PBC Project Updates:

Hinckley Allen Snyder LLP partners Malcolm Farmer and Avi Lev are helping The Transcending Through Education Foundation (TTEF) get on its proverbial feet by providing the legal work and advice necessary to establish itself as a foundation and begin the important work its stakeholders have planned.

TTEF will provide resources and support for incarcerated individuals in Rhode Island to obtain a higher education. Through a powerful narrative of self-empowerment and giving back, the Foundation will work to reverse the School-to-Prison Pipeline and establish the Prison-to-School Pipeline.  TTEF will provide two types of annual scholarships. One scholarship will be awarded to a current inmate in the Rhode Island prison system pursuing his or her higher education. A second scholarship will be awarded to an inmate transitioning out of the Rhode Island prison system who will be pursuing his or her higher education upon release. In addition, TTEF will provide support services to scholarship winners.

Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP re-ups its pro bono housing rights service to Children's Friend RI

  Our Children's Friend housing rights project, now in its sixth year, continues to provide housing conditions relief to those served by the organization through the hard work of Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP attorney Erika Lindberg and law students.  In October, Erika Lindberg gave a presentation to the Children's Friend staff to spread the word about the PBC service and educate the staff on common legal issues related to housing. In January, the law firm will provide a more in-depth training to Children's Friend staff on common housing issues that can be prevented without the assistance of an attorney.

Edwards Wildman attorney talks to staff at Children's Friend RI about housing rights, best practices and how to maximize the services provided by the PBC.

 

Erika Lindberg, Esq. of Edwards Wildman LLP and Malia Goodwin of Children's Friend.

 

The PBC Celebrates National Pro Bono Celebration Week

Each year in October the ABA promotes Pro Bono through a Celebration Week to raise awareness about the importance of pro bono legal assistance.  Here are some of the PBC activities that took place:

On October 19, PBC attorney Chris Ayers of Burns & Levinson LLP gave a legal rights presentation for Year Up's current student body about the intersection of criminal law and employment.

Chris Ayers, Esq. of Burns and Levinson LLP talking to Year Up students about criminal law and expungement.

On Tuesday, October 23, from 5:30-7:00 pm - the Pro Bono Collaborative held a Student Meet & Greet for PBC donors at Nixon Peabody LLP

On Wednesday, October 24 the Pro Bono Collaborative held the first Rhode Island Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals (Dreamers) Workshop/Clinic at Olneyville Neighborhood Association with RWUSOL alum attorney, Hans Bremer, Esq. and PBC law students. Nearly twenty people showed up to find out whether they were eligible for deferred action. Thank you to Catholic Social Services' Immigration Law Education and Policy Project (ILEAP) of Fall River for assisting the PBC in setting up our clinics.

 
The PBC held an additional DACA clinic in Newport at East Bay Community Action Program on November 13th. Katherine James-Bowers, Esq. (RWUSOL '00), Carl Krueger, Esq., Jennifer Eby Kone, Esq. and Crissy Babine all volunteered at the clinic.

Hans Bremer, Esq. RWUSOL '08 and RWUSOL students meet with workshop participants and  ONA volunteer Will Lambek.

RWUSOL students Marcus Swift and Jacqueline Hartley assist workshop participants.

Law students Hillary Black and Dylan Owens assist a DACA applicant.

Additional events that were planned had to be cancelled due to Superstorm Sandy.  These included:  a PBC Expungement Clinic at McAuley House with Ratcliffe Harten Burke & Galamaga LLP attorneys and PBC law students and a PBC rights presentation at the Women's Center, RI, a domestic violence shelter, by Whelan & Siket LLP attorney Matthew Parker, Esq. and PBC law students. 

Richard Ratcliffe, Esq. and RWUSOL student Mike da Cruz assist a McAuley House guest.

We address unmet legal needs in the following areas: Guardianship; Immigrant Domestic Violence (U Visas); Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA/Dreamers); Special Education; Housing Rights; Expungement; Workers' Rights; Non-Profit Health (including labor and employment issues); and Simple Wills. The PBC's model responds directly to the needs of our communities and is based on a law firm's interest in creating a long-term partnership with a local community organization on a specific legal issue.  Accordingly, the list of legal areas addressed by PBC projects is always changing and can be tailored to a law firm's interests and skills.

If your law firm is interested in getting involved with the PBC, please contact Suzy Harrington-Steppen, PBC Project Coordinator, at 401.254.4559 or sharrington-steppen@rwu.edu.

Individual Pro Bono Case Referrals 

If you are interested in taking individual pro bono case referrals the Volunteer Lawyers Program of the RI Bar Association can always use your help!  Please contact John H. Ellis VLP Coordinator at jellis@ribar.com or 421-7758 ext.103