Pro Bono
In 2008, over 7% of our total attorney billable time was devoted to pro bono.
Making the System Work
Helping those without access to proper legal representation is an important role Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. plays. When it comes to justice, those without the means to climb certain legal mountains are often at a huge disadvantage.
Our pro bono work is a significant part of what we do to help the community. In 2008, over 7% of our total attorney billable time was devoted to pro bono. We worked to train attorneys in Kenya. We represented immigrants seeking asylum. We provided assistance to victims of disasters, like the I-35W bridge collapse.
Here are some examples of the work we do.
Protecting the Rights of Immigrants
Our firm represented a Nigerian couple and their young son in political asylum proceedings before the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. The family is from a region that holds significant oil reserves, but is vastly impoverished and neglected. As a result, militant groups have taken up arms against the government, and constant strife has become a way of life. In 2004, the father was beaten, robbed and threatened with death by militants because he refused to join their ranks. In 2006, the family suffered a terrible explosion of a petrol generator, leaving their young boy with third-degree burns over 40% of his body, including disfiguring burns on his head and face. The family eventually found a sponsor and came to Los Angeles to obtain medical care for their son, where he has undergone 12 surgeries. However, their temporary visa would soon expire. After a lengthy hearing, the family was granted asylum in the United States, allowing them to stay here permanently, obtain employment, and get the medical care that the boy needs. The family now has security and stability and a chance to rebuild their lives.
Worked with the Advocates for Human Rights on assisting a woman from Uzbekistan in seeking asylum. The case is ongoing.
On June 18, the United States Immigration Court granted our client's petition for asylum. Our client came to the United States to escape the political persecution and death threats that she endured and received in Ethiopia. Through the Court's grant of asylum, our client no longer fears for her life and, instead, has made great strides learning English, obtaining a job, and is on her way to becoming a United States citizen.
Represented an Ethiopian woman who had been repeatedly arrested, beaten, and raped because of her father's pro-democracy activities. At her asylum hearing, the judge found that she had failed to prove her identity. While the case was on appeal, the United States government obtained a travel document called a laissez-passer; a bare bones, temporary travel document. Upon learning of the laissez-passer, we filed a motion to reopen the case with the Board of Immigration Appeals, arguing that the document sufficiently proved her identity. At a second hearing, the judge again denied asylum, arguing that the laissez-passer is an emergency travel document, good only for one-way travel, citing the Web site Wikipedia.com as a reference. The Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed, but the Eighth Circuit issued a remand. The appellate court noted that because the clear-error standard of review is used where an immigration judge's findings of fact are based on proper evidence, we have no way of knowing whether the judge would have reached the same conclusion without Wikipedia.
Represented a family from Mali who wished to remain in the United States. The wife sought asylum on the grounds that she had been subjected to female genital mutilation as a young girl, and feared that the same harm would come to her daughters. The husband sought relief called ‘cancellation of removal,' in part on the grounds that he had been in the United States for more than 10 years, and his removal would result in exceptional hardship for his daughters. Our attorneys tracked down documentary evidence of the husband's life in the United States, and crafted a brief that the wife's female genital mutilation constituted past persecution and that current conditions in Mali gave her a valid fear for future persecution.
Appellate counsel for a woman from El Salvador claiming political and religious asylum.
Obtained asylum for a Liberian radio talk show host who was beaten after a show aired in which two young girls alleged that members of the presidential security force raped them. Our attorneys gathered facts and obtained statements from witnesses who testified that our client's story was consistent and that Liberia remained dangerous for journalists, like our client, who spoke out about human rights violations.
Justice for the Abused and Underrepresented
Represented multiple clients this year seeking Orders for Protection from their abusers through Chrysalis.
Served as pro bono general counsel to the Sexual Violence Center, a Minneapolis nonprofit organization. Each year, the Sexual Violence Center provides crisis support and counseling at no cost to more than 2,000 victims of sexual violence in the Twin Cities metro area.
Prosecuted a series of patient-dumping cases in Los Angeles that were brought on behalf of homeless patients and mentally incompetent patients who were discharged from in-patient hospitalizations, transported (up to 40 miles), and dumped on the streets in skid row without any transition or further treatment plans.
Attorneys in the Minneapolis office visited local police and fire stations through Wills for Heroes, a public service initiative of the Minnesota State Bar Association, to create a basic will, estate plan, power of attorney, and healthcare directives for first responders and their spouses.
Provided legal referrals and advice to Marine veterans of the war in Iraq.
Assisted a United States veteran in filing a petition for expungement.
Represented a Southern Minnesota homeowner whose house was destroyed in the summer 2007 floods in connection with negotiating a release from the mortgage lender.
Helped a young man recover medical costs and lost wages after he was assaulted at a party.
Obtained authorization for a reformed addict, who is very active in Narcotics Anonymous, to serve in his union's leadership.
Represented a national arts organization based in the Twin Cities regarding copyright authorship in a newly produced work.
Attorneys in our Los Angeles office concluded the last of six real estate fraud cases perpetrated against poor, vulnerable, and disadvantaged minorities in South Central Los Angeles and Long Beach. During 2004, all six victims attempted to refinance their homes, but instead, were tricked into transferring title of their properties to straw buyers. Working with Public Counsel, the nation's largest pro bono law firm, our attorneys were able to get title to each property transferred back to the original owners and either completely clear the properties of the new, fraudulent mortgages placed on them, or obtain loan modifications and cash settlements to offset them.
Represented a citizen in a First Amendment dispute concerning speech at a city council meeting.
Attorneys in our Minneapolis office work with the Council on Crime and Justice to help individuals who have been convicted of minor offenses to expunge their criminal records in order to overcome barriers to gaining meaningful employment.
Attorneys in our Naples, Florida office represented a charitable foundation in a dispute over the use of a gift made years ago for the purpose of building a facility that helps physically and mentally handicapped children. After the entity which holds legal title to the land decided to dispose of the property, we intervened in pending litigation over rights to continued use of the property. Our motion to intervene was contested, but ultimately granted by the court. After a three-day bench trial, the judge ruled in our client's favor on all counts and imposed a constructive trust and resulting trust. The children's program was saved, and it is now clear that our client's wishes and expressed restrictions are enforceable legal requirements that will run with the land indefinitely.
Provided pro bono legal services related to health insurance, employment, and quality of care issues for the Cancer Legal Resource Center.
Our Pro Bono Committee
Our firm’s Pro Bono Committee, headed by Anne Lockner, helps our attorneys find opportunities for pro bono work. The committee monitors the nature and extent of our pro bono services offered to the community, recognizes the many individuals who volunteer for pro bono work, and provides formal supervision and training for our firm lawyers.
Youth Law Initiative
Children are often unrepresented when facing dramatic changes in their lives. Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. implemented the Youth Law Initiative as a firm-wide pro bono project devoted to safeguarding the legal rights of children and teens. Children can be victims of abuse, homelessness, neglect, or simply facing a system they do not understand. Through the Youth Law Initiative, our attorneys work to ensure legal protection and benefits to protect their rights and dignity. Each office has a focus that responds to the needs of the children in their communities. Here are some of our stories.
Atlanta
Through the One Child, One Lawyer program, attorneys in the Atlanta office represented several youth in foster care. In one case, we represented an infant child of a teenage mother. During the last two years, our attorneys have worked with the child's mother to keep the child in her care. The child's mother is planning to complete her high school education in the spring of 2009 and planning to enter college in the fall. The infant will continue to be cared for by its birth mother.
Boston
Attorneys in the Boston office work with the Children's Law Center of Massachusetts, the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, and the Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Boston Bar Association. Working with these programs, our Boston attorneys focus on representing children of all ages in immigration proceedings, special education and disciplinary matters, guardianship, divorce, and custody matters. For the past several years, attorneys have been working with the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants to seek Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) status for teenagers from Guatemala and other Central American countries who left their homes to escape terrible poverty and lack of food and medical care. Our Boston attorneys have worked hundreds of hours to help provide a better life for these children in the United States.
Los Angeles
The Los Angeles office continues to work closely with the Alliance for Children's Rights to assist young adults who have emancipated or aged-out of the foster care system. As part of the Alliance's NextSTEP program, the Los Angeles office provides legal services and education to individuals between the ages of 18 and 24 who are transitioning from foster care to independent living on matters relating to consumer and credit rights, employment issues, tenant rights, and sealing of juvenile records.
Minneapolis
Through the Minnesota Supreme Court's Guardian ad Litem program, attorneys in Minneapolis represented a family in a contested adoption case under the Indian Child Welfare Act. The Bois Forte Band of Chippewa intervened to obtain custody of the child, even though her birth mother had placed her for adoption and the child had lived with the adoptive parents since she was eleven days old. The birth father, despite a history of drugs and violence, sought custody and was supported by the tribe. After months of motions, briefs, and hearings, the birth father consented to the adoption.
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