Congrats to Vanessa Coe (Nova Southeastern University Law Center, Class of 2011) for winning the 16th Annual PSLawNet Pro Bono Publico Award!

Vanessa’s pathbreaking work, at Florida Legal Services, on behalf of Filipino H2-B workers will lead to hundreds of guest workers receiving millions of dollars in back wages.  She established deep and sustained relationships with an entire community which had no previous contact with the legal services delivery system.  The factual evidence Vanessa collected persuaded several luxury hotels to not only pay guest workers their back wages, but also a 50% penalty for the delays in issuance of the paychecks.  This fall, Dan Rather Reports will air a program profiling the abuses of guest workers, which will feature cases Vanessa’s work uncovered this past summer.  In the words of Managing Attorney Gregory Schell,

her efforts were truly extraordinary; in my 31 years as a legal services practitioner . . . she stands out as the best – by far – law student with whom I have ever had the opportunity to work.

In addition, during her two year tenure as the President of the Public Interest Law Society, at Nova Southeastern, the organization has raised tens of thousands of dollars to support the public interest work of her fellow students.

We would also like to applaud the great work of this year’s runner-up, Sufyan Sohel (DePaul University College of Law, Class of 2011).  Sufyan exudes a passion and dedication to social justice, especially towards civil rights and immigration issues.  He has devoted more than 268 hours of pro bono himself and, through his leadership with the Pro Bono & Community Service Initiative, motivated his fellow law students to engage in pro bono as well.  His tireless work was instrumental in a recent class action lawsuit filed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Chicago on behalf of 200 illegally terminated Somali workers.  Sufyan also dedicates his time to assist the efforts of the Indo-American Legal Clinic to address the legal needs of Chicago’s South Asian community.

Lastly, Meghan Baker (University of Houston Law Center , Class of 2011), Kathryn D’Adamo (University of Maryland School of Law, Class of 2011), and Sarah Sherman Stokes (Boston College Law School, Class of 2011) earned honorable mentions.

Meghan is an active force in the Houston community—serving as a Guardian ad Litem, volunteering with homeless LGBT youth, and founding Impact Houston.  Under Meghan’s leadership, Impact Houston has coordinated rallies to protest Proposition 8, the Defense of Marriage Act, and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and held service events to benefit a Transgender House and HIV/AIDS charity.  Meghan has also worked with the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission to review and recommend changes to their regulations on behalf of LGBT youth.

Kathryn entered law school with a mission to become the best advocate she could for poor and working people, especially immigrant communities.  Dismayed to find that none of the school’s clinics focused on representation of low wage workers, during her first semester Kathryn began helping develop the International and Comparative Law Clinic and establish a trans-national guest worker representation program under the clinic.  In addition, she has worked with the Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, CASA de Maryland, Maryland Legal Aid Bureau’s Farmworker Project, the United Autoworkers, New Orleans Public Defender Office, and founded and served as president of the National Lawyers Guild chapter at her school.

Sarah founded the Immigration Law Group and established a partnership between ILG and the Political/Asylum Immigration Representation Project to do “know your rights” presentations and monthly intakes at detention centers throughout Massachusetts.  After the earthquake in Haiti, Sarah mobilized the immigration law community at BC Law and coordinated with nationally recognized experts to organize training for more than 120 pro bono practitioners and law students to help Haitians in the U.S. obtain temporary protected status.  Sarah’s leadership at BC Law and her dedication to local immigrants will leave a lasting impact on both of these communities.