Students to Spend Spring Break Offering Pro Bono Legal Services

Fifty-two students are assisting low-income clients facing legal issues at 20 nonprofits in 13 cities across the US.

Fifty-two BU Law students are spending their spring breaks providing assistance to low-income clients involving legal issues ranging from asylum to housing. Groups of one to six students are traveling to 12 different cities across the US, while a dozen students are staying local to serve in the Boston community, as part of BU Law’s Pro Bono Spring Break Service Trips.

Under the supervision of BU Law faculty, staff, or alumni, the students will work at 20 different nonprofit organizations to advocate for the legal rights of economically disadvantaged individuals. They will gain valuable experience working with real clients, learning about their host organizations, and conducting legal research. And by the end of the week, they will have had the chance to make a tangible impact on the communities they are serving.

“I can say first-hand that students walk away from these trips knowing that through pro bono service they can make a difference,” says Carolyn Goodwin, director of public service and pro bono at BU Law.

Administered through BU Law’s Pro Bono Program, this year’s spring break service trips have placed groups of students with the following nonprofit legal organizations:

• AIDS Action Committee (Boston, MA) – One student is working with AIDS Action, which educates people about HIV, connects those who are HIV-positive with care and information, and works to prevent the spread of STD and hepatitis C.
• Bet Tzedek (Los Angeles, CA) – Under the supervision of a Holocaust services attorney, two students are assisting at Bet Tzedek, which provides free legal services to low-income individuals in Los Angeles.
• Center for Law and Education (Boston, MA) – The two students at CLE are working at an organization focused on issues related to legal rights and responsibilities of students and school personnel, as well as key education programs and initiatives, including Title I, vocational education programs and school-to-work systems, and special education for students with disabilities.
• Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York (New York, NY) – The two students working with Catholic Charities are involved in providing immigration legal services.
• Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts (Boston, MA) – One student is working with CLCM, which maintains a statewide phone helpline through which it logs 1200-1500 calls per year from parents, youth, attorneys, and professionals seeking assistance and guidance on legal matters that impact children.
• Colorado Legal Services (Denver, CO) – The student at CLS is assisting in various matters, including income maintenance and public benefits, housing and homelessness, consumer and finance, health, including the legal rights of the elderly and the physically and mentally disabled, and family and domestic relations, with particular emphasis on domestic violence and abuse.
• Court Service Center (Boston, MA) – At the Court Service Center, two students are assisting walk-in clients as they navigate the legal system.
• East Bay Community Law Center (San Francisco, CA) – Two students will help EBCLC in its mission to provide desperately needed legal services to the low-income community in the areas of housing, welfare, HIV and health, homelessness, and economic development.
• FIU Law Medical-Legal Partnership (Miami, FL) – Working with the Florida International University clinic, two students are assisting low-income households in the Miami-Dade area with various legal matters.
• Legal Assistance Foundation (Chicago, IL) – The student working at LAF is providing legal services in non-criminal matters to people living in poverty in metropolitan Chicago.
• Make the Road New York (New York, NY) – Two students are assisting MTR in its mission to expand civil rights, promote health, improve housing, win workplace justice, improve public education, and empower youth.
• MFY Legal Services, Inc. (New York, NY) – The student working with MFY is involved in housing-related issues.
• Michigan Legal Services (Detroit, MI) – Four students are working with clients facing foreclosure in the Detroit area.
• Mississippi Center for Justice (Biloxi, MS) – Six students are assisting clients with a range of legal issues at this nonprofit public interest firm committed to advancing racial and economic justice.
• New Jersey Institute for Social Justice (Newark, NJ) – Two students are working at this urban research and advocacy organization dedicated to the advancement of New Jersey’s urban areas and residents.
• Orleans Public Defenders (New Orleans, LA) – Working in the area of public defense, six students are providing clients in the criminal and juvenile justice system with legal assistance.
• Pine Tree Legal Assistance (Portland, ME) – Six students are assisting at this statewide nonprofit, which offers civil legal assistance to low-income people in Maine.
• South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project (Harlingen, TX) – Four students are working on asylum cases at ProBar, the national effort to provide pro bono legal services to asylum seekers detained in South Texas by the United States government.
• Project Citizenship (Boston, MA) – Two students are assisting eligible, legal permanent residents overcome barriers to becoming a US citizen through this nonprofit.
• Volunteer Lawyers Project (Boston, MA) – Through this organization of the Boston Bar Association, three students are providing legal services to low-income residents in the Boston area.

Interested in helping students engage with pro bono projects? Please contact the Career Development and Public Service Office, or for more information about BU Law’s Pro Bono Program, email probono@bu.edu.

Media Coverage

4 BU Law Students to Assist Area Residents Facing Foreclosure, Detroit Legal News