Pro Bono Work / Community Service
Summer Associate Community Service and Pro Bono Opportunities At McDermott
Giving back to the community is a core value of the lawyers at McDermott Will & Emery. This commitment begins with our summer program as lawyers and summer associates from many of our offices participate in community service activities. These events inevitably lead to some of our summer associates fondest memories as they work together to enhance the lives of people living in their community. Additionally, every summer associate is given the opportunity to work on a pro bono matter over the course of the summer. Since 2006, 100% of our summer associates worked on at least one pro bono matter.
Here are the community service activities our offices are involved in this summer.
Boston: The Boston office summer associates and their mentors will be assisting the Medical Legal Partnership for Children (one of McDermott's pro bono partners) again this year at the local food stamp/energy clinic to provide assistance to clients facing food insecurity. Each team will staff the clinic one day during the summer and then follow up as needed to help clients complete food stamp applications to meet their food needs. Also, Boston summer associates will be involved in Firm-wide pro bono legal services provided to the William J. Clinton Foundation's HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI) regarding laws in 44 countries in Africa, Asia, Central America and Eastern Europe.
Chicago: In 2007, Summer Associates in Chicago were busy helping their community by committing time to approximately 50 pro bono projects. These included providing research and analysis to the Anti-Defamation League on pressing civil rights issues in the Midwestern United States such as a public school's ability to regulate its students' right to free speech, and states' enforcement of anti-bullying and hate crimes statutes. They also provided research and analysis of children's education rights when in foster care, under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and the No Child Left Behind Program, as well as analyzing due process protections relative to school disciplinary actions in Illinois and other states. They contributed research, affidavits, and briefs to Chicago-based asylum seekers seeking to avoid persecution in Belarus, Cameroon, Cuba, and El Salvador. They performed research for a case on behalf of a transgender individual who was terminated from employment on account of her gender identity. They helped a number of local charitable organizations with required corporate registration and/or tax filings, and to update bylaws and personnel policies. They assisted in negotiations and litigation involving multiple elderly Chicago residents' claims for disability, pension and/or social security benefits. They represented clients in an uncontested divorce hearing and in negotiations regarding property settlements, and assisted in providing representation to children facing disciplinary action in the Chicago Public Schools.
Los Angeles: The Los Angeles office offers three pro bono and community building projects to its summer associates. First, the Los Angeles office will take part in Project LA Works which takes place on a Saturday and includes a trip to an elementary school to help clean, paint and improve the interior and exterior grounds of the school. The second project includes joining forces with other law firms in a program called Buildable Hours for Habitat for Humanity. The summer associates assist with the construction of homes that will be made available for families who would not be able to afford to purchase homes under their current financial situation. Lastly, the Los Angeles Summer Associates will spend a day with Public Counsel Law Center for the General Relief Advocacy Project (GRAP). This project is designed to give summer associates a chance to learn the fundamentals of government benefits law and then advocated on behalf of impoverished persons struggling to obtain emergency food and shelter benefits through the General Relief (GR) and Food Stamps programs. Summer Associates in the Los Angeles office also get the opportunity to work on adoption and immigration asylum cases.
Miami: The Miami office kicked off its summer program with a luncheon celebrating forty years of service by Legal Services of Greater Miami, with whom the office has a collaborative relationship. Representatives from Legal Services have met with the Summer Associates, who together with their mentors will be tackling social security cases involving children. Additionally, the Summer Associates attended a day-long conference by the National Center for Refugee and Immigrant Children, where they interacted with local advocates and pro bono attorneys. The Summer Associates look forward to applying the training received in the judicial process and interacting with young clients by preparing asylum petitions under the Violence Against Women Act for unaccompanied immigrant minors.
New York: In the New York Office, summer associates had the opportunity to participate in an after-school program of the Police Athletic League. Once a week throughout the school year, attorneys , summer associates and staff members work with ten 7 to 8 year olds who are at risk of failing first or second grade to help them with homework and reading. Through this program, the students receive much-needed one-on-one attention. In addition, four summer associates are participating in a legal clinic at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, assisting with client intake, and drafting a “know your rights” family law manual for clients of the Neighborhood House. A number of summer associates are representing adults and children in immigration related proceedings, including applications for asylum, and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status applications for youth victims of human trafficking. Summer associates are also working on the incorporation and 501(c)(3) applications for start-up arts organizations and are involved in education rights cases, representing students who require additional educational services at evidentiary hearings.
Orange County: The Orange County office offers a variety of pro bono projects and opportunities through its association with the Orange County Public Law Center (PLC). Summer associates have the opportunity to attend legal clinics organized by the PLC that service community members throughout Orange County. Summer associates and partners in the Orange County office have teamed up to provide legal representation in guardianship cases. Summer associates also have the opportunity to work on other pro bono matters on behalf of non-profit organizations and qualified individuals, such as immigration, family law, employment, housing, health law and corporate governance. Additionally, summer associates have the opportunity to participate in the Orange County office’s organization of an annual fund-raising event on behalf of Serving People in Need (SPIN), a non-profit organization dedicated to providing assistance to low-income and homeless people in Orange County.
Silicon Valley: The Silicon Valley office will be participating in an intake clinic for low-income senior citizens in East Palo Alto. Additionally, Silicon Valley summer associates will get ample opportunities to work on any number of pro bono cases currently being staffed including criminal, habitability, guardianship and school discipline matters.
Washington, DC: The Washington, DC office will offer its summer associates the opportunity to participate in the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless Project. This program gives summer associates an opportunity to attend intake sessions, meet one-on-one with clients, and handle real cases. In addition, the Washington, DC Summer Associates have participated in a variety of other pro bono activities. Highlights include a death penalty appeal involving a mentally retarded inmate charged with murder, adoption trials, child custody matters, a field survey of small businesses suspected of failing to comply with ADA laws, and several landlord/tenant cases.