularly
in the work I have chosen to do, because so many of them
have had really rotten luck in life and consequently assume
that the system is going to give them yet another raw deal, and
unfortunately, I am often seen as part of that system. But the
opportunity to improve a client's life by some modest
modicum, or even to help them to turn it around in some
cases, is so satisfying.
OCP: Did your involvement with pro bono work
influence or change you long terms goals?
Edmonds: I wouldn't say my pro bono work changed my long
term goals, so much as fortifying them. I came into law school
wanting to do public interest work with every ounce of my
being, and yet the pressure to go to a firm is so strong that
even I participated in on-campus interviewing. The
availability of summer funding from HLS enabled me to turn
down the firm offers I received and spend my second summer
at a public defender office instead, which is the field I entered
upon graduation. I certainly could not have imagined that ca-
reer, or been prepared for it, without that summer experience.
And my experience at HLAB was so influential that I am now
doing a clinical teaching fellowship through which I hope to
teach and mentor and inspire a new generation of law students
the way my clinical instructors at the Bureau did for me.
In celebration of the National Pro Bono Week, the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs interviewed past winners of the HLS Andrew
L. Kaufman Pro Bono Service Award who were chosen for their excellence and extraordinary contributions to the public good. Mira
Edmonds, HLS ’07, is a Visiting Associate Professor of Clinical Law at George Washington University Law School. At HLS, she completed
2,114 hours of pro bono work with the Harvard Prison Legal Assistance Project and the Harvard Legal Aid
Bureau (HLAB). Lam Ho, HLS ’08, is the Executive Director at Community Activism Law Alliance and completed over 3,000 hours of pro
bono work with Harvard Defenders and the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau. And, Kimberly Newberry, HLS ’14, completed over 2,300 hours of
pro bono work with Harvard Defenders, Harvard Prison Legal Assistance Project (PLAP), the Criminal Justice Institute (CJI), the
Housing Clinic, and the Capital Punishment Clinic. Please read the interviews with Mira, Lam, and Kimberly below.
INTERVIEWS WITH THE ANDREW L. KAUFMAN PRO BONO SERVICE
AWARD WINNERS
PRO BONO HOURS AT HARVARD LAW SCHOOL CLASS OF 2014 - 341,951 hours completed CLASS OF 2011 - 366,204 hours completed
CLASS OF 2013 - 342,069 hours completed CLASS OF 2010 - 329,934 hours completed
CLASS OF 2012 - 352,120 hours completed CLASS OF 2009 - 308,605 hours completed
Mira Edmonds, HLS ’07
INTERVIEW WITH MIRA EDMONDS, HLS ’07
3,025,466 TOTAL PRO BONO HOURS COMPLETED AT HARVARD LAW SCHOOL SINCE THE YEAR OF 2005
LEARNING THE LAW | SERVING THE WORLD PAGE 2
OCP: Why did you choose to study law and what sparked your
interest in pro bono work?
Ho: I knew from a very young age that I wanted to be an attorney
working with disadvantaged populations because of my
personal background, which exposed me to many
examples of how unequal access to justice is in our
country, including my mother, a victim of domestic
violence, who was an even greater victim to our legal
system due to her gender, immigrant status, and inability
to speak English.
OCP: What do you think the biggest learning
experiences were?
Ho: For me personally, discovering and negotiating the limitations of
"the law." By acknowledging that the legal system can sometimes be
slow, unfair, inequitable, or ineffectual for creating true social
change, I opened myself to, and learned to push the boundaries, of
what "lawyering" is. My work now is focused on how much more
lawyers can do: besides filing lawsuits, reading statutes, and arguing
in courts. In particular, "community activism lawyering," the model
on which my new organization (the Community Activism Law
Alliance) is based, focuses on how lawyers can create powerful
collaborations with activists and social movements to produce more
meaningful, greater impact than what they can achieve alone in the
courtroom.
OCP: What do you find most challenging and
satisfying about pro bono work?
Ho: Obviously the most satisfying is the assistance that we
can provide our clients. The moment when our
clients realize they've won are the moments that keep us
going. The most challenging is the sheer magnitude and
extent of injustices that exist, and the comparative tininess
of resources available with which to fight them: both in
terms of financial and human capacity.
OCP: Did your involvement with pro bono work influence or
change you long terms goals?
Ho: It definitely affirmed my childhood dream of becoming a public
interest attorney, but more importantly, it gave me greater clarity on
how to pursue and realize the dream, filling in the details and colors
of the vision.
OCP: Why did you choose to study law and what sparked your
interest in pro bono work?
Newberry: I wanted to study law because I believe that it is one of
the most effective ways to implement change, whether it is for an
individual client or for an entire group of people. Our legal system
has so much power to make a difference, but there is often a major
gap between the services available or the potential strategies and the
people who need those services and strategies the
most. I felt that earning a law degree was a way that I
could personally help address that gap in an area that I
feel extremely passionate about. As someone who
knew coming in to law school that I wanted to go into
public interest law, it was also important to me to do
pro bono work throughout school so that I could best
prepare myself for what I wanted to do after
graduation.
OCP: What do you think the biggest learning
experiences were?
Newberry: The biggest learning experiences were any that gave me
an opportunity to appear in court. Having the chance to go to court
as a student was extremely valuable because I do not think I will
ever have that level of supervision and support as I often had in my
clinics, while at the same time having some degree of responsibility
over certain decisions so that I could still learn and take ownership
over what I was doing. That is a combination that I think is difficult
to replicate once you have a real job. Additionally, going through an
entire jury trial before I graduated was a great way to get out of my
comfort zone and feel more confident in my post-graduate
work. Besides the laundry list of practical skills I developed along
the way, becoming an actual attorney is less intimidating now that I
have had that experience.
OCP: What do you find most challenging and satisfying about
pro bono work?
Newberry: For me, the most challenging and most satisfying part of
pro bono work is the same thing - the clients. For a variety of
reasons, it can be difficult to work with the clients sometimes,
whether they have an inherent distrust of anyone involved in the
system - including their own lawyers’ or language barriers, or
differing priorities, etc. Pro bono work involves a lot
of actual legal work, but maintaining client
relationships can be the hardest, and most emotional,
task. But then when you do get on the same page and
you finally earn someone’s trust or get a positive
outcome in the case, it is definitely satisfying to know
that it all paid off. Sometimes it feels like a smile
from a client is a bigger achievement than a win in
court - although it is great to get both, too.
OCP: Did your involvement with pro bono work
influence or change you long terms goals?
Newberry: I came in knowing that I wanted to go into death
penalty appeals, so while my pro bono experiences in law school did
not enlighten me as to a specific career path, they did help me
confirm my goals and develop the skills I needed to feel prepared for
this type of work after graduation. It was really helpful to have
multiple opportunities throughout law school to try different types of
defense work and interact with the criminal justice system at
different stages - the beginning of the process through trial in CJI,
appellate work in the death penalty clinic, and parole hearings
through PLAP. Having these different experiences helped me feel
more confident in my decision that I most enjoy appellate work, and
it also gave me broader knowledge of the system as a whole that I
hope will benefit my work and my future clients.
Lam Ho, HLS ’08
Kimberly Newberry, HLS ’14
INTERVIEW WITH LAM HO, HLS ’08
INTERVIEW WITH KIMBERLY NEWBERRY, HLS ’14
PAGE 3
HLS ALUM EMPHASIZES THE NEED AND VALUE OF PRO BONO WORK
By Eric Ruzicka, HLS ’01
Partner, Dorsey & Whitney LLP
I will never forget the morning of my first class at
Harvard Law School. 8:30 a.m., Civil Procedure, with
Professor Arthur Miller. Truthfully, I found the event
more fear inducing than inspirational. Yet, I was always
in awe while sitting in a historic classroom learning the
law from world renowned professors.
However, one of the bigger regrets I have concerning
my years at Harvard Law School is not participating in
one of the Clinical Programs. While the Clinical
Programs were not as developed then as
they are now, there were still many
excellent opportunities. I can recall
thinking at the time that I only had three
years at HLS and that my time was best
spent in the classroom. I also recall my
concern that as a law student, there
wasn’t much I could offer the
individuals served by the clinics. After
all, I was just learning the law and
certainly didn’t know what it meant to
be a lawyer yet.
It did not take long after graduation to
realize how wrong I was about the
clinical programs. My first day as an
associate, I was given an assignment by a senior partner
to draft a complaint in a contract dispute. After walking
me through what needed to be done, he explained that if
I was going to work with him on the contract dispute, I
also needed to take on a pro bono matter and that he
hoped I would always be working on at least one pro
bono matter while at the firm. With very little guidance,
I then found myself assisting a client in expunging his
criminal record. Years ago, while battling depression,
my client had broken into a home in a misguided plan to
be shot by a cop. While his motive was clear – he knew
the home was vacant for the season, knew the home was
equipped with an alarm, and only stole a single pair of
socks – this dark night left my client unable to find
meaningful employment or consistent housing.
Quickly, I learned what I didn’t realize while at HLS.
First, the unmet need for legal services is significant
and requires the attention of every lawyer. Second,
despite being in my first week of practicing law, I had a
lot to offer my client. At a minimum, I
had the ability to understand the legal
process that he needed to navigate and
the skill to persuasively present his
story.
Currently, I serve as the pro bono
partner for Dorsey & Whitney, oversee-
ing the pro bono program in all of our
offices. In this role I am reminded on a
daily basis of both the never-ending
unmet need for pro bono legal services
as well as the amazing benefit that
lawyers can provide. Sometimes, the
most important component of providing
pro bono services is simply letting the
client know they have someone that is there for them
and on their side. For these reasons, I strongly
encourage students to get involved in the Clinical
Programs at HLS. You will find the experience to be a
great opportunity to learn how to work with clients and
advocate on their behalf. But even more so, you may
find it to be the most rewarding and inspiring
experience in your HLS years.
“I am reminded on a daily basis of both the never-ending unmet need
for pro bono legal services as well as the amazing benefit that
lawyers can provide.”
Eric Ruzicka, HLS ’01
Eric Ruzicka, HLS ’01
CLINICAL AND PRO BONO PROGRAMS
LEARNING THE LAW | SERVING THE WORLD PAGE 4
A PRO BONO ROLE MODEL AND CHAMPION: EDWARD M. GINSBURG ’58
Via the American Bar Association
On August 9th, 2014, at the ABA Annual Meeting in
Boston, the Hon. Edward M. Ginsburg (Ret.)
received an ABA Pro Bono Publico Award. This award
honors those who have enhanced the human dignity of
others by improving or delivering volunteer legal
services to the poor. Judge – you make us proud!
Via the American Bar Association
Edward M. Ginsburg was an
Associate Justice of the
Massachusetts Probate and Family
Court for nearly 25 years. Prior to
his appointment to the judiciary,
Judge Ginsburg ran his own
private law practice for 18 years.
Upon his retirement from the
bench in 2002, Judge Ginsburg
founded the pro bono program
Senior Partners for Justice in
cooperation with the Volunteer
Lawyers Project of the Boston Bar
Association. Senior Partners has
grown to more than 1000
members including attorneys,
retired judges, and law students.
Among the attorneys are many
experienced family law practition-
ers who represent low-income cli-
ents and mentor newer attorneys.
In addition to his busy pro bono
career with Senior Partners for
Justice, Judge Ginsburg serves as
a mentor to the family law unit of
Community Legal Aid, a legal services organization
that provides free legal assistance to low-income
residents of Central and Western Massachusetts. He is
also an adjunct professor at both Boston College Law
School and Suffolk University Law School, where he
has taught trial practice and family law for many years.
Judge Ginsburg has taught and continues to teach
numerous continuing legal education programs for
Suffolk University Law School, Massachusetts
Continuing Legal Education, the Boston Bar
Association and the Massachusetts Bar Association. A
thought leader before there was such a term, his
published articles and book chapters have helped shape
the practice of family law in Massachusetts. He also
writes the popular and sometimes provocative Ask the
Judge column for Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.
Judge Ginsburg is member of Massachusetts Chapter
of the Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and the
Massachusetts Family and Probate American Inn of
Court.
A valued member of the legal community and a true
citizen of the world, Judge
Ginsburg has served in leadership
roles of many legal and civic or-
ganizations. He is one of the long-
est serving members of the Board
of Editors of Massachusetts Law-
yers Weekly; a longstanding
member of the Mental Health
Legal Advisors Committee; and
Trustee Emeritus of the Flaschner
Foundation Judicial Institute. He
was selected by the Supreme
Judicial Court Steering Commit-
tee on Self-Represented Litigants
to chair the Limited Assistance
Representation Advisory Group
which designed the first LAR
pilot project in Massachusetts.
Outside the legal world, Judge
Ginsburg served on the Board of
Trustees of World Education, Inc.
and World Learning, Inc. where
he now has Emeritus status.
Judge Ginsburg has received
many awards honoring his
excellence as a jurist, educator, and force for furthering
access to justice for all. Lawyers Weekly named him
Lawyer of the Year in 2004. In 2005, the Supreme
Judicial Court Standing Committee on Pro Bono
selected him for the prestigious John and John Quincy
Adams Pro Bono Public Award. Also in 2005, the
Boston Globe named Judge Ginsburg Bostonian of the
year for his revelations about leaks in Big Dig tunnels
which he discovered while leading efforts in 2002 to
2005 to recover costs from Big Dig contractors. He is a
graduate of Philips Exeter Academy, Harvard College,
and Harvard Law School.
Judge Edward M. Ginsburg (Retired),
Senior Partners for Justice
PAGE 5 CLINICAL AND PRO BONO PROGRAMS
TENANT ADVOCACY PROJECT
STUDENT WINS HEARING FOR HOUSING CLIENT By Amanda Morejon, J.D. ’16
When I accepted my first case with the Tenant Advocacy
Project, it seemed straightforward enough. My client, a
wheel-chair dependent man in his late 60s, had applied to
the Boston Housing Authority’s Public Housing Program
several years ago. In the last few years he had become
very active in his church and neighborhood community
and maintained his skills as a former chef. After moving
to the top of the wait-list and passing all the neighbor
screenings and financial requirements, his application was
denied due to an old criminal record.
My first thought was
that the Boston Hous-
ing Authority (BHA)
simply did not
realize that my client
had changed his life. I
imagined that once the
BHA saw the mitigat-
ing evidence, their
opinion of my client
would change. I was
surprised to find that
they had already
reviewed letters of
support from his former
employers and letters
from his church community. I quickly learned that the
Occupancy Department at the BHA will not approve an
applicant who has any criminal
record no matter how minor or
how old the record is.
Fortunately, my client could
appeal the decision and contacted
the Tenant Advocacy Project.
I was assigned to his case in
September and almost four
months later (a day before my
last exam) we were informed that the Appeal Hearing
would take place in two weeks, on the first day that stu-
dents returned to campus from winter break.
With the guidance of my supervisor, Lynn Weissberg, I
prepared the case for our hearing. I compiled the
mitigating evidence and character reference letters,
gathered additional letters of support, analyzed the BHA’s
Admissions & Continued Occupancy Policy (ACOP),
researched similar cases with favorable outcomes, drafted
direct examination questions for my client, and wrote my
closing argument. In the two weeks leading up to the
hearing, I went over the material with him, reviewed his
criminal record, and discussed the changes he had made in
his life after his last conviction. My client’s testimony
would serve as the strongest source of mitigating
evidence so ensuring he felt comfortable answering my
direct examination questions was hugely important.
On the day of the
hearing, everything
came together. My
client was able to
clearly communicate
with the Hearing Of-
ficer and answered
both my questions and
her questions directly.
His thoughtful charac-
ter and commitment to
his community shone
through in his testimo-
ny. His cousin and his
close friend both
attended and testified
regarding his character.
Sixteen business days later we received the decision and
the denial of public housing was overturned. This wonder-
ful news meant that my client was
placed back at the top of the wait-
list.
Without the guidance of my
supervisor, the general support
from the TAP community, and
my client’s trust and patience, we
may not have achieved this
outcome. Knowing that unfair
decisions can be overturned and indigent individuals like
my client can have their voices heard has given me much
hope and confidence. With due diligence we can work to
ensure that people’s rights to receive public housing are
protected.
“Sixteen business days later we
received the decision and the
denial of public housing was
overturned. This wonderful news meant
that my client was placed back at the
top of the wait-list.”
All student work at TAP is performed without credit
and on a pro bono basis.
PAGE 6
PROJECT NO ONE LEAVES
MY TIME WITH PROJECT NO ONE LEAVES REDOUBLED MY COMMITMENT TO
WORKING IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST... By Matt Nickell, J.D. ’14
I started going to Project No One Leaves’ Saturday morning
canvasses in my first year of law school. Project No One
Leaves (PNOL) stood out to me when I got to HLS because
it was one of the only organizations on campus that got law
students out of Cambridge and into Boston communities to
do housing justice work. Project No One Leaves was started
by HLS students at the start of the economic crash in 2008 to
connect people facing foreclosure with legal resources and
community groups that could help them defend against
foreclosure and eviction. Canvassing with PNOL was a great
way to see and enrich my understanding of Boston’s
geography, history, and culture. More important, it gave me
the opportunity to work side-by-
side with community organizers,
homeowners, and tenants as part
of a broader movement resisting
the forces that perpetuate poverty,
inequality, and segregation.
My time with PNOL these past
three years has been tremendously
eventful. A pivotal experience was
attending my first meeting at City
Life / Vida Urbana, a community
organization (and PNOL ally) that
brings together tenants and
homeowners facing foreclosure
and eviction to fight back against
banks and predatory investor-
landlords. The level of energy,
activity, and engagement in the
room was a testament to the
transformative power of com-
munities to transform lives and
neighborhoods through direct
action. Another major highlight
was helping organize PNOL’s
fourth annual foreclosure
conference earlier this year. We
drew 250 lawyers, community
organizers, professors, and
others from over eleven states to talk about the current state
of the foreclosure crisis, including the new dilemmas we are
seeing on the ground and the solutions needed to address
them.
The most important thing about PNOL for me has been the
people. Canvassing with PNOL allowed me to work with
amazing students whose commitment to social justice has
been incredibly inspirational – people like my Co-President
Tyler Anderson, whose thoughtfulness and diligence kept
the organization’s gears moving these past two years; our
Conference Director David Curtis, who helped organize
and run our conference this spring; and our Canvassing
Director Donna Harati, who mapped out and planned
many of our canvasses this past year.
The people I met during PNOL’s weekly canvasses have
been equally inspirational. Almost every homeowner and
tenant who answered my knock at the door was extremely
kind and courteous, but many had sad stories to tell that
could move anyone to tears. Homeowners had been preyed
on by banks that exploited their
vulnerability, tenants did not know
whom to contact about needed
property repairs and health code
violations, and many had recently
lost jobs, health insurance, or
family members. Fortunately,
many of the people I met became
active advocates for change
themselves, attending City Life
meetings and speaking out against
the predatory practices that
devastated their communities. As
a member of the Harvard Legal
Aid Bureau’s Foreclosure Task
Force, I had the privilege to work
with a number of the homeowners
and tenants I canvassed,
defending them against
eviction in Boston Housing
Court. But the real strength
of the people I met came
from their families and their
communities, not from
within the courtroom.
My time with PNOL
constantly reminded me
why I came to law school
and redoubled my commitment to working in the public
interest. To be part of an organization that allowed me to
work with non-lawyers and non-students to push forward a
grassroots model for systemic change has been a tremendous
privilege. Though of course I wish that foreclosure and
displacement would stop plaguing the communities I care
about, I hope that organizations like PNOL continue to bring
people from various backgrounds together to make those
communities healthier, happier, and stronger.
“To be part of an organization that
allowed me to work with non-lawyers
and non-students to push forward a
grassroots model for systemic change
has been a tremendous privilege.”
Matt Nickell, J.D. ’14 (second on the left)
and PNOL Members
LEARNING THE LAW | SERVING THE WORLD
All student work at PNOL is performed without credit and on a pro bono basis.
SPRING BREAK ROAD TRIPS LEAD TO THE CLINIC, THE DELTA AND
THE DESERT
From March 15-23, 2014, many Harvard Law students used
their spring break to learn about the law outside the
classroom.
Developed and sponsored by the Office of Clinical and Pro
Bono Programs, several teams of HLS students traveled
across the US to work with humanitarians along the Arizona
border, Bostonians trying to seal their criminal records,
immigrants in Texas and children in the Mississippi Delta.
This is the 10th year that the Office of Clinical and Pro
Bono Programs has funded alternative spring break trips for
students. These trips originated in response to Hurricane
Katrina in 2005, when students went to New Orleans to
assist displaced families. “These trips have provided
students with unique experiences. Students often come back
from these trips and remark on how eye-opening and
transformative their trip was,” said Lisa Dealy, Assistant
Dean for Clinical and Pro Bono Programs.
Immigration Border Work
No More Deaths
(Tucson, Arizona)
Six students worked with No More Deaths, an organization
that provides humanitarian aid to migrants on the U.S.-
Mexico border. Students hiked trails in the region to attempt
to map out new routes for the humanitarian aid teams,
monitor border patrol practices and collect information on
the treatment of detainees by Border Patrol. In the past, No
More Deaths volunteers have filed complaints with the
Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Civil Rights
and Civil Liberties, and have collaborated with the ACLU of
New Mexico’s Regional Center for Border Rights in
documenting abuses.
Sima Atri ‘15 and Emma Scott ’15 described their
experience in op-ed in the March 27 edition of The Harvard
Law Record.
“What we
found at the
border was
vastly differ-
ent from the
narrative
we’ve heard
in the media
and in poli-
tics. The de-
sert separat-
ing Mexico
and the U.S. is a warzone, and thousands of migrants have
died in the last decade trying to cross it. During our week
there we witnessed the terror border patrol inflicts on both
migrants and residents. We saw the water bottles we put out
slashed and our own tracks closely monitored. On the trail
we found shrines to Our Lady of Guadalupe, abandoned
backpacks, and tattered shoes, left behind by those
embarking on a journey to save their lives or the lives of
those they love. Rather than meeting drug-mules and crimi-
nals, we found the trails walked by families, hopeful
victims, and people trying to return to their true home.
“Although we didn’t meet any travelers on the trail, we felt
and saw their presence. Food and water we left out on
Monday had been consumed by Wednesday, and fresh trash
appeared along popular trails. Our seasoned guides colored
the landscape with stories of their own encounters. Through
their years of collected experience they had met a myriad of
folks – men, women, and children – with unique and
inspiring stories of hardship and endurance. They had
treated a wide range of medical emergencies, rescued the
waning, and recovered the fallen. Migrants had told them
about how they had been attacked by bandits, had been
separated from their group and wandered the desert lost and
alone for days, and had been chased by dogs unleashed on
them by Border Patrol. Without aid from groups like No
More Deaths, many more would fall mercy to the desert, and
many more would die.”
The trip leaders were HLS Clinical Fellow Emily Leung and
Clinical Instructor Phil Torrey, “Whether students are
interested in pursuing a career in immigration law or
learning more about border issues generally, witnessing
firsthand the suffering that is taking place at the U.S./
Mexico border is a transformative experience. It’s
something that will hopefully inform their future work in
law school and beyond,” Leung said.
PAGE 7 CLINICAL AND PRO BONO PROGRAMS
Via HLS News
PAGE 8
CORI project
Greater Boston Legal Services Center and Legal Advocacy
and Resource Center
(Boston, Massachusetts)
The existence of any criminal record can be a barrier to
employment, housing, and other opportunities, as employers,
housing agencies, volunteer organizations, as well as
government agencies administering public benefits use
criminal offender record information (CORI) as a screening
tool.
Five students volunteered with Greater Boston Legal Services
Center and the Legal Advocacy and Resource Center (LARC)
during spring break to help clients with criminal histories seal
their records, using a Massachusetts law that allows
administrative and court sealing of certain criminal records.
Throughout the week, students met with clients seeking advice
and/or assistance with document preparation. Students helped
prepare CORI requests, petitions to seal (both administratively
before the Office of the Commissioner of Probation and
before the Court), affidavits in support of petition to seal, and
affidavits of indigency.
Sharon Kim ’16 wrote about her experience on her blog: “I
loved my time at LARC, and I am very grateful for having
been provided the opportunity to serve the Greater Boston
community. I’m very thankful to my colleagues, who
reminded me on a daily basis how fortunate I am to be a part
of the HLS community. From our conversations alone, I
learned about the conservative nature of Japanese culture, the
sprawls of ‘Atlanta,’ and the energy industry and its
regulatory framework in the Philippines. It amazed me that
people from all different walks of life could come together in
the way we did for a common cause. Most importantly, I owe
my gratitude to our supervisors Steve [Russo] and Pauline
[Quirion] and the rest of the LARC team, who were extremely
generous with their patience and time. They taught me the
most important lesson of all: that people, regardless of where
they come from, just need someone there to listen to their
story and help carry their burden. That grace and passion can
be found through and from the work you commit yourself to. I
hope that in the future, I can be an inspiration to others as
those at LARC have been to me.”
Voting Rights
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
HLS Students in San Antonio, TX
(San Antonio, Texas)
Six HLS students worked with the Mexican American Legal
Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) to do legal research
and prepare evidence and witnesses for a redistricting case
that could result in
extending Voting Rights
Act preclearance coverage
in one of the most critical
states for minority voters.
Based in San Antonio,
Texas, students drove to
nearby towns and inter-
viewed residents on race
relations and historical
discrimination.
Students also studied San
Antonio’s history of civil
rights issues and the work
that has been done to
establish education, vot-
ing, and other rights for immigrant and minority communities.
Joint Use Project
Delta Directions/Harvard Mississippi Delta Project
(Clarksdale, Mississippi)
Mississippi has both the highest adult and childhood obesity
rates in the country. In one attempt to combat this,
Mississippi passed House Bill 540, which limits the liability
of school districts for claims arising from the joint use of their
facilities.
The goal of the bill was to promote more recreational and
sports activities for Mississippi children by facilitating greater
use of school property, as many communities often lack the
resources for independent facilities.
Four students went to Mississippi schools to compile a toolkit
for implementing joint use agreements with community
organizations to use the school facilities during non-school
hours. Students conducted research on joint use best
practices, and interviewed local school officials to assess their
concerns and needs. Students provided an overview and
training on the joint use toolkit to local schools at the end of
the week.
LEARNING THE LAW | SERVING THE WORLD
PAGE 9
RECORDING ARTIST PROJECT
PRO BONO WORK WITH ASPIRING MUSICIANS
Via the Harvard Gazette
Let’s just say that Elliot Schwab knows how to multitask.
While at Harvard Law School (HLS), he worked for an Israeli
supreme court judge, raised two small children with his wife,
studied Talmudic law, labored on a U.S. Supreme
Court petition, served as a project manager for an international
legal and policy consulting firm, took classes at Harvard
Business School and Harvard College, and prepared for a
career in real estate law, all while doing pro bono work with
aspiring musicians.
Oh, and he’s a songwriter too.
“I have a hard time turning down cool opportunities that
arise,” said Schwab, who will head to New York with his
family for a job with the firm Simpson Thacher after
graduation. “And in a place like Harvard, cool opportunities
arise all the time.”
The New York native’s route to
Cambridge was less traditional
than the average HLS student’s.
Schwab had studied exclusively
in yeshivas in the United States
and Israel, educational
institutions whose prime focus is
on ancient Jewish law. The work
perfectly prepared him for HLS
and beyond, he said, teaching
him how to analyze theoretical
underpinnings and providing
him with “a strong foundation in
moral, religious, cultural, and
ethical spheres.
“That sort of an education turns out to be excellent training for
law school and life.”
But Schwab’s life could have taken a very different turn
during his first HLS year when the music production team
behind artists such as Lady Gaga, Moby, and Linkin Park
came calling after hearing one of his demos.
Schwab’s formal musical training amounted to a few years
playing the piano as a child, but he always loved “thinking
holistically about chords and the relationships between notes.”
As a teen, he taught himself the guitar, harmonica, and
ukulele, and dabbled in songwriting.
In 2009, as a first anniversary present to his wife, Aliza, he
recorded her a song in Israel. She begged him to do another.
He recorded a handful of songs and then reached out to local
music producers, hoping they might produce his work with
other artists.
“I was persistent. I kept recording more songs and harassing
their email inboxes until somebody started listening.”
Listen they did. Schwab knew he’d found success when he
hopped into a Jerusalem taxi during a clerkship for an Israeli
judge last summer, and one of his songs started playing on the
radio. “It has been both humbling and encouraging to shoot for
a seemingly unattainable goal, work hard to realize it, and then
watch my efforts reach fruition and snowball,” he said.
His musical experience came in handy at HLS. He provided
free counsel to music industry artists and producers through
the School’s Recording Artists Project clinic. He also helped
craft a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court with HLS Professor
Charles Nesson that urged the court
to hear the case of Joel Tenenbaum,
a Boston University student sued
by the recording industry and fined
by federal courts for illegally
downloading and distributing
songs.
It also was a priority for Schwab to
maintain his Talmudic studies. And
he worked closely with HLS
professors Alan Dershowitz and
Noah Feldman, helping them with
research and book projects.
When he wasn’t busy at HLS, or
writing the occasional song, one of
Schwab’s favorite pastimes was hosting dinners at his home in
Brighton with his wife and children Shimon, four, and Yisrael,
two.
“At Harvard Law School there are so many brilliant, talented,
and fascinating people coming from a diverse array of
backgrounds. There were so many people from whom to learn
and this was a great way of connecting.”
There were many opportunities to seize at HLS. For the man
who always loves to do more, Harvard was the perfect fit,
though he didn’t necessarily know that coming in.
“I was very excited, but also a bit nervous, and didn’t know
what to expect,” said Schwab. “My experience here has
surpassed my very high expectations. I know that sounds
cliché, but it’s really true.”
CLINICAL AND PRO BONO PROGRAMS
Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer
Elliot Schwab, HLS ’14
LL.M. STUDENT WORKS PRO BONO TO UPHOLD LANGUAGE ACCESS RIGHTS By Anna Chuwen Dai, LL.M. ’14
Language access is a civil right. I first learned about this last
spring semester, when I worked for the Volunteer Lawyers
Project of the Boston Bar Association (VLP), on the language
access rights project. Language-assistance to limited-English-
proficient (LEP) individuals is an important measure of how
civil rights requirements are met. Under Title VI of Civil
Rights Act of 1964, “no person in the
United States shall, on the ground of
race, color, or national origin, be
excluded from participating in, be denied
the benefits of, or be subjected to
discrimination under any program or
activity receiving Federal financial
assistance.” The right to language access
protects people from being discriminated
against based on their national origin.
Striving to uphold these rights, at VLP I
joined other HLS students to examine the
language accessibility of a clerk’s office of a Massachusetts
Family and Probate Court. As part of my work, I visited the
court to conduct on-site investigation and interviews. I looked
at the signs and services from a LEP individual’s perspective.
For instance, I tried to follow the signs for where to file a
complaint and where to find a courtroom for a hearing.
Additionally, I looked at the available multilingual material
distributed in the courthouse and on the court’s website.
Along with my teammates, I also talked to an attorney, two
clerks, and a Chinese court interpreter. The purpose of these
discussions was to learn more about the court’s language
resources, the needs of the court and its visitors, and the court
efforts to help LEP individuals. Following the visit, we drafted
a report based on the information gathered through our
observations and interviews. VLP could
use the report as a tool for helping
the courts improve language access.
Other projects I had a chance to work on
included designing the ‘Know your
language access rights’ fliers, which could
be used to assist low income tenants in
disputing issues with their landlords,
either through mediation or litigation at
the Boston Housing Court. I also took the
opportunity to observe hearings at the
Boston Housing Court, where interpreters
were involved.
If it were not for the efforts and advocacy from organizations
like VLP, language access rights would likely go ignored. It
felt wonderful to know that as students and lawyers we can use
our expertise to fight for these rights and increase awareness
of this issue.
PAGE 10 LEARNING THE LAW | SERVING THE WORLD
HARVARD IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE CLINICAL PROGRAM
HARVARD IMMIGRATION PROJECT STUDENTS CONTINUE TO PUSH FOR
MASSACHUSETTS TRUST ACT
Via the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program
Summer, 2014 came to and end, but the fight to pass the
Massachusetts Trust Act continues. For most of the past year,
the Harvard Immigration Project (HIP) has
had the privilege of membership in the coali-
tion of organizations working to end local law
enforcement compliance with Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers, or
“ICE holds.” Though the campaign did not
succeed in persuading the Massachusetts
General Court to adopt a statewide solution, it
helped achieve tremendous successes at the
local level, in the form of new policies adopt-
ed by several localities in Massachusetts,
including the cities of Somerville and
Cambridge and Hampden County, ending or
limiting the use of ICE holds.
HIP students made important contributions to the Trust
campaign. They conducted legal research and helped draft sign
-on letters to policymakers and law enforcement officials on
behalf of the Trust coalition; participated in call-in and write-in
lobbying campaigns to state legislators and city councilors to
encourage the adoption of Trust policies; and
sat in on strategy meetings with coalition
members and their legislative allies. More
importantly, they will continue to play an
important role in the campaign as it moves
forward. The Boston City Council is currently
considering its own Trust Ordinance, and HIP
will assist in the coalition’s efforts to ensure
that the measure that is ultimately adopted
offers the broadest protections possible. And
HIP will be there in 2015, when the statewide
bill is reintroduced in the next legislative
session of the General Court. We look forward
to continuing to work with our community partners to keep up
the fight against warrantless immigration detention here in
Massachusetts!
All student work at HIP is performed without credit
and on a pro bono basis.
PAGE 11
A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH Via Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly
Richard A. Johnston, HLS ‘ 76, has had a long and fruitful ca-
reer focusing on the litigation and arbitration of complex busi-
ness disputes.
Despite his success, however, it’s safe to say none of his
previous legal victories ever resulted in a courtroom standing
ovation or front-page story in The New York Times.
Johnston, of WilmerHale in Boston, owes those recent
accomplishments to his pro bono work, which recently helped
exonerate Henry Lee McCollum, an
inmate facing a death
sentence for the 1983 rape and murder
of a North Carolina child.
WilmerHale got involved in the case in
1994, and for 20 years the firm’s
efforts were focused on sparing
McCollum’s life. When Johnston
succeeded retired colleague Harry T.
Daniels as the lead partner on the case
two years ago, the firm and its
co-counsel, the Center for Death Pen-
alty Litigation, set their sights on a
clemency petition (which a former
governor declined to grant) and
motions arguing that, as a matter of
law, the death penalty shouldn’t be
imposed on McCollum because he is
intellectually disabled.
McCollum’s team was preparing for an
evidentiary hearing on the question of
the defendant’s mental disability when
the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry
Commission unearthed exonerating
DNA evidence. The emphasis of the
hearing quickly shifted and concluded with a Superior Court
judge in North Carolina ordering the release of McCollum and
his half-brother, Leon Brown, who was serving a life sentence
for the same crime, earlier this month.
The commission is an independent state agency with broad
subpoena powers that was able to put its hands on evidence
long withheld from defense lawyers, including police evidence
gathered in the initial investigation.
DNA tests linked a cigarette found on the scene to Roscoe
Artis, who is in prison for a life sentence for the rape and
murder of an 18-year-old girl that took place just weeks after
the crime for which McCollum and Brown were wrongfully
convicted.
“It wasn’t until the hearing itself that we learned [the district
attorney] definitely was not going to challenge the innocence
and would go along with a motion that all charges should be
dismissed with prejudice,” Johnston says. “It was quiet an
astounding day. There were many family members, press,
ex-lawyers and judges there to see if justice would be done.”
Johnston says hearing the judge read his order at the end of the
day was “an electric experience.”
“I have never had any such feeling in a
courtroom ever. It was almost just a
shiver,” he recalls. “When the order
was read, the crowd just burst into
spontaneous applause.” Johnston says
the experience further affirmed the
decision he made 30 years ago to join
WilmerHale predecessor Hale & Dorr
“because they had a reputation above
all others in Boston for doing public
service and pro bono work.”
“I went to law school because I thought
the law was the best way to try to make
society a better place,” says Johnston,
who spends about 10 percent of his
time on pro bono matters. “When I
elected to go to a firm, I wanted to go
to a firm that I thought would give me
the opportunity to do pro bono as well
as regular commercial cases. …I didn’t
know how [McCollum's case] would
turn out, but I certainly thought it was
worth taking across the finish line.”
While the stakes won’t always be life-or
-death, Johnston hopes his experience
will encourage other lawyers to devote more time to pro bono
matters. He also hopes other states emulate the first-of-its-kind
North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission.
“This is one of those magnificent examples of where the system
ultimately corrects itself. But it doesn’t correct itself on its own;
it corrects itself because of the hard work of many people,”
Johnston says. “The fact that all of these parts of the system can
come together along with the judge was a great lesson in how
things can work if everybody labors at it.”
In addition to Johnston and Daniels, former WilmerHale
partner James E. Coleman Jr. (now at Duke University School
of Law), London partner Steven P. Finizio, and Boston
associates Andrew S. Dulberg and Jared B. Cohen worked on
the McCollum’s case.
CLINICAL AND PRO BONO PROGRAMS
Richard A. Johnston, HLS ‘ 76 Partner at
WilmerHale, and WilmerHale Pro Bono
Attorney at HLS Center for Health Law and
Policy Innovation
PAGE 12
HARVARD PRISON LEGAL ASSISTANCE PROJECT
PLAP LITIGATES IN PRISON AND COURT, WITH A RECENT VICTORY!
LEARNING THE LAW | SERVING THE WORLD
The Prison Legal Assistance Project (PLAP) is known
for its work representing Massachusetts state prisoners in
disciplinary and parole hearings since the early
1970s. PLAP is the only law school clinical program of
its kind in the country. In addition to its work in prisons,
PLAP also advocates for clients through lawsuits in the
Massachusetts courts. De-
spite less than encouraging
odds of winning prisoner
lawsuits, earlier this year
PLAP won a Massachusetts
Superior Court case it filed
on behalf of a client,
Benjamin Blake, who was
convicted in a state prison
disciplinary hearing of
smuggling drugs into prison.
“The evidence was
ridiculously thin, in fact it
was nonexistent, and the
students thought if there was
ever a good case to challenge
in court, this was one such
case,” said Supervising
Attorney and Senior Clinical
Instructor John Fitzpatrick.
Preparing the case for court
was a team effort, involving not only the PLAP students
who represented Blake in his prison disciplinary hearing
and wrote his administrative appeal to the state
Department of Correction (DOC) (Sia Henry ’14 and
Andrew Mamo ’14), but also students researching and
writing the brief to the Superior Court (Brendan Selby
’13 and Corey Banks ’13). Oral argument before
Superior Court Associate Justice Paul Wilson was
handled by another PLAPper, Jake Alderdice ’14.
Fitzpatrick, who supervised Alderdice during the
argument, called his performance “amazing” and “better
than most lawyers could do.”
“I’m grateful for all the help I got from the other student
attorneys on the case and from John. It was great to see a
judge step in and look somewhat critically at the issues
within the Massachusetts prison system, such as guilty
disciplinary findings on very little evidence, that PLAP
confronts every day,” said Jake.
“The court argument lasted over an hour, with lots of
vigorous questioning from the bench and back and forth
between the Judge and counsel. Jake handled every
question superbly, even the curve balls. It’s gratifying to
see our students perform so skillfully in real-life court
situations like this,” Fitzpatrick said.
Hon. John C. Cratsley (Ret.) who
supervises the Judicial Process in
Community Courts Clinic, spent
time working with Alderdice and
Fitzpatrick to prepare for the
upcoming oral argument in court.
“His experience and assistance
was a huge help,” Fitzpatrick
said.
Several weeks later, the Court
released its detailed written
decision, siding with PLAP’s
arguments that the DOC’s guilty
findings were unsupported by
legally sufficient evidence. The
Judge ordered the guilty findings
vacated and the charges
dismissed. After considering its
options, the DOC chose not to
appeal, and the decision now
stands as the final – and for
PLAP’s client, a winning – disposition of the case.
Meanwhile, PLAP has brought other recent lawsuits,
with two pending suits challenging prison disciplinary
hearing guilty findings for different clients. A third
ongoing PLAP suit is against the state Parole Board for
its refusal to parole a prisoner because of his mental
disability of traumatic brain injury. “It looks like 2014 –
2015 will be a busy year in court for PLAP,” observed
Fitzpatrick. “But this is exactly the sort of real litigation
experience our students are looking for, and our clients
benefit tremendously from having such capable and
motivated student attorneys working for them.”
“PLAP is the only law school clinical
program of its kind in the country.”
-John Fitzpatrick, Senior Clinical Instructor
Jacob Alderdice, HLS ‘14
All student work at PLAP is performed without credit
and on a pro bono basis.
Harvard Law School is celebrating National Pro Bono
Week from October 20th to October 24th., 2014 This
celebration honors the outstanding work of lawyers who
volunteer their time to help people in their communities
and increase justice for all. The week will be marked by
ceremonies and panel discussions focused on the value
of pro bono work.
The Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs Invites You to Attend the Following Events:
MON. October 20th GLOBAL PRO BONO: STORIES FROM THE FIELD WCC 3007 12 – 1 pm Co-Sponsored by International Legal Studies and the Graduate Program
Professor of Law William Alford will moderate and
share his insights about his global pro bono work with
the Harvard Law School Project on Disability. Speakers
from the Graduate Program, Arpeeta Shams Mizan will
discuss her street lawyering work in Bangladesh; Leire
Larracoechea San Sebastian will be speaking about her
pro bono work at her private law firm and her current
efforts to launch a clearinghouse for pro bono
opportunities in Spain; and Mirembe Susan Nalunkuma
will be talking about her work representing (as a law
student) LGBT people and sex workers in Uganda.
MON. October 20th PRO BONO RECRUITMENT FAIR AND OPEN HOUSE 120 Tremont St., Boston, MA 4:30 – 6:00 pm Sponsored by the Boston Bar Association and Suffolk Law School
You are cordially invited to attend the sixth annual Pro
Bono Fair for local area attorneys and law students. This
event provides attorneys and law students with a range
of pro bono opportunities. The fair is held as part of the
National Pro Bono Celebration. Attendees are
encouraged to drop in and meet representatives from
local legal services organizations and to learn more
about the pro bono opportunities in the community. This
event is offered to attorneys of all levels as well as law
students.
MON. October 20th LAW AND SOCIAL CHANGE PROGRAM OF STUDY: COMMUNITY ORGANIZING AND LAWYERING WORKSHOP WCC 1010 7 – 9 pm
Join Professor Marshall Ganz from the Harvard
Kennedy School for a workshop on community
organizing and lawyering. Come prepared to participate!
Dinner will be provided. The event is hosted by the Law
and Social Change program of study. For more
information please contact Isabel Broer.
TUE. October 21st 2014 ADAMS PRO BONO PUBLICO AWARDS CEREMONY John Adams Courthouse, One Pemberton Sq. Boston, MA 4 pm
The Supreme Judicial Court Standing Committee on Pro
Bono Legal Services annually presents the Adams Pro
Bono Publico Awards to honor Massachusetts lawyers,
law students, small and large law firms, government
attorney offices, corporate law departments, law schools
or other institutions in the legal profession that
demonstrate outstanding and exceptional commitment to
providing volunteer legal services for the poor and
disadvantaged. Faculty, students, and staff are invited to
attend.
For more information please scan the barcode .
You will need a QR barcode application.
PAGE 13 CLINICAL AND PRO BONO PROGRAMS
LEARNING THE LAW | SERVING THE WORLD PAGE 14
WED. October 22nd PRO BONO INNOVATION AND LEADERSHIP: LAW FIRMS AND THE JUDICIARY WORKING TO CLOSE THE JUSTICE GAP Lewis 214A 12 – 1 pm Co-Sponsored by the Office of Career Services
This panel discussion is led by leaders from law firms and
the judiciary and it is focused on pro bono innovation
locally, nationally, and internationally. Come be inspired
to think about how you can build pro bono work into your
legal practice! You will hear about new partnerships
between legal aid organizations, social service agencies,
and private law firms to better address unmet legal needs
in the community. Some of these partnerships include
initiatives that have assisted those with criminal
convictions who are seeking a second chance; small
entrepreneurs seeking help with business structure,
intellectual property and contracts; and homeless youth in
need of assistance at city homeless shelters. You will
learn about how the local judiciary is playing a critical
role in Massachusetts to expand access to legal services to
the underserved through the Access to Justice
Commission and related initiatives like the Pro Bono
Fellow program. Finally, you will hear about how local
lawyers are engaged in pro bono work internationally
through projects.
Panelists include Associate Justice Cynthia J. Cohen HLS
’75 of the Massachusetts Appeals Court and three law
firm pro bono leaders – Michael Haroz HLS ‘70,
Goulston & Storrs; Harlene Katzman, Simpson Thacher
& Bartlett LLP; and Latonia Haney Keith HLS ’03,
Former Pro Bono Counsel at McDermott Will & Emery
LLP.
WED. October 22nd HARVARD DEFENDERS LITMAN SYMPOSIUM – KEYNOTE SPEAKER, DEBO ADEGBILE Milstein West 5 pm Co-Sponsored by the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs
Please join Harvard Defenders for their 65th Anniversary
Celebration and the Third Annual Litman Fellowship
Symposium. Debo Adegbile, Partner, Wilmer Cutler
Pickering Hall and Dorr LLP, Nominee to lead the U.S.
Department of Justice Civil Rights Division with be the
keynote speaker. Dinner Reception begins at 5pm.
Litman Fellowship Presentations at 5:30. Keynote Speak-
er at 7pm. For more information please contact Harvard
Defenders at [email protected].
THUR. October 23rd LEGAL SERVICES FOR THE OTHER 99%: A NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUE WITH KEYNOTE SPEAKER JEFFERY ROBINSON Hauser 104 12 – 1 pm Co-Sponsored by the Criminal Justice Institute, the Har-vard Prison Legal Assistance Project and the Law and Social Change Program of Study
To celebrate National Pro Bono Week, HLS alum Jeffery
Robinson will give an inspiring address on our role in
promoting access to justice for all individuals. Jeff has
been listed in Best Lawyers in America since 1993. He
has been selected as one of the top 100 black lawyers in
America by Black Enterprise magazine and is an elected
fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, whose
membership is limited to one percent of the attorneys in
any state. He is currently an attorney/shareholder with
Schroeter Goldmark & Bender in Seattle. After
graduating from HLS in 1981, Jeff spent the next seven
years representing indigent clients in state court at the
Defender Association and then in federal court at the
Federal Public Defender’s Office, both in Seattle. In
private practice at SGB since 1988, Jeff has successfully
represented individuals and corporations in state and
federal court on charges ranging from first-degree murder
to healthcare fraud. Jeff has tried over 200 cases to verdict
and has extensive experience representing clients in
lengthy grand jury investigations that have resulted in no
indictment.
OFFICE OF CLINICAL AND PRO BONO PROGRAMS
HARVARD LAW SCHOOL
6 EVERETT STREET
SUITE 3085
WEBSITE: law.harvard.edu/academics/clinical/
index.html
BLOG: blogs.law.harvard.edu/clinicalprobono
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