Pro Bono Kickoff Honors Veronica Serrato (’88)
Annual celebration honored distinguished alumna and highlighted volunteer legal opportunities for students.
On Monday, September 28, the BU Law community gathered to celebrate the annual Pro Bono Kickoff. The event launched a new year of student service and honored distinguished alumna Veronica Serrato (’88), executive director of Project Citizenship, with the Victor J. Garo Public Service Award. Dean Maureen O’Rourke instituted this distinction—awarded annually to an alum demonstrating exemplary commitment to pro bono work—in 2007 to honor Garo’s 30-year pro bono commitment to a wrongful conviction case.
About Veronica Serrato
Veronica Serrato joined Project Citizenship in 2014 as its first executive director. Her interest in citizenship begins with her family—she is the daughter of Mexican immigrants who became naturalized citizens. At Project Citizenship she and her team help eligible legal permanent residents to become US citizens. They hold workshops on a regular basis to help groups of applicants fill out their citizenship forms, then track the cases to mitigate any further legal issues. If a case is particularly complex, they help the applicant find a pro bono attorney.
While at BU Law, Serrato worked on the Law Review and focused on public interest activities during the summers. She worked for the District Attorney’s Office in Boston, and clerked for the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts following graduation.
After her clerkship, Serrato’s legal experience focused on family law while at the WilmerHale Legal Services Center in Jamaica Plain, Casa Myrna Vasquez, and Volunteer Lawyers Project. She has worked as a prosecutor, a hearing officer for the Department of Children and Families, and as a lecturer at BU Law’s Legal Research and Writing Program.
>>Learn more about Ms. Serrato’s path to public interest law.
Launching another year of pro bono service at the School of Law
In addition to honoring distinguished alumni, the Pro Bono Kickoff educates students on the many opportunities to engage in volunteer legal work at the School and beyond. Following Serrato’s remarks, Alexandra Tucker (’16), co-president of the Public Interest Project, discussed the integral role of pro bono service in her law school career. Current students involved in the Pro Bono Program, as well as faculty and staff, were also on hand to share their experiences and advice at the reception.
Students were invited to take the Pro Bono Pledge. In taking the pledge, JD students commit to completing a minimum of 50 hours of law-related work over the course of their three years in law school, and LLM students commit to a minimum of 18 hours.
The Kickoff was held just three weeks after the annual Public Interest Orientation, where Jennifer Miller (’93) spoke about career in the public sector, including arguing before the US Supreme Court last year in the abortion buffer zone case, and her current appointment serving as chief legal advisor to the Massachusetts Senate. The Career Development & Public Service Office holds these events—as well as many others throughout the year—to help guide the many BU Law students who are interested in making pro bono and public interest work a part of their legal careers.