Hilary Chadwick, Equal Justice Fellow, Joins the National Immigration Center
Chadwick knit together unique experiential learning opportunities at BU Law to earn her dream job helping survivors of human trafficking.
“[Seeing the effects of human trafficking] infuriated me and made me want to learn about this crime and empower the people who had been taken advantage of,” she says.
Back in the US while working as the pro bono coordinator at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in New York City, Chadwick worked on a human trafficking pro bono case and was inspired to pursue her law degree.
Chadwick entered BU Law seeking to master the legal tools to help survivors of trafficking. With opportunities in prosecution, policy, and direct representation, she took advantage of the school’s wide range of courses and experiential learning opportunities to find the approach that suited her.
During her first year in law school, Chadwick began working with the Human Trafficking Clinic (now the Immigrants’ Rights & Human Trafficking Program). She provided translation services for clients applying for their T-Visas, a temporary immigration status for trafficking survivors. The experience with real clients immediately propelled Chadwick into a fast-paced and diverse atmosphere.
“It might take you years to really understand human trafficking if your research is limited to secondary sources like books and articles,” she says. “However, when you’re able to work with survivors, you gain a much deeper—and more accurate—depiction of the issue. Survivors can provide not only a detailed description of traffickers, criminal networks, and sophisticated manipulation tactics, but their experiences inherently teach us about the resulting trauma, which is essential to understanding the impact of this crime.”
The Criminal Law Clinical Program broadened Chadwick’s experience as she considered pursuing prosecution. Representing detained clients as part of the public defender program required quick thinking and courtroom advocacy skills. She remembers arguing for the release of her client in front of the judge, after having only had a brief opportunity to interview her behind a divider in the cell adjacent to the courtroom. In addition, what she learned about the criminal justice system strengthened her advocacy for immigrant survivors of trafficking who are often coerced into committing crimes on behalf of their traffickers.
Chadwick’s Semester in Practice with the United States Attorney’s Office in Chicago focused almost exclusively on federal prosecutions of human trafficking cases. Beyond trial preparation, Chadwick recognized how difficult the process could be for the survivors. She witnessed “the different challenges [survivors] face having to testify right in front of their trafficker in the courtroom. It’s a very intimidating and formal setting to be disclosing very intimate details about their lives.”
In addition to the crucial hands-on training she received, the Semester in Practice helped her build a network of contacts in the US Attorney’s office that she still uses in her current job to report crimes to proper authorities.
After receiving an Equal Justice Works Fellowship, cosponsored by Kirkland & Ellis and Aon, Chadwick began working at the National Immigration Center in Chicago. Her day-to-day responsibilities include representing detained and non-detained clients who are survivors of labor and sex trafficking.
She has also worked with law enforcement authorities to coordinate the exit of a human trafficking survivor from her entrapment. “Her documents were withheld and she was made to feel powerless. She had no alternative options or safe way to leave,” Chadwick says. She simultaneously worked with social services to secure long-term housing and support for the survivor.
Chadwick also provides training within her organization and to outside entities about how to identify people who have been trafficked, and is launching a new pro bono project that will place five trafficking cases with attorneys at Kirkland & Ellis and Aon.
Her work continues to transform the lives of survivors of human trafficking in the Chicago area. Through her training sessions, community groups and companies are becoming more aware of human trafficking and are better equipped to connect survivors with the right resources.
For Chadwick, the motivations are simple—“It’s the clients,” she says. After meeting the survivors and hearing their stories, Chadwick found the inspiration for work: “Their stories lit a fire underneath me and made me get to work.”