BU Law Pro Bono Partners
BU LAW has partnerships with a number of organizations through which students may find individual or group pro bono projects.
2009 - 2010 Pro Bono Partners
- National Lawyers Guild
- Street Law Clinics
- The Gold Standard
- Toxic Action Center
- Shelter Legal Services (SLS)
- Boston University School of Law Young Alumni Council (YAC)
- Massachusetts Transgender Legal Advocates (MTLA)
- Foreclosure Taskforce
- Neighborhood of Affordable Housing
- ACCION International
2008 - 2009 Pro Bono Partners
- Medical-Legal Partnership for Children (MLPC)
- ACCION International
- Boston University School of Law Young Alumni Council (YAC)
- Goodwin Procter, LLP
- Shelter Legal Services
- Foreclosure Taskforce
- Neighborhood of Affordable Housing (NOAH)
- Massachusetts Transgender Legal Advocates (MTLA)
- Family Law Project (FLP)
2007 - 2008 Pro Bono Partners
- ACCION International
- Boston University School of Law Young Alumni Council (YAC)
- Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)
- Goodwin Procter, LLP
- Health Law Advocates, Inc.
- Massachusetts Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts (IOLTA)
- Shelter Legal Services
- Volunteer Lawyers Project
Former Pro Bono Partners
- Bet Tzedek Legal Services
- ECRI (formerly the Emergency Care Research Institute)
- Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts (LACCM)
- The Massachusetts Law Reform Institute - CORI Project
2009-2010 Pro Bono Partners
National Lawyers Guild
The National Lawyers Guild is an association dedicated to the need for basic change in the structure of our political and economic system. We seek to unite the lawyers, law students, legal workers and jailhouse lawyers of America in an organization that shall function as an effective political and social force in the service of the people, to the end that human rights shall be regarded as more sacred than property interests.
Our aim is to bring together all those who recognize the importance of safeguarding and extending the rights of workers, women, farmers, people with disabilities and people of color, upon whom the welfare of the entire nation depends; who seek actively to eliminate racism; who work to maintain and protect our civil rights and liberties in the face of persistent attacks upon them; and who look upon the law as an instrument for the protection of the people, rather than for their repression.
Specific pro bono opportunities will be announced soon.
Street Law Clinics
Street Law Clinics are workshops on various legal topics for non-lawyers. The goal of the clinics is to empower the participants by teaching them about their legal rights.
Clinics are conducted by law students with back-up by lawyers. They take place in community centers, churches, high schools, homeless shelters, union halls, and pre-release centers. The workshops are interactive, with participants figuring out how to deal with real-life situations, and usually last about two hours.
Currently Street Law Clinics are offered in the following areas:
- Tenant/Landlord Disputes
- Stop and Search
- Workers' Rights
- Civil Disobedience
- Immigration Law
Law students: This is a great way to start using your legal skills and to get out into the community. We will train you. You can be involved in the Street Law Clinic Project with only a few hours commitment per month.
Contact:
E-mail nlgmass-slc@igc.org or call 617-723-4330 to set up a training at your school or to volunteer.
The Gold Standard
The Gold Standard Foundation is a non-profit organization under Swiss law that operates a certification scheme for premium carbon credits.
Gold Standard credits (GS-CER and GS-VER) are offered for sale in compliance offset markets established by the Kyoto Protocol and in non-Kyoto voluntary offset markets. The Foundation has trademarked the Gold Standard label, which is today internationally-recognized as the leading indicator of quality in carbon markets.
The Foundation is owned by its NGO supporters, currently numbering over 60 non-governmental organizations worldwide. These NGOs have formally endorsed Gold Standard objectives, methodologies and rules of engagement. They demonstrate their continuing commitment by participating in local stakeholder consultations for carbon offset projects in host countries where they are located, participating in public reviews of documentation required to register a Gold Standard project and issue Gold Standard carbon credits, and reviewing and endorsing major methodological improvements and updates prior to their release.
Specific pro bono opportunities with The Gold Standard are soon to be announced:
Contact:
Lisa Hodes
Toxic Action Center
Since 1987, Toxics Action Center has helped more than 525 neighborhood groups across New England fight toxic pollution in their communities. We work on a variety of issues including cleaning up hazardous waste sites, stopping proposed landfills and incinerators, stopping the spraying of pesticides, pressuring companies to reduce their toxic chemical use, and other issues that threaten the health and safety of residents, neighborhoods and the environment.
Through our group consultations, expert referrals, conferences, and information guides, Toxics Action Center will help you wage effective campaigns to force stubborn polluters and unresponsive bureaucracies to protect the health and safety of your community.
Contact:
Sylvia Broude
Lead Organizer for Toxics Action Center
Sylvia@toxicsaction.org
Shelter Legal Services
Law students will interview clients and manage civil legal cases, under the supervision of an attorney, at one of four weekly legal clinics. Clients need help on a variety of issues, including family law, housing, disability, unemployment and immigration. Students must attend training in Fall or Spring. Clinic times and locations: (1) Mondays at 5 pm: Rosie's Place, 889 Harrison Avenue, Roxbury; (2) Tuesdays at 8:30 am: Cambridge Multi-Service Center for the Homeless, 19 Brookline Street, Central Square; (3) Wednesdays at 10:00 am: Chelsea Soldiers' Home, Chelsea; (4) Wednesdays at 6:00 pm: New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans, 17 Court Street, Government Center. Contact the organization for the most up to date training session information.
Office locations: Boston College Law School, 885 Centre Street; Suffolk Law School, 120 Tremont Street
For more information contact:
Anna M. Schleelein (BU Law ’08)
Veterans Program Director
Shelter Legal Services
885 Centre Street
schleelein@shelterlegalservices.org
617-935-2989
Boston University School of Law Youn Alumni Council (YAC)
The Boston University School of Law Young Alumni Council (YAC) has a membership of over 700 lawyers in the Greater Boston area with chapters in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, DC and Miami. These alumni/ae (who graduated from BU Law within the past 10 years), work in large and small firms, federal and state government and nonprofit organizations and engage in a wide range of exciting pro bono work. The BU Law YAC is proud to partner with the Pro Bono Program to enable current law students to work on pro bono matters side by side with its members. Members are involved in myriad pro bono matters including intellectual property, housing, family law, tax, domestic violence and immigration. Students will be matched with attorneys seeking assistance throughout the year. Work can be performed in person or remotely.
Please send an email of interest to:
Erin Elwood, Alumni Officer
Esdaile Alumni Center
Boston University School of Law
erine@bu.edu
617.358.4873
Massachusetts Transgender Legal Advocates (MTLA)
Massachusetts Transgender Legal Advocates is a small group of law students and lawyers committed to addressing the needs of low income transgender people in Massachusetts. MTLA recognizes that a lack of public awareness about trans people can make it difficult to navigate the legal system. Our legal team is composed of trans folks and their significant others, family, and friends.
Whether it involves talking a client through a process, helping someone to find an attorney he or she can afford, or addressing an issue ourselves, MTLA will do what we can to address our clients' legal needs. Once each year, MTLA seeks applications from candidates who want to become volunteer law student advocates. Advocates have opportunities to work on a variety of types of cases. Some advocates choose to focus on areas of the law with which they are most familiar, while others use their commitment to MTLA to try something new. Our advocates have won our clients settlements, represented clients in court, and in administrative hearings. One of MTLA's strengths is a flexibility and willingness to address clients' needs where they are. This also translates into flexibility for advocates to take on the kinds of legal work in which they are most interested. If you are interested in joining Massachusetts Transgender Legal Advocates, please attend this no-commitment information session, where you can have your questions answered.
More information is available at transgenderlegaladvocates.org The application for new advocates will also be released at that site.
Foreclosure Taskforce
The Harvard Legal Aid Bureau (HLAB), the Legal Services Center (LSC), and City Life have formed a coalition to address the foreclosure crisis. Through legal action and community mobilization, the Foreclosure Taskforce seeks to make it more costly and difficult for banks to evict the tenants in foreclosed properties, and in so doing pressure the banks to change their current policy of evicting everyone. To increase the number of people who stay in their homes until being evicted through court process (thus increasing the costs to banks), the Foreclosure Taskforce is organizing a group of volunteers to canvass neighborhoods and speak with tenants in person about their legal rights and option to refuse "cash-for-keys" move-out agreements (banks use these agreements to pressure tenants to leave quickly and at low cost) and to contact HLAB or City Life. Boston University Law School plans to partner with the Foreclosure Taskforce in the Fall semester, by adopting a neighborhood for student volunteers to canvass each week. The Housing & Consumer Protection Clinic will also be taking some of the post-foreclosure eviction cases to help in the effort. If you are interested in getting involved with this exciting, cutting-edge, important work, please contact the BU Law Foreclosure Taskforce student leaders Jeff Binkley for more details.
Neighborhood of Affordable Housing (NOAH)
The Neighborhood of Affordable Housing (NOAH), is an East Boston based community development corporation structured to collaborate and support residents in their pursuit of affordable housing strategies, environmental justice, community planning, leadership development, and economic development opportunities. Their home counseling department helps more than 200 first time homebuyers each year to get prepared to purchase their homes with certified first time homebuyer classes, financial literacy sessions, and individual counseling on credit and mortgage assessment. Due to the current foreclosure crisis in October of 2007 NOAH, with the help of Neighbor Works America and Mass Housing, started a Foreclosure Prevention student internship program. For more information about the internship program, please view our pro bono opportunities page.
Contact:
Carolina Trujillo
Home Counseling Director
Neighborhood of Affordable Housing
143 Border Street
East Boston MA 02128
trujillo.carolina@gmail.com
ACCION International
ACCION International is a private, nonprofit organization with the mission of giving people the financial tools they need to work their way out of poverty. By providing "micro" loans, business training and other financial services to poor men and women who start their own businesses, ACCION helps people work their way up the economic ladder, with dignity and pride. ACCION's goal is to bring microfinance to tens of millions of people. That's why ACCION has created an anti-poverty strategy that is permanent and self-sustaining.
A world pioneer in microfinance, ACCION is now a partner with more than 30 microfinance organizations throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa, as well as serving U.S. microentrepreneurs through the ACCION USA Network. ACCION seeks pro bono volunteers with a strong interest in international economic development, banking, microfinance and lending. Preference for law students with some related experience or study. Spanish skills a plus, but not necessary. For more information, visit www.accion.org.
Contact:
Kevin Saunders
Staff Attorney
ACCION International
56 Roland Street, Suite 300
Boston, MA 02129
617-684-0213
ksaunders@accion.org
2008 - 2009 Pro Bono Partners
Medical-Legal Partnership for Children (MLPC)
Medical Legal Partnership for Children handles, among other issues, education related matters. We have become aware that many patient families who are referred for IEP evaluations experience difficulty actually procuring these evaluations. The reasons for this are many, including difficulty communicating with the school system, unwillingness to cooperate on the part of the school system and difficulties navigating the education system.
ACCION International
ACCION International is a private, nonprofit organization with the mission of giving people the financial tools they need to work their way out of poverty. By providing "micro" loans, business training and other financial services to poor men and women who start their own businesses, ACCION helps people work their way up the economic ladder, with dignity and pride. ACCION's goal is to bring microfinance to tens of millions of people. That's why ACCION has created an anti-poverty strategy that is permanent and self-sustaining.
A world pioneer in microfinance, ACCION is now a partner with more than 30 microfinance organizations throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa, as well as serving U.S. microentrepreneurs through the ACCION USA Network. ACCION seeks pro bono volunteers with a strong interest in international economic development, banking, microfinance and lending. Preference for law students with some related experience or study. Spanish skills a plus, but not necessary. For more information, visit www.accion.org.
Contact:
Kevin Saunders
Staff Attorney
ACCION International
56 Roland Street, Suite 300
Boston, MA 02129
617-684-0213
ksaunders@accion.org
The Boston Universiy School of Law Young Alumni Council (YAC)
The Boston University School of Law Young Alumni Council (YAC) has a membership of over 700 lawyers in the Greater Boston area with chapters in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, DC and Miami. These alumni/ae (who graduated from BU Law within the past 10 years), work in large and small firms, federal and state government and nonprofit organizations and engage in a wide range of exciting pro bono work. The BU Law YAC is proud to partner with the Pro Bono Program to enable current law students to work on pro bono matters side by side with its members. Members are involved in myriad pro bono matters including intellectual property, housing, family law, tax, domestic violence and immigration. Students will be matched with attorneys seeking assistance throughout the year. Work can be performed in person or remotely.
Please send an email of interest to:
Erin Elwood, Alumni Officer
Esdaile Alumni Center
Boston University School of Law
erine@bu.edu
617.358.4873
Goodwin Procter, LLP
Goodwin Procteroffers students at Boston University School of Law the opportunity to participate in the firm's Pro Bono Initiative.The firmplans toselect2-4 BUSL students each year to work alongside our attorneys on existing pro bono matters being handled by the firm, and students may have opportunities to participate in team meetings, accompany attorneys to court, or meet with clients.Students are expected to give at least 10 hours if selected to work on a Goodwin pro bono matter, but may volunteer more time at their choice.
Goodwin Procteris a national law firm with a team of850 attorneys serving clients through offices in Boston, Los Angeles, New York,San Diego, San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C.Thefirm's Pro Bono Initiativefeaturesmattersin bothlitigation and transactional-focused areas. For students interested in litigation-based projects, we handle a range of matters on behalf of individuals,as well as class actions, which are referred to the firm though local legal services providers and the court system. This work includes criminal matters (including a death penalty case which may become very active this year), asylum cases, civil rights matters, education related work, and work on a variety of poverty law issues. For students interested in business law-based projects, we work with over 200 nonprofit organizations providing them assistance in areas such as intellectual property, employment and corporate and tax law. There is also an opportunity to work in the area of microfinance with nonprofit institutionsthatdevelop and implement micro-loan programs domestically and internationally. Finally,the firm hasa well developed program which serves inner-city entrepreneurs and features a series of workshops, legal clinics and one-on-one representation to people starting or trying to grow a small business.
Students who are interested in working with our attorneys should submit a resume and cover letter by October 15, 2008 to: Carolyn Rosenthal, Goodwin ProcterPro Bono Manager at crosenthal@goodwinprocter.com.
In additon, specific projects will be listed throughout the year. For more information contact Kate Devlin or Dave Adams at probono@bu.edu.
Note: To ensure that your pro bono work meets the specific requirements of the BU LAW Pro Bono Program, please contact the Pro Bono Program before committing to any such project.
Shelter Legal Services
Law students will interview clients and manage civil legal cases, under the supervision of an attorney, at one of four weekly legal clinics. Clients need help on a variety of issues, including family law, housing, disability, unemployment and immigration. Students must attend training in Fall or Spring. Clinic times and locations: (1) Mondays at 5 pm: Rosie's Place, 889 Harrison Avenue, Roxbury; (2) Tuesdays at 8:30 am: Cambridge Multi-Service Center for the Homeless, 19 Brookline Street, Central Square; (3) Wednesdays at 10:00 am: Chelsea Soldiers' Home, Chelsea; (4) Wednesdays at 6:00 pm: New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans, 17 Court Street, Government Center. Contact the organization for the most up to date training session information.
Office locations: Boston College Law School, 885 Centre Street; Suffolk Law School, 120 Tremont Street
For more information contact:
Anna M. Schleelein (BU Law ’08)
Veterans Program Director
Shelter Legal Services
885 Centre Street
schleelein@shelterlegalservices.org
617-935-2989
Foreclosure Taskforce
The Harvard Legal Aid Bureau (HLAB), the Legal Services Center (LSC), and City Life have formed a coalition to address the foreclosure crisis. Through legal action and community mobilization, the Foreclosure Taskforce seeks to make it more costly and difficult for banks to evict the tenants in foreclosed properties, and in so doing pressure the banks to change their current policy of evicting everyone. To increase the number of people who stay in their homes until being evicted through court process (thus increasing the costs to banks), the Foreclosure Taskforce is organizing a group of volunteers to canvass neighborhoods and speak with tenants in person about their legal rights and option to refuse "cash-for-keys" move-out agreements (banks use these agreements to pressure tenants to leave quickly and at low cost) and to contact HLAB or City Life. Boston University Law School plans to partner with the Foreclosure Taskforce in the Fall semester, by adopting a neighborhood for student volunteers to canvass each week. The Housing & Consumer Protection Clinic will also be taking some of the post-foreclosure eviction cases to help in the effort. If you are interested in getting involved with this exciting, cutting-edge, important work, please contact the BU Law Foreclosure Taskforce student leaders Jeff Binkley and Lauren Turner for more details.
Neighborhood of Affordable Housing (NOAH)
The Neighborhood of Affordable Housing (NOAH), is an East Boston based community development corporation structured to collaborate and support residents in their pursuit of affordable housing strategies, environmental justice, community planning, leadership development, and economic development opportunities. Their home counseling department helps more than 200 first time homebuyers each year to get prepared to purchase their homes with certified first time homebuyer classes, financial literacy sessions, and individual counseling on credit and mortgage assessment. Due to the current foreclosure crisis in October of 2007 NOAH, with the help of Neighbor Works America and Mass Housing, started a Foreclosure Prevention student internship program. For more information about the internship program, please view our pro bono opportunities page.
Contact:
Carolina Trujillo
Home Counseling Director
Neighborhood of Affordable Housing
143 Border Street
East Boston MA 02128
trujillo.carolina@gmail.com
Massachusetts Transgender Legal Advocates (MTLA)
Massachusetts Transgender Legal Advocates is a small group of law students and lawyers committed to addressing the needs of low income transgender people in Massachusetts. MTLA recognizes that a lack of public awareness about trans people can make it difficult to navigate the legal system. Our legal team is composed of trans folks and their significant others, family, and friends.
Whether it involves talking a client through a process, helping someone to find an attorney he or she can afford, or addressing an issue ourselves, MTLA will do what we can to address our clients' legal needs. Once each year, MTLA seeks applications from candidates who want to become volunteer law student advocates. Advocates have opportunities to work on a variety of types of cases. Some advocates choose to focus on areas of the law with which they are most familiar, while others use their commitment to MTLA to try something new. Our advocates have won our clients settlements, represented clients in court, and in administrative hearings. One of MTLA's strengths is a flexibility and willingness to address clients' needs where they are. This also translates into flexibility for advocates to take on the kinds of legal work in which they are most interested. If you are interested in joining Massachusetts Transgender Legal Advocates, please attend this no-commitment information session, where you can have your questions answered.
More information is available at transgenderlegaladvocates.org The application for new advocates will also be released at that site.
Family Law Project
Started by a small group of WBA members in 1995, the Family Law Project (FLP) continues to be the largest pro bono program at the Women’s Bar Foundation, drawing over 100 new attorneys each year. The FLP recruits, trains, and mentors attorneys and collaborates with legal and social services to provide high quality representation and assistance to victims of domestic violence. In the past 12 months, the FLP has fielded nearly 1,500 phone calls from victims of domestic violence, and has conducted more than 200 interviews and evaluations. The FLP has two primary missions. The first is to empower domestic violence victims by giving them a voice in their abuse prevention order and family law cases. As such, we seek to prevent further abuse, homelessness, loss of child custody, and to decrease repeated court hearings. The FLP’s second mission is to engage lawyers in pro bono service and, thus, making them stakeholders on issues involving low income domestic violence victims. The FLP meets both of its missions by referring clients to volunteer attorneys trained and mentored by the FLP on issues related to family law and domestic violence. For cases that cannot be immediately referred, the FLP staff will provide ongoing legal support including drafting pleadings, preparing a client for court, and informing clients as to their legal rights and recourses. The FLP is a unique organization because it is designed to meet the legal needs of the underserved in the legal services community who have already been denied representation by a legal services agency and who might otherwise ‘fall through the cracks.’ About half of the individuals served by the FLP are indigent, according to federal poverty guidelines; the remaining individuals we serve are low income and, thus, make too much money for legal services eligibility but earn too little to be able to afford to retain an attorney. In 1995, the FLP won the R.O.S.E. Fund’s Distinguished Service Award. In 2003, the Women’s Bar Foundation received a Supreme Judicial Court Adams Pro Bono Publico Award for distinguished service and outstanding commitment. In 2004, the FLP received the Public Service Award from the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations. To learn about FLP's volunteer internship opportunity and other pro bono projects at FLP, please view our pro bono opportunities page.
Contact:
Rachel Biscardi
Supervising Attorney
Women's Bar of Massachusetts
27 School Street, Suite 500
Boston, MA 02108
617.972.6666, ext. 2215
rbiscardi@womensbar.org
2007 - 2008 Pro Bono Partners
ACCION International
ACCION International is a private, nonprofit organization with the mission of giving people the financial tools they need to work their way out of poverty. By providing "micro" loans, business training and other financial services to poor men and women who start their own businesses, ACCION helps people work their way up the economic ladder, with dignity and pride. ACCION's goal is to bring microfinance to tens of millions of people. That's why ACCION has created an anti-poverty strategy that is permanent and self-sustaining.
A world pioneer in microfinance, ACCION is now a partner with more than 30 microfinance organizations throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa, as well as serving U.S. microentrepreneurs through the ACCION USA Network. ACCION seeks pro bono volunteers with a strong interest in international economic development, banking, microfinance and lending. Preference for law students with some related experience or study. Spanish skills a plus, but not necessary. For more information, visit www.accion.org.
Currently, ACCION is looking for 3 to 4 interns who could commit to coming to their office location one day a week for approximately 5-6 hours. This is a much larger commitment than is required by the Pro Bono Program, but projects are a bit more intensive. Projects involve working with microfinance, international development, or non-profits.
Contact:
Virginia Valdez
Vice President, Legal Affairs
ACCION International
56 Roland Street, Suite 300
Boston, MA 02129
617-616-1573
617-625-7080 ext. 1160
fax: 617-625-7020
vvaldez@accion.org
Boston University School of Law Young Alumni Council (YAC)
The Boston University School of Law Young Alumni Council (YAC) has a membership of over 700 lawyers in the Greater Boston area with chapters in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, DC and Miami. These alumni/ae (who graduated from BU Law within the past 10 years), work in large and small firms, federal and state government and nonprofit organizations and engage in a wide range of exciting pro bono work. The BU Law YAC is proud to partner with the Pro Bono Program to enable current law students to work on pro bono matters side by side with its members. Members are involved in myriad pro bono matters including intellectual property, housing, family law, tax, domestic violence and immigration. Students will be matched with attorneys seeking assistance throughout the year. Work can be performed in person or remotely.
Please send an email of interest to:
Erin Elwood, Alumni Officer
Esdaile Alumni Center
Boston University School of Law
erine@bu.edu
617.358.4873
Court Appointed Special Advocates
The Boston CASA Program recruits, trains and supervises volunteers from the community to advocate for children who have been abused or neglected. To be considered as a volunteer you must be 21 years of age or older and be able to commit 18 months to the program. Each case requires approximately 15 hours per month of your time, sometimes more or less depending on the issues. All volunteers are required to complete a screening process and training program prior to working on a case. The CASA training program runs for 6 weeks, two evenings per week from 6:00pm-8:30pm. The next training session begins on October 2, 2007 and finishes on November 8, 2007. The sessions take place at the Edward W. Brooke Courthouse, 24 New Chardon Street, Boston MA. Please return the completed application and we will begin the screening process. If you would like additional information contact Susan Conrad at (617) 788-6444. Visit our Web Site at www.casaboston.org.
Contact:
Susan Conrad
Director/Probation Officer
Boston CASA Program
24 New Chardon Street
Boston, MA 02114
617-788-6444 (w)
617-788-8996 (fax)
Volunteer Lawyers Project
The Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Boston Bar Association was founded in 1977 to provide legal representation in civil matters to the indigent of Boston Massachusetts through the pro bono services of private attorneys and paralegals. The pro bono services offered through VLP are provided through a panel of 1000 attorneys and paralegals representing all segments of the legal community from members of small, medium, and large firms, solo practitioners, government attorneys, and corporate counsel. Our panel handles cases in a broad range of substantive areas: approximately 31% in housing, 19% in family, 24% in consumer, 15% in public benefits (primarily SSI), and 5% in wills and probate for the elderly. In addition to handling cases, VLP volunteers serve as Attorneys of the Day at the Boston Housing Court; teach community legal education programs for low-income homeowners; provide telephone advice on probate and estate related issues; and serve as counsel to a variety of community groups.
VLP staff screen clients for financial and geographic eligibility and cases for legal merit. Appropriate cases are referred to pro bono panel members. All cases are monitored during the course of representation to ensure that panel members receive any necessary assistance and that clients are satisfied with the services rendered. VLP designs and delivers training programs to panel members; offers meeting rooms for attorney/client interviews; maintains a litigation fund to reimburse panel members for out-of-pocket expenses; provides technical assistance on specific cases; makes available to panel members a library of poverty law materials including sample briefs and pleadings; and provides professional liability coverage for referred cases. VLP's staff also provides mentoring to panel members during the course of cases as needed.
Contact:
Lynn A. Girton
Chief Counsel
Volunteer Lawyers Project
99 Chauncy Street Suite 400
Boston, Ma 02111
617 423-0648 x132
fax 617 423-0061
LGirton@vlpnet.org
Massachusetts Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts
In Massachusetts lawyers in private practice must place client retainers either in an account which pays interest to the clients or in “IOLTA” accounts. Pooled IOLTA accounts make a substantial contribution to improving the administration of justice and to providing civil legal services to low-income individuals.
The IOLTA program is administered by the Massachusetts IOLTA Committee, appointed by the Justices of the SJC. The committee distributes all IOLTA interest to three charitable entities: the Boston Bar Foundation, the Massachusetts Bar Foundation, and the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation.Various pro bono projects provided through IOLTA are Limited Assistance Representation (“unbundling”) in family law cases, Access to Justice Commission research and analysis, and Civil Gideon – right to counsel in certain civil cases.
The number of hours per week is flexible. Project starting dates are from Oct 1 – June 1. Training depends on the type of project, but will be provided if necessary. Must be able to work independently in a small office, have a genuine interest in expanding access to justice, and flexible by nature.
For more information from students who have worked for IOLTA, contact BU Law students, Kristen Zellner (’07) and Stacey Pietrowicz (’08).
Contact:
Jayne Tyrrell
11 Beacon Street
Suite 820
Boston, MA 02108
(617) 723-9093
jtyrrell@maiolta.org
Shelter Legal Services
Law students will interview clients and manage civil legal cases, under the supervision of an attorney, at one of four weekly legal clinics. Clients need help on a variety of issues, including family law, housing, disability, unemployment and immigration. Students must attend training in Fall or Spring. Clinic times and locations: (1) Mondays at 5 pm: Rosie's Place, 889 Harrison Avenue, Roxbury; (2) Tuesdays at 8:30 am: Cambridge Multi-Service Center for the Homeless, 19 Brookline Street, Central Square; (3) Wednesdays at 10:00 am: Chelsea Soldiers' Home, Chelsea; (4) Wednesdays at 6:00 pm: New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans, 17 Court Street, Government Center. Contact the organization for the most up to date training session information.
Office locations: Boston College Law School, 885 Centre Street; Suffolk Law School, 120 Tremont Street
(This pro bono opportunity has been filled as of 11/7/07, please check back later in the year)
Contact:
Genevieve Hebert Fajardo, Esq.
slsf_inc@yahoo.com
(617) 552-0623
Goodwin Procter, LLP
Goodwin Procter LLP, a national law firm with a team of 750 attorneys serving clients through offices in Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Palo Alto, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. offers students at Boston University School of Law the opportunity to participate inthe firm's Pro Bono Initiative. Our pro bono program features matters both in the litigation and transactional areas. For students interested in litigation, we handle a range of matters on behalf of individuals, and class actions, which are referred to the firm though local legal services providers and the court system. This work includes criminal matters (including a death penalty case which may become very active this year), asylum cases, civil rights matters, education related work, and work on a variety of poverty law issues. For students interested in business law, we work with over 200 nonprofit organizations providing them assistance in areas such as intellectual property, employment and corporate and tax law. There is also an opportunity to work in the area of microfinance with nonprofit institutions which develop and implement micro-loan programs domestically and internationally. Finally, we have a well developed program which serves inner-city entrepreneurs and features a series of workshops, legal clinics and one-on-one representation to people starting or trying to grow a small business. Students who are interested in working with our attorneys should submit a resume by October 15, 2007 to:
Contact:
Carolyn Rosenthal
Pro Bono Manager
crosenthal@goodwinprocter.com
Specific projects will be listed throughout the year. For more information contact Jennifer Perrigo or Dave Adams at probono@bu.edu.
Note: To ensure that your pro bono work meets the specific requirements of the BU LAW Pro Bono Program, please contact the Pro Bono Program before committing to any such project.
Health Law Advocates, Inc.
Health Law Advocates, Inc. (HLA) is a public interest law firm founded in 1996. Its mission is to represent low income people who seek access to needed health care, particularly those who are chronically ill, disabled, with children or uninsured. HLA is affiliated with Health Care For All, the premier health access advocacy organization in Massachusetts.
HLA is the only nonprofit law firm in the country that is affiliated with a grass roots organization and is dedicated solely to ensuring access to health care for society’s most vulnerable members.
This pro bono internship is most appropriate for students who are interested in a fast- paced learning environment with direct client contact and administrative agency proceedings. Students, under the supervision of attorneys, will use their legal skills on behalf of vulnerable populations who are being denied coverage for necessary medical treatment by private and public health insurers. Students will advocate for families and individuals who cannot afford legal representation to secure the health care services to which they are entitled. This internship allows a student to blend direct client advocacy with policy work in health law. HLA’s relationship with Health Care For All allows students to closely monitor and help implement health care policy in Massachusetts with advocates from hundreds of organizations. This includes health reform implementation, children’s health care, prescription drugs, oral health, disparities in health care, and quality of medical treatment.
Students will work approximately 12 hours per week. View the HLA handout for more information.
Contact:
For additional information visit www.HealthLawAdvocates.org and contact Georgia Maheras, Esq. 617-338-5241 ext. 2981, gmaheras@hla-inc.org if you would like to apply.
Former Pro Bono Partners
Bet Tzedek
Bet Tzedek, which means “House of Justice”, is a legal assistance program housed within Jewish Family & Children’s Service. Steve Weil, a BU Law alum ('86), is on the Bet Tzedek board and an active pro bono attorney. Working with low-income clients, Bet Tzedek provides free advocacy, legal information and referrals to other agencies or private attorneys for pro bono legal services. Bet Tzedek assists in a range of civil issues including housing, consumer law, immigration, government benefits, probate and family law. Clients who need additional social services are referred internally to other programs within the organization, thereby providing the client with a comprehensive approach to addressing a range of problems.
For over 140 years, Jewish Family & Children's Service has provided the people of Greater Boston with vital support at critical stages of their lives -- from newborns and their parents, to individuals with disabilities, to the elderly and families in crisis. JF&CS is dedicated to meeting the needs of the community with programs that are effective, innovative, and built on a tradition of compassion and caring. No matter how difficult the problem and regardless of a person's background or ability to pay, JF&CS is ready and available to respond.
ECRI (formerly the Emergency Care Research Institute
ECRI is a nonprofit health services research agency and a Collaborating Center of the World Health Organization (WHO). It is designated as an Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. ECRI's mission is to improve the safety, quality, and cost-effectiveness of healthcare. It is widely recognized as one of the world's leading independent organizations committed to advancing the quality of healthcare. ECRI's mission is to promote the highest standards of safety, quality, and cost-effectiveness in healthcare to benefit patient care through research, publishing, education and consulting.
ECRI's focus is healthcare technology, healthcare risk and quality management, patient safety improvement and healthcare environmental management. It provides information services and technical assistance to more than 5,000 hospitals, healthcare organizations, ministries of health, government and planning agencies, voluntary sector organizations, associations, and accrediting agencies worldwide. Its more than 30 databases, publications, information services, and technical assistance services set the standard for the healthcare community.
Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts
Family Advocates of Central Massachusetts was formed in 2003 as a medical-legal collaboration between two non-profit organizations: the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) and the Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts (LACCM), which is a legal aid organization that provides free civil legal services to low-income people in Worcester County. The county is made up of urban centers, rural areas and semi-rural locations. Family Advocates’ legal services are provided by attorneys employed by Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts. They provide training to doctors, to teach them to recognize and referral legal issues, and they provide legal assistance to patients referred by doctors.
The Massachusetts Law Reform Institute- CORI Project
The CORI Project at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute provides legal assistance to low-income Massachusetts residents who face civil legal barriers in employment, housing and other services due to their criminal records. Currently, the state maintains criminal records for over 2.8 million individuals. A criminal record (or CORI, which stands for Criminal Offender Record Information) can make jobs, housing, loans, and even volunteer work out of reach for ex-offenders. Even a record with only “not guilty” findings can create barriers to jobs and benefits.
The Massachusetts Law Reform Institute is a non-profit legal services organization, which acts as the statewide legal services support center for Massachusetts. The CORI Project helps people with criminal records by providing legal advice through our CORI hotline, and by working to reform the CORI system through legislative advocacy, administrative advocacy, and impact litigation. Students are needed to counsel clients and provide legal assistance, and to help with legal research projects as needed.