For the Good of the Gulf: UNC Law Winter/Spring Break Pro Bono Project

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Coming Full Circle

Two years ago, I wrote several posts about my experiences in New Orleans as a first year law student. On that trip, I learned a lot of things. I talked to a client for the first time. I learned what it’s like to have someone depend on me to meet his or her legal needs. I discovered that helping an overworked office means being patient and may not always be as fun and glamorous as one might hope.


I returned this year as a different person to a different city. In the past two years, I’ve worked in several different arenas of indigent defense, and I’ve taken four more semesters of law school classes. In the meantime, New Orleans was growing too. As our caravan of three minivans crossed the bridge into the city on Sunday night, lights shone brightly in areas that stood dark two years ago. The Orleans Public Defender Office, that didn’t have its phones set up in 2006, has a much bigger staff and a more fine-tuned office.


Yet, many things haven’t changed. The houses on our drive to the office are still boarded up from Katrina, and I even worked on a case based on an incident before the storm.


Working with a busy office also hasn’t changed much. I’m not counseling clients or arguing motions but instead working on legal research and writing projects. It’s not glamorous work, but it’s necessary work. The research that I did today was research that my supervising attorney doesn’t have the time in her busy schedule to do and helped ensure that all of her clients were getting the best representation possible. It may only be a week-long project, but I know that what we’ve done matters. We might not see it now, but we lightened the load of several attorneys and we brought peace of mind to several defendants.


Thanks again to all of you who have supported our trip. And, thanks to all of my fellow classmates for your work. Even if you don’t realize it yet, you are making a difference.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Public Defender’s Office-Team 1L.
The first year law student team working in the Public Defender’s Office was assigned to conduct first appearance interviews. These interviews provide an initial assessment of potential clients entering the prison system to see if they qualify for assistance. We met in the intake room of the prison with prisoners awaiting their bond hearing and observed the magistrate court. After collecting information about the potential clients we made follow up phone calls to their families to provide information about their bond.
Our work with first appearances continued the second day. One of the most fulfilling parts of our work has been letting the new prisoners know their rights as they enter the prison system. We have observed first-hand how unsettling the entry into the prison system can be for people that often don’t know what awaits them, what exactly they are charged with, or how to work with the system. Our general knowledge of the legal system and the training provided to us by the Public Defender’s Office has enabled us to alleviate some of their anxiety by letting them know what will be happening next and simply showing that someone cares about their case. This experience has really opened our eyes, and we look forward to learning more about the criminal justice system each day.

Working for the Pro Bono Project-Day 2

The other half of our group has spent two highly productive days volunteering for the Pro Bono Project.
The Pro Bono Project was founded in 1986 by the Louisiana Bar Foundation to help provide legal services to the poor. Over 1400 attorneys in Louisiana contribute at least twenty hours of volunteer legal assistance to the Project each year. The Pro Bono Project receives funding from the New Orleans Legal Assistance Corporation, the Louisiana Bar Foundation's Interest on Lawyer's Trust Account (IOLTA), Title III funds, and private donations.
Our small group is helping The Pro Bono Project file pro-se divorce cases. Due to post traumatic stress resulting from Hurricane Katrina, the divorce rate has increased in New Orleans. In the last two days, our group has written seventy divorce petitions, contacted clients, and has arranged to meet our clients as well as other Pro Bono Project clients who were unable to attend their scheduled meetings due to a snow storm last week. I have automated the pro se divorce templates so that we can process client files more rapidly. One of our talented first year students has assisted multiple Spanish speaking clients.

Our group has enjoyed working on the 49th floor of the Shell Building in the law offices of Liskow & Lewis and with our supervising attorneys from Kilpatrick Stockton, Robert and Steve.
Below are several pictures of our group working for the Pro Bono Project.
Louis, Alexis, Najib and Meghan hard at work writing client petitions.



Ann Benoit, an attorney from The Pro Bono Project, answers Sarah's questions about a complex case.














We made it!

Hi everyone! Our amazing team made it to New Orleans on Sunday night. We've enjoyed great seafood and jazz music, but most of all, we've really enjoyed working hard in our respective offices to make sure that New Orleans' citizens rights are protected on both the home and criminal justice fronts. My smaller group has been with the New Orleans Public Defender office for the last two days. Our incredible first-year students are working on the First Appearance project, doing interviews with potential clients to determine indigency and family/community ties. The first appearance is a critical stage in the criminal justice process, as this is an opportunity for the attorney to argue why the defendant should be released pending her next court appearance. Our students are working hard to provide the attorneys with helpful information about the clients to help send them home so they may be with their families, continue their employment, and effectively aid in their own defense. Our second- and third-year students are working one-on-one with attorneys, completing research projects and investigative tasks. Thus far we've had students research important jurisdictional questions, construct an investigation plan for a serious murder case, and examine a client's right to a Speedy Trial under the Sixth Amendment when a warrant sent post-Katrina never reached him. Our students are providing the attorneys with answers to tough legal questions that will aid in their effective and zealous representation of clients as demanded by the Constitution and Louisiana law. Many of these clients are struggling in the aftermath of Katrina--attempting to regain employment, receive government benefits, and resolve old cases where evidence and/or transcripts were lost in the storm. With the help from Seema Kakad, Sonal Raja, Allison Standard, Alicia McClendon, Josh McIntyre, Rob Lamb, Joe Vossen, Claire Sauls, Alex Finamore, Ryan Caban, and myself, the Public Defender office's clients are receiving top-notch representation and protection. I am proud to be a part of this amazing group, and we are all deeply appreciative of your efforts to send us here. We could not do this incredibly important work without your support. Many thanks.