PRO BONO OPPORTUNITIES
Page updated June 2008
Below are some pro bono activities available to students. This list will be updated regularly as we learn of new opportunities. Please send additional suggested pro bono projects to Professor Pratt at jpratt(at)law.emory.edu
Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network
"Know Your Rights" Workshops - Juvenile Defender Clinic
American Bar Association - various
Post-Hurricane Katrina Legal Help with the Student Hurricane Network
Docent at the State Bar of Georgia Education Center
Georgia Law Center for the Homeless
Election Protection
Carter Center – Democracy Program
Best Friends Animal Society
Best Friends Animal Society is looking for energetic law students or graduates who are willing to work in a very interesting field, animal law. Animal law encompasses many areas of law including torts, contracts, domestic, agriculture, zoning, regulatory and criminal to name a few. We are very involved in animal legislation relating public safety and animal welfare. Our project will include legal research, writing, and communication. We are looking for full and/or part time volunteers. We have immediate openings for animal law and legislation. Please email animallawyer@comcast.net.
Best Friends Animal Society is an internationally known non-profit organization helping animals (please see link at: www.bestfriends.org
Best Friends Animal Society
5001 Angel Canyon
Kanab, UT 84741
network.bestfriends.org/nmhp
www.bestfriends.org
HISPANIC OUTREACH LAW PROJECT
The Hispanic Outreach Law Project advises, refers and represents Spanish-speaking clients in the five-county metropolitan area that Atlanta Legal Aid Society serves. A Spanish Hotline is available for clients to speak directly with a person four half-days a week and to leave messages in their native language; a Spanish-speaking attorney and paralegal then screen these clients. The project continues the development of strong collaborative relationships with agencies that serve the Hispanic community and with the Spanish-speaking private attorneys who take cases on a pro bono basis. The project staff now speaks frequently on Spanish-language radio station programs.
One-and-a-half attorneys and three paralegals now staff the project. Spanish-speaking residents in Cobb, Dekalb, Fulton, Clayton, and Gwinnett counties have an alternative option to calling the Spanish Hotline - they can call the office in their area directly and speak to a Spanish-speaking attorney or paralegal. Legal issues of particular interest to the project are access to the court system for domestic violence victims, access to public benefits for the Latino/Hispanic community, housing conditions, employment problems, educational services, and consumer issues, including fraud in home purchases and predatory lending.
Here is one client’s story:
Ms. Perez, an El Salvadoran born resident, is the mother of six children, ages 17, 15, 12, 10, 7 and 5. ln addition to caring for her home and children, Ms. Perez works a full-time job as domestic worker. Ms. Perez was married to the father of her six children for more than fifteen years. Although he physically abused her, Ms. Perez persevered through the abuse in an effort to provide for her children.
The final straw came when Ms. Perez discovered that her husband was sexually molesting the female children. Ms. Perez speaks very little English and she was apprehensive about going to legal authorities. However, knowing she had to do something to protect her children, she fled from Georgia and took them to New York.
Ms. Perez lived several weeks in New York, but it was very difficult for her to make a living there. Moreover, her husband reported to the Georgia child protection agency that she abducted the children. The Georgia agency contacted the child protective services agency in New York to have it investigate Ms. Perez and the children. During the course of the investigation, the New York agency learned of the sexual molestation. It referred Ms. Perez for assistance to the appropriate state agency when she decided to move back to Georgia. As a result, Ms. Perez applied for and was granted a protective order by the Gwinnett County Superior Court on behalf of her and the children.
Subsequently, in an effort to obtain a divorce, Ms. Perez visited the Latin American Association (LAA), a non-profit Hispanic community agency. LAA referred Ms. Perez to the Project for assistance with the divorce. Project attorneys handled Ms. Perez's divorce, which granted her custody, denied visitation to the abusive father, and doubled the amount of child support. The father is now facing criminal charges relating to his sexual molestation of the female children.
Like the aforementioned client, all of our clients are deserving of the legal assistance that we provide. Unfortunately, we have limited resources and can use all available help. We can utilize any Spanish and/or English speaking volunteers from Emory University to interview clients, draft pleadings and research legal issues.
The supervising attorney is Donald Coleman. Students who would like to volunteer to assist with this Project and earn pro bono hours should contact Mr. Coleman’s para-legal , Myra Rubio at 404-377-0701.
Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network
Pro bono asylum cases are referred to the Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network( formerly the Atlanta Bar Asylum Project) which in turn refers cases to volunteer attorneys from private firms. Cases may involve accompanying clients to interviews with asylum officers or representing clients at asylum merit hearings. Additional referrals from the National Center for Refugee and Immigrant Children may involve volunteer attorneys in representation of immigrant children. Students interested in working closely with the volunteer attorneys on these kinds of pro bono cases, may contact the Project manager, Ms Monica Modi Khant at mkhant.gain(at)archatl.com.
"Know Your Rights" Workshops - Juvenile Defender Clinic
The Barton Juvenile Defender Clinic is seeking student volunteers to participate in “Know Your Rights” workshops for at-risk youth and their families. The workshops will focus primarily on the rights of youth with respect to dealings with the police and the juvenile court process. Interested students will work in conjunction with community organizations, public defenders, and the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council to create user-friendly materials and conduct several workshops in the community. The workshops should begin in late March or early April.
For more information, or to volunteer for this project, please contact:
Randee Waldman, Managing Attorney, Juvenile Defender Clinic
rwaldm2@law.emory.edu
404-727-6235
Student Legal Services
SLS continues its over-30 year tradition of providing the Emory community with free legal advice. SLS researches and answers legal questions for its clients, explains the law, analyzes their legal options, and tries to refer them to appropriate legal aid organizations or private attorneys when necessary. Student caseworkers with SLS do intake with clients, brief the SLS attorney on the clients' situation, assist the attorney with any quick research needed, and sit in with the attorney as he advises the clients.
To get involved with SLS, please contact:
Contact Sonette Magnus smagn2(at)emory.edu or Matthew Navarette at mlnavar(at)emory.edu
Street Law
EPIC is launching a Street Law program to educate local high school students about the law.
For more information, please contact:
Pam Rosen, pkrosen(at)emory.edu and Stacy Tolos atolos(at)emory.edu
American Bar Association - various
Students can join the ABA and access numerous pro bono opportunities in a variety of areas of legal practice through that resource.
See http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/probono/volunteer.html
Post-Hurricane Katrina Legal Help with the Student Hurricane Network (SHN)
1. Student Volunteer Trips to the Gulf Coast
Since December 2005, SHN has brought over 1,000 volunteer law students to the Gulf Coast. Law students have performed work related to hurricane relief, including fact-finding, interviewing, data-entry, research and writing. Students have worked in a number of areas, including criminal justice, housing, youth rights and immigrant rights.
For the past 2 years, Emory Law School students have volunteered with Student Hurricane Network in New Orleans during Spring Break.
For more information please contact Steven Weyer, sdweyer(at)emory.edu, Danielle Friedman, dfried8(at)emory.edu or Alyssa Parsons, ajparso(at)emory.edu.
NOTE: SHN is engaged in both legal and non-legal work in the Gulf Coast. To count your time as pro bono hours, you must be using your legal skills.
2. Long-Distance Research Projects
SHN is working to develop partnerships with professional, academic and community organizations to create pro bono service projects that will further the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast. Currently SHN students are working on tracking legislation, supporting attorneys, researching for the development of legislation and other similar projects.
2 current projects being offered: [FEBRUARY 7, 2007 PROPOSAL DEADLINE]
Matchmakers for Justice
SHN and several partner organizations including the People’s Organizing Committee, Moving Forward and Common Ground, have come together to collaborate on a new project which will pair hurricane-affected residents with law school students from across the county. The law school students will each work with an individual and/or family on a long-term, one-on-one basis. Law students will serve as resources to empower displaced residents in securing quality jobs, education, health care and housing. This project is still in its early stages, but if you are interested in assisting in developing the project or in potentially serving as a project participant please email general@studenthurricanenetwork.org.
Washington DC Lobby Effort
Law Students for Governmental Accountability developed out of the Student Hurricane Network in order to tackle some of the needs of the Gulf Coast on a larger, legislative level. We are working to insure the continued safety and livelihood of the citizens of the Gulf Coast. For more information, email smjonas(at)gmail.com
Proposals for both projects must be submitted by FEBRUARY 7.
For more information, go to http://www.studenthurricanenetwork.org/main.htm and click on Get Involved.
If you have questions about these projects or have ideas for other SHN research projects, please contact:
Docent at State Bar of Georgia Education Center
The State Bar of Georgia has created an education center designed to introduce students to the law. The facility includes a state-of-the-art gallery with interactive exhibits, a fully-functioning courtroom and a reproduction of Woodrow Wilson’s 1882 Atlanta law office. Students will tour the center and learn how the law influences their lives.
The education center distinguishes Georgia from every other state bar association in the country, and we believe that having law students and attorneys host our student guests will provide a tangible connection to the law.
In order to make the center a living expression of the law, we need your help. Consider volunteering as a docent. You can help us demonstrate citizenship ideals with students from all over the state and beyond. Each volunteer will be scheduled two to three times per year to guide four-hour tours.
NOTE: The Center held one docent training in October and will be scheduling another one.
For more info, or to be notified of the next training, contact:
Marlene Melvin at carsonmelvin(at)comcast.net
Homeless Advocacy Project
The Homeless Advocacy project connects Emory law students to volunteer opportunities with the Georgia Law Center for the Homeless, which mostly involves intake at local shelters. This coming year, students will research topics of the Law Center and work on birth certificate cases. For more information, contact Currey Hitchens, chitch(at)emory.edu.
Election Protection
Election Protection is the nation’s largest non-partisan voter protection coalition. For information, contact Danielle Friedman, dfried8(at)emory.edu
Carter Center – Democracy Program
The Democracy Program at the Carter Center needs 2l or 3L law students to assist in reviewing election cases from various international courts to identify standards governing elections. Interested students will be trained to review cases and will meet periodically with experts in international elections. The work load will vary depending on the number of volunteers. It is hoped that students can commit a minimum of 5 hours a week. A background in international law/election law would be most helpful.
Please contact Avery Davis-Roberts, the project coordinator at aodavis(at)emory.edu or 404-420-3807.