We are pleased to announce that the 2020-2021 PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award will go, jointly, to Delaney Heigert and Ellen Bertels, both 3Ls at University of Kansas School of Law. NALP confers this honor each year to a law student whose extraordinary commitment to law-related public service work contributes to the overall growth of pro bono culture within their law school and their broader community. This year NALP has chosen to honor two award winners to recognize their joint achievements and outstanding work.

Last winter, after much deliberation, we selected selected six finalists from among the students nominated for this award. In addition to our winners, we have also selected one student to honor as a Merit Distinction finalist.

Our winners, Merit Distinction finalist, and other finalists are highlighted below. Thank you to our impressive pool of nominees for the valuable work each of you do for your communities!

WINNERS: Ellen Bertels and Delaney Heigert | University of Kansas School of Law

Ellen Bertels and Delaney Heigert were selected as this year’s Pro Bono Public Award winners because of the outstanding achievements they made together toward the advancement and protection of transgender and nonbinary people’s rights. The impact of their pro bono work extends not only to their law school and their peers, but also to the LGBTQ+ community in Kansas, a state deep within the “Bible Belt.”

In the words of the Liz Hamor, Chapter Director of GLSEN Kansas:

Ellen and Delaney’s pro bono work to help transgender youth change their legal names and gender markers is life-saving work.

Statement of Support for the Nomination of Ellen Bertels and Delaney Heigert; 2020-2021 PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award

Further attesting to the profound impact of the clinic, Associate Professor Kyle Velte commented:

The unmet need for this work became immediately apparent: dozens of potential clients called the clinic within hours of its opening.

Statement of Support for the Nomination of Ellen Bertels and Delaney Heigert; 2020-2021 PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award

Ellen and Delaney’s efforts to create change within their school and community did not stop with the clinic. They have each written legal scholarship on topics involving LGBTQ+ rights. They see the intersectionality of their work and the promotion of the rights and safety of other historically marginalized communities. As 3Ls, they successfully petitioned their school to convert two gendered restrooms to accessible gender-neutral restrooms knowing that this was as much a fight for trans and nonbinary dignity as it was for the dignity of disabled persons. Last summer, Delaney joined the fight for racial justice by working with community organizers to protest the incarceration of Rontarus Washington, Jr., a Black man held in jail for five years without a trial. This coming fall, Ellen will serve as a Skadden fellow to expand the work of the clinic and to promote the needs of BIPOC trans Kansans.

Congratulations Delaney and Ellen!

Merit Distinction Finalist: Delaney Keefe | Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law

Delaney Keefe was selected as the Merit Distinction finalist because of the outstanding impact she has made in her community. In protest against the lack of adequate resources for homeless Philadelphians at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the homeless community created three encampments in large areas of the city, with the support of local organizing groups. When the encampments first appeared, Delaney frequently brought donations to the residents and her presence in the community became noticeable and welcomed. She was a friend, a supporter, an organizer, and a service provider. Not only did she help the community survive by creating a clothing drive, constructing tents, and providing basic necessities to residents, she also defended the community using her access to legal services help and with her body when police harassed encampment residents.

In August, the City planned to evict the residents from the encampments. To prevent the disbanding of the community, Delaney drafted the documents needed to file a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order against the City of Philadelphia, which were eventually filed with the help of Villanova law professors and a local criminal law attorney. But Delaney’s work did not end here. She gathered witnesses to appear in court and drove all attendees to the courthouse.

Although the injunction and restraining order were not granted, Delaney, her colleagues, and her friends were able to rally approximately one thousand Philadelphians in support of the encampments, which prevented the police from destroying the encampments. From there, Delaney negotiated a solution with the City and the Philadelphia Housing Authority to transfer fifty City-owned houses to encampment residents.

Delaney’s tireless work and commitment is a prime example of social movement lawyering, and the Award Committee is honored to recognize her as this year’s Merit Distinction Finalist.

Congratulations Delaney!

Other Finalists

Finally, the Award Committee wants to recognize the achievement of the other finalists for the 2020-2021 PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award:

• Tanya Burke | St. Mary’s University School of Law
  Committed to helping others however she can and providing encouragement to coworkers, peers, and fellow volunteers
• Nneka Ewolunu | University of Georgia School of Law
  Committed to creating space for historically marginalized communities
• Sarah Kahn | University of California, Irvine School of Law
  Dedicated to improving quality of life for incarcerated people and ultimately decreasing our country’s reliance on the carceral system

We are pleased to announce that the 2019-2020 PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award Winner is Leslie Alvarez, a 3L at St. Mary’s University School of Law. NALP confers this honor each year to a law student whose extraordinary commitment to law-related public service work contributes to the overall growth of pro bono culture within their law school and their broader community.

Last fall, after much deliberation, we selected five finalists from among the students nominated for this award. In addition to our winner, we have also selected one student to honor as a Merit Distinction finalist. Leslie Alvarez received her award at a meeting of NALP’s Public Service Section held via videoconference last week.

Our winner, Merit Distinction finalist, and other finalists are highlighted below. Thank you to our impressive pool of nominees for the valuable work each of you do for your communities.

You can read more about each of these outstanding students by following the links below to individual blog posts from earlier this year highlighting their achievements.

WINNER: Leslie Alvarez | St. Mary’s University School of Law

Ultimately, we selected Alvarez as our 2019-2020 PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award winner for her work fostering pro bono opportunities for her classmates at St. Mary’s — to the benefit of the San Antonio community broadly. In the words of one of Alvarez’ supervising attorneys:

In my 20 years of practice I have never worked with a law student who is such a doer….Leslie approached my law firm to partner with St. Mary’s Law School on a clinic for young people with disabilities. That by itself was exciting but more so was her follow through: she immediately set up a meeting of interested stakeholders, took charge of recruiting fellow law students, identified community partners to hose the clinic, coordinated multiple trainings, and conducted outreach to parents and students with disabilities. When the first clinic had low turnout, she immediately started brainstorming on solutions and realized we needed a broader outreach network. The second clinic was the most successful my law firm has hosted in our history of doing guardianship alternative work and it is because of Leslie’s dedication.

Statement of Support for the Nomination of Leslie Alvarez;
2019-2020 PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award

Congratulations Leslie!

Merit Distinction Finalist: Ming Tanigawa-Lau | UCLA Law

Although the award ultimately went to another student, the Award Committee wanted to take time additionally to call attention to the exemplary work of Ming Tanigawa-Lau, a 2L at UCLA Law. Tanigawa-Lau has played an instrumental role organizing students’ pro bono efforts to assist asylum seekers in Tijuana. In the words of a postgraduate fellow who worked with Tanigawa-Lau:

As a 1L board member, Ming was an amazing asset to the student group, Law Students for Immigrant Justice (LSIJ) last year. She spent her school breaks volunteering with detained asylum-seeking women and children in Dilly Texas, as well as migrants in Tijuana, Mexico…Ming also created opportunities for other law students to get involved in immigrant justice work[.]

Statement of Support for the Nomination of Ming Tanigawa-Lau;
2019-2020 PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award

Congratulations Ming!

Other Finalists

Finally, the Award Committee wants to recognize one more time the achievement of the other finalists for the 2019-2020 PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award:

• Ashley De La Garza | St. Mary’s University School of Law
  Outstanding dedication to criminal justice reform.
• Chelsea Reese | University of Georgia School of Law
  Pro bono work on behalf of children and vicitms of domestic violence.
• Emily Holland | Pepperdine Caruso School of Law
  Human rights work, internationally and domestically.

At the October Mini-Conference, we announced the finalists for this year’s PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award. To commend each finalist on their hard work and to demonstrate how difficult it will be to select the winner, we have featured a different finalist on the blog every Monday for the past four weeks.

For our final week in this series, we feature Ming Tanigawa-Lau from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law in Los Angeles, California.

Ming Tanigawa-Lau

Ming was selected as a finalist because of the outstanding impact she has made at her school and in her community. As a 1L, Ming felt empowered by the strong sense of community she felt at UCLA, and she fostered that feeling by strengthening the community of students dedicated to immigrants’ rights. She jumped at opportunities to volunteer at fundraisers and events that would create relationships between students and practitioners. She traveled to Dilley, Texas and Tijuana, Mexico to help nonprofit organizations prepare asylum seekers for their credible fear interviews and to conduct Know Your Rights presentations. Ming was so moved by these experiences that she dedicated her 1L summer to Al Otro Lado, where she coordinated a weekend clinic to connect volunteers with asylum seekers who needed assistance preparing their applications. Beginning her 2L year, Ming continued her work with Al Otro Lado and introduced her colleagues at work with her peers at school. Notably, Ming organized multiple trips for law students to assist asylum-seekers in detention and at the border in Texas and California. Ming’s peers, colleagues, and professors describe her as a leader in pro bono service because of her unending dedication and her ability to connect volunteers with meaningful opportunities. As she describes her work, Ming is “dedicated to making [her invaluable] experiences possible for others.”

At the October Mini-Conference, we announced the finalists for this year’s PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award. To commend each finalist on their hard work and to demonstrate how difficult it will be to select the winner, we will feature a different finalist on the blog every Monday for five weeks.

This week we feature Chelsea Reese from the University of Georgia School of Law in Athens, Georgia.

Chelsea Reese

Chelsea was selected as a finalist because of her compassionate commitment to children and victims of domestic violence. During her 1L year, Chelsea began working as a Court Appointed Special Advocate with Athens-Oconee CASA, where she not only produced quality work product, but also showed her supervisors her passion for ensuring children in temporary foster care receive the best possible outcomes. Chelsea grew attached to a pair of siblings and her dedication to these children has led her to follow their case with CASA and encouraged her to help as many children and families as she can. At school, Chelsea participated in UGA’s Family Justice Clinic where she provided sole representation for 10 clients and served over 600 hours. Chelsea’s devotion to family law and her exceptional work allowed her to become a teaching assistant with the Family Justice Clinic’s clinical professor for whom she supervised students’ work and addressed clients’ concerns. Alongside her clinical professor, Chelsea was also able to publish an article in the Georgia Law Review Online about the factors that cause women and children of color to become overrepresented in cases involving domestic violence. Chelsea has successfully served her community and her school as an advocate, a role model, a leader in pro bono service, and as her clinical professor describes Chelsea, someone who cares.

At the October Mini-Conference, we announced the finalists for this year’s PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award. To commend each finalist on their hard work and to demonstrate how difficult it will be to select the winner, we will feature a different finalist on the blog every Monday for five weeks.

This week we feature Emily Holland from Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, California.

Emily Holland

Emily was chosen as a finalist because of the strength of her dedication to pro bono service, which has taken her overseas to help ensure individuals’ rights are protected. Emily’s passion for volunteering began before law school, and her experiences have driven her to continue her work at Pepperdine. During her 1L summer, Emily worked as a judicial extern to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Rwanda, where she learned about the ethics of sentencing and criminal justice. She was able to apply what she learned on a week-long clinic in Uganda where she successfully negotiated a plea deal based on insufficient evidence. But Emily’s passion for service knows no borders as is evident by her participation in the Community Justice and Legal Aid Clinics at Pepperdine. Her work with these clinics allowed her to advocate for human rights and access to justice in international and domestic contexts. As her supervisors have stated, Emily’s “priority is people,” and she is described as “a true representation of the spirit of pro bono.”

At the October Mini-Conference, we announced the finalists for this year’s PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award. To commend each finalist on their hard work and to demonstrate how difficult it will be to select the winner, we will feature a different finalist on the blog every Monday for the next five weeks.

This week we feature Ashley De La Garza from St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas.

Ashley De La Garza

We selected Ashley as a finalist because she has shown unending dedication to pro bono work and criminal justice reform since she began law school. Ashley saw a need in Texas for devoted public defense and jumped in wholeheartedly to provide her support and skills. Ashley has worked in two public defender offices and has participated in her school’s Criminal Justice Clinic and Wrongful Conviction Review Project as well as the ABA’s Death Penalty Representation Project. Moreover, Ashley’s passion for service has extended to frequent participation in St. Mary’s Pro Bono Program, an alternative spring break in Washington, D.C., and public interest student organizations. As a former supervisor describes, Ashley’s compassion and advocacy for indigent clients has led her to achieve “one of the most critical student successes [the supervisor] has witnessed.” Her service has been invaluable in practice but also in the promotion of social justice reform through the selection of her legal journal article for publication in The Scholar. Ashley’s commitment, professionalism, and positive attitude has led her to be described as a leader in pro bono work among her classmates and colleagues.

At the October Mini-Conference, we announced the finalists for this year’s PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award. To commend each finalist on their hard work and to demonstrate how difficult it will be to select the winner, we will feature a different finalist on the blog every Monday for the next five weeks.

Starting at the beginning of the alphabet, our first finalist is Leslie Alvarez from St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas.

Leslie Alvarez

We selected Leslie as a finalist because her achievements in pro bono demonstrate a clear commitment to serving her community. Using her experiences as a first-generation U.S. citizen and with navigating the special education system, Leslie is a passionate advocate for disability rights. At work, she represented detained immigrant children with disabilities. Her supervisor describes Leslie as having “an unmatched work ethic” and “dedication to protecting the autonomy of people with disabilities.” At school, she coordinated two pro-bono legal clinics: one clinic to improve access to guardianship for individuals with disabilities, and another to “prepare psychiatric advance directives and other documents for individuals with mental health challenges.” Her tireless and compassionate efforts have made her an invaluable addition to the South Texas pro bono community. As Leslie herself asserts, “My current focus is on the disability rights fight, but my passion will always be service.”

By Teresa Smith:
2019 Pro Bono Public Award Winner

Each year, NALP confers the PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award, recognizing the significant contributions that law students make to underserved populations, the public interest community, and legal education by performing pro bono work.

NALP is proud to announce it conferred this year’s Pro Bono Publico Award on Teresa Smith, recent graduate of Lewis & Clark Law School. Teresa’s work lies at the intersection of farmworker rights, environmental law, and immigration law. Her efforts to date have included direct work with asylum clients in detention that, in the words of one supervisor, “has contributed to the reputation that Lewis & Clark law students have… for in-depth knowledge, experience, teamwork, and competence[,]” as well as policy research that helped convince the Portland City Council to create funding for a “Universal Representation Project,” providing access to counsel in removal proceedings before Portland Immigration Court.

All their belongings in tow, groups of immigrants huddled together or stood in lines scattered about a plaza in Tijuana along the Mexico-United States border. The mood was somber. On one side of the plaza, two women sat in folding chairs under a small canopy tent where they wrote down the names of people in a notebook and Grupos Beta (part of the Mexican immigration agency) lingered a few feet away. Every morning, immigrants hoping to seek asylum in the United States come to the plaza to put their name on La Lista (The List) in exchange for a number. The list is really nothing more than the aforementioned handwritten notebook. They then return day after day, waiting weeks, even months, for the women under the tent to call their number so that they may cross the border into the United States and plead their case for asylum.

The day before, the United States government had allowed the women to call an unprecedented amount of numbers, many of which belonged to migrants who were not present. Today, these individuals waited anxiously to find out if they had lost their chance and would have to get a new number or if immigration authorities would permit them to cross this morning. Even though there were easily a couple hundred people in the plaza, it was remarkably quiet, as those who expected or hoped to cross kept their eyes and ears tuned for what would happen next.

I had traveled to Tijuana this week to volunteer with a migrant legal aid organization. Staff often referred to the work we were doing as “trying to fly an airplane that is on fire,” and “emergency room legal aid.” There is an urgency to this work as every moment the United States and Mexican government are deciding the fate of individuals through arbitrary systems that are in many ways designed to make the asylum process even more challenging.

At the plaza, volunteer attorneys experience this urgency as they give lightning quick “know your rights” presentations to individuals who might cross the border in the next five minutes, or the next month. Law student volunteers, like myself, experience this urgency as they try to reach each individual to inform them of the services available to them and even to just provide a friendly face in a sea of uneasy bodies.

At one point a mother came rushing up to me asking to borrow a sharpie. She then lifted her son’s shirt and began to write her name and phone number across his chest as if this was a normal and reasonable thing one should have to do. Many people wore long socks and the warmest layer of clothing closest to their skin in preparation for the freezing cold cells, or hilieras that authorities hold immigrants in upon crossing the border. I felt incredibly conflicted, wanting both for every individual to be allowed across the border that day to plead their case, but also wanting to make sure that they were prepared and well-informed for what was potentially to come before they took this next step on their journey.

The urgency I felt both during my time volunteering with migrants in Tijuana as well as through previous experiences volunteering in detention centers and similar scenarios, is an urgency that I believe is present in most public interest legal work. While volunteering in Tijuana, every day brought about an urgency to keep that plane, even though it was still engulfed in flames, in the air. This urgency is not just in the immigration field, as there is a need for quick and oftentimes immediate assistance in many areas of public interest law. A similar sense of urgency is present in the environmental law field. In the fall of 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report which underscored how climate change is affecting and will continue to affect communities across the globe. Public interest legal work is urgently needed to advocate for and institute changes to curb the catastrophic effects that climate change is actively producing and projected to produce.

One of the problems with the urgency that is present in this type of work is the disconnect with how the legal system functions in the United States compared to the speed at which aid, advocacy, and change need to occur. I came to law school because I strongly believe that more legal advocates need to focus on working alongside their communities in order to engage in both systemic change and individual support. I believe in recognizing the urgency that so many people face in their day to day lives, and fighting to both assist with that immediate need and attack the systems that created this need.

As a law student, it can seem incredibly difficult to be an advocate while still in school.

While you are constantly learning new skills that you can apply in the future, much classwork does not allow for direct application to every-day urgent matters. At times, it felt like law school required that I take a break from advocating alongside my community as I learned the skills to do just that. This is why I am extremely grateful for the opportunities I have had over the last three years to get hands-on experiences volunteering in Tijuana, with the CARA Pro Bono Project in Dilley, Texas, and with RAICES in Karnes, Texas among other organizations. These groups recognize the urgency in public interest law and utilize volunteer attorneys and law students, allowing for both to stay engaged in the public interest field.

At home in Portland, I have been fortunate to work with amazingly dedicated and passionate groups as well. This past summer, when more than 120 asylum seekers were transferred to a federal prison in Sheridan, Oregon, groups such as the Innovation Law Lab stepped up to organize volunteers and resources to advocate for these individuals. Due to their organizing expertise, I was able to spend several days a week manning a hotline where detainees could call to ask questions or express concerns. I was also able to visit the facility to help interview and translate for a Portuguese speaker.

This year I continued to volunteer with Innovation Law Lab by organizing and working with a group of students on their BorderX project. BorderX recognizes not just the urgency of immigration work, but the lack of capacity of immigration attorneys compared to the amount of work that needs to be done. The project incorporates a Massive Collaboration Model (MCR) to advocate for immigrants in detention settings who are eligible for bond and parole. By creating a network of volunteers and advocates, this type of work allows for a functional approach to combatting the urgency in the immigration field.

These experiences have further instilled in me a commitment to public interest legal advocacy in my future career as an attorney. It does not appear that the urgency facing those in need of legal assistance is going to diminish any time soon. The plane is still on fire, but every day, the work of amazing advocates and community members keeps the plane in the air. I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to use my legal skills now and in the future to combat this urgency and contribute to putting out that fire.

By 2017 Pro Bono Publico Award Winner: Lydia X.Z. Brown| Northeastern University School of Law

Each year, NALP confers the PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award, recognizing the significant contributions that law students make to underserved populations, the public interest community, and legal education by performing pro bono work.

Lydia’s record advocating for individuals with disabilities, LGBTQ people, and people of color extends across the country and begins well before law school. We are honored to confer our 2017 award upon Lydia.

When I was in tenth grade, I was an awkward, openly autistic kid who wrote crime fiction and obsessed about historical and current injustices and mass atrocities. Within two months of starting the school year, I found myself across a table from a school administrator, falsely accused of planning a school shooting.

I was incredibly lucky, likely thanks to various privileges I hold in society, that I did not begin that year in handcuffs or with criminal charges pending. Other autistic and mentally ill people I’ve met, especially Black and Latinx autistic and mentally ill people, were not so lucky.

Our schools often function as the first site where multiply marginalized young people will be criminalized and shut out. We learn terrible lessons – that teachers can be bullies as much as classmates, that we will be punished if we fight back, that our bodies are not our own, that if we do not or cannot assimilate into whiteness or abledness then we will be easy targets for any form of violence up to and including death.

Advocacy for education reform, criminal justice reform, and gun violence prevention are all too frequently led by people who have never been and will never be directly impacted by the worst effects of ableism, classism, and racism that underlie and pervade the entirety of our educational, foster, and criminal punishment systems. Because law school is designed to admit only those who can excel according to capitalist standards meant for nondisabled, white, and moneyed individuals, and bar exams exist to further that elitism and exclusion, few attorneys have survived the worst effects of schools, institutions, or prisons.

I have learned that without a law degree, others can dismiss my perspectives as my personal experiences as a queer disabled person of color with no relevant expertise, education, or training. Once I graduate, I will be told that my perspective does not matter because if I have a law degree, I can’t really count as a disabled person since disabled people couldn’t possibly succeed in the legal profession.

In almost a decade of work for disability rights and disability justice (these are not the same), I have learned that every single person has something to contribute to the struggles against oppression in its many forms – even if that contribution is merely existing. My contributions are my own experiences along with my commitment to uplifting and supporting the work of others, especially those who are targeted or marginalized by forms of oppression I don’t face, in crafting truly intersectional approaches to organizing, advocacy, and activism.

When Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, professor of law at Stanford, introduced the term intersectionality to public discourse with her paper Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color, she intended its starting point to be recognizing unique and specific forms of oppression particularly targeting Black woman – later named misogynoir by Northeastern scholar Moya Bailey. Professor Crenshaw, Dr. Bailey, and others have expanded that work by deploying intersectionality as a framework for understanding compounded and particularized oppression as well as responses and challenges to it.

Intersectional approaches to gun violence, for example, require a deep understanding of racism and ableism. Most mass shooters have been white men, many with histories of domestic violence or other intimate partner abuse. Many have been openly white supremacist, including the attacker who targeted worshippers at a historical Black church in South Carolina, and the attacker who recently targeted students at a Florida high school. Yet prevailing media narratives have been of troubled individuals with histories of mental illness or speculation about autism – allowing whiteness to go unchecked and white supremacy and misogyny to remain unnamed, while ableism proliferates.

“Common sense” gun control measures, as advocated mostly by supposed “progressives,” rely almost entirely on racist and ableist measures. Increasing use of criminal background checks to screen potential gun buyers only relies on the exceedingly racist criminal punishment system to determine who has been appropriately convicted of crimes and should thus be denied a right allegedly meant for the people. Similarly, increased use of mental health screenings, and connections between mental health policy and gun policy, target those of us who seem weird, placing neurodivergent people of all kinds at heightened risk for dangerous surveillance and criminalization. (The conversation of whether the Second Amendment should or should not exist is a separate question; as written, gun ownership is considered a fundamental right alongside the rights to vote, marry, and travel between states. Erosion of one fundamental right based on spurious racial and disability biases raises the not so distant specter of further erosion of other fundamental rights, with less fanfare and sparse resistance.)

Disability rights demands that we craft policies that rely on documented histories, including criminal records, for specific factors like domestic violence, as a screening measure against gun ownership; demand policymakers to cease placing mental health reform and gun violence prevention in the same conversations, even when discussing suicide (which is not a violence problem, like small-scale or large-scale shootings targeting others); and incentivize voluntary and civilly administered gun buyback and temporary surrender programs that do not share data with entities in the criminal legal system or carry broader civil rights and civil liberties implications including those related to institutionalization.

In contrast, disability justice demands that we address the core societal causes of widespread gun violence (and other forms of mass violence that do not involve guns, including rape culture, restraints and seclusions in schools, and mass incarceration) – white supremacy, capitalism, ableism, and patriarchal misogyny (gender oppression and male dominance). Disability justice is inherently intersectional, and understands our work as intricately connected with all movements for liberation and justice, because disability is implicated in every form of oppression. Disability justice looks beyond and past the law for liberation – fighting for life, love, and freedom by building strong communities with survivor-centric transformative justice practices where violence is no longer normalized in any form, whether by individuals or the state. Unlike disability rights, which is ultimately about harm reduction and immediate survival, disability justice asks us to begin building the world and future we want now through crafting alternative systems within communities – looking to the history of radical resistance by the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense in everything from providing healthcare to defending Black communities against white supremacist forces (and similar work by the contemporary Food, Clothing, and Resistance Collective in D.C.); looking to the path-breaking work the Bay Area Transformative Justice Collective is doing in developing concrete accountability practices for redress, restitution, and reparations especially around sexual violence that do not rely on the criminal punishment system as a model for response to violence; or looking to the work of intellectual disability self-advocacy and peer/consumer/survivor respite, services, and support outside of conventional disability and mental health services systems led and controlled by nondisabled and neurotypical people.

As a disabled law student, advocate, and organizer, I have carried these principles with me into everything I do. Whether providing direct assistance and support to other marginalized people, testifying about legislative and regulatory proposals, or writing and speaking in various forums, I strive to use whatever resources I have to challenge injustice in all of its forms. I harbor no illusions that I can end systems of violence alone (for one, I believe in collective work for collective liberation), but I know that whatever I do I will always seek to amplify the work of others like me who know what it means to exist at the margins. I do not envision having clients as an attorney, but having collaborators and comrades, trusting in the wisdom and knowledge of those I work with every day to help lead us to the liberation we seek.

By Pro Bono Publico Award Merit Distinction Finalist: Brigitte Malatjalian| Southwestern Law School

Each year, NALP confers the PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award, recognizing the significant contributions that law students make to underserved populations, the public interest community, and legal education by performing pro bono work. In addition to the Award winner, we also occasionally recognize one or more Merit Distinction Finalists.

Brigitte’s commitment to serving the Armenian community within Greater Los Angeles has set a powerful example for both fellow students and practicing attorneys. Brigitte began her law school career volunteering with the Homelessness Prevention Law Project. She then spent two years working at the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office, where she gained a deeper understanding of systemic injustices and a powerful desire to help address them. Ultimately, this drive led her to form a partnership between Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles and the Armenian Bar Association and start a pilot clinic providing free legal services in “Second Armenia” (Glendale California). When she graduates this Spring, she will leave behind a successful pilot; NLS and the Armenian Bar Association plan to continue the clinic. We are thrilled for this opportunity to call attention to Brigitte’s accomplishments.

Growing up, we face a moment when our haze of ignorant bliss drifts away and we understand, for the first time, that the world can be unjust. From this point, there are two paths. The first is to accept this harsh reality in search of the ignorant bliss that departed. The second is to reject it and take a stand on behalf of yourself and all others trapped in the cycle of despair. The strength to overcome gives you the power to help others.

My moment came through stigmatization. My ethnicity, my life choices, and my curiosity all contributed to the flame within me. Confusion led me to the streets. Anger led me to law school. Advocacy doesn’t necessarily entail a law degree, but it doesn’t hurt for credibility purposes. My goal was to address a community that was identified as the majority as an outcast. My intent was to help, to make sense of things.

A month into school I met with Professor Laura Cohen, the Director of Southwestern’s Public Service Program. Two-decades of educational turmoil made me pessimistic: Who did I think I was? A high-school drop-out – I didn’t belong here. But as I sat in her office, nothing planned, I spoke as fast as possible–thoughts and tears escaping from my head. I wanted to do everything. I wanted to get involved, I wanted to rebel, I wanted to educate. Professor Cohen embraced my goal as if it was her own. She offered me insight, perspective, and opportunities to get involved. I mean, a lot of opportunities.

Against the advice of many professors and academic advisors, I volunteered as much as I could. My first interaction with clients in my law-student capacity was at the Department of Public Social Services in Downtown with the Homeless Prevention Law Project. I was terrified at first–not by the clients but by my own personal barriers. Not too long ago, I was the one in the DPSS offices with my parents waiting for our name to be called. Now, I was the one calling names, tasked with interacting and assisting in a world I was all too familiar with. Around the same time, I discovered more amazing public interest opportunities. I started signing up for criminal clinics, one after another. From teaching high school students to helping adults expunge records – I wanted to know everything.

It wasn’t until my 2015 externship with the Los Angeles Public Defender’s Office that the puzzle pieces started coming together. One of the most important things I observed while there was during my time in lockup. I looked into the eyes of convicted felons now on probation, locked up for their 15th violation. I also looked into the eyes of scared 19 year olds on their first violation – who just wanted everything to go away and for me to call their mother. As I looked, I learned  never to jump to conclusions. It’s not always the case that the client was hiding from his probation officer because they did something wrong. It could also be because of a client’s lack of understanding about their duties under the court’s conditions, mentally abusive probation officers, or one-train, five-buse, one-mile-walk between home and the probation office. This is the real issue within our system, and although I’m starting to sing the tune of many public defenders – it’s an oppressive cycle.

Everyone wanted to go home, but many didn’t have a home to go to. Many didn’t have a dollar to their name family member or friend waiting in court, a significant other to write to, or even someone who would listen free from judgment. The most disturbing is that several clients communicated that he/she doesn’t know how to survive on the outside and would rather remain incarcerated. Clients were released, forced to comply with ridiculous conditions and reincarcerated due to, essentially, their inability to find stability.

We did this. Society did this. Society turned their back on individuals who needed someone, anyone, to extend a helping hand. Society punished, and after punishment – pointed their fingers and stigmatized. Through these experiences, and after assisting clients from all backgrounds – I had to do something. I had to start somewhere, so I decided to start at home. That’s when I decided to turn to my own community of Armenians with the intention of breaking down the barrier, starting the conversation, and proactively attempt to fix a broken system through clinical work.

Outcome

There are two things to note about the Armenian community. First, they are prideful people who are ashamed of making mistakes. Second, they believe that free does not equal quality. I was conscious about these challenges walking into this but firmly believe that with education, comfort, and consistency – acceptance will follow. I had tremendous support and backing by the Armenian Bar Association and members of the Armenian Law Students Association of Southwestern. My goal became our goal and after over 100-hours’ worth of telephone, physical, and virtual communication to set up a stable clinic, we finally launched. To this day, we have hosted four successful clinics. The services offered were Expungement, Proposition 47, and Proposition 64. Because of our efforts, we have been featured on Armenian newspapers, Glendale City Hall, and as a guest on Armenian TV.

Currently, I still continue to work with other pro-bono services and the Armenian Bar Association to plan and prepare future clinics. In addition, we are working on expanding our services to other areas of law. Clients not only have the opportunity for a new start, but the ability to share their stories. I’m not trying to change the world and although I would love to, I cannot force people to change their lives. What I will do is instill strength and perseverance. I will educate, and I will defend. No one should stand alone in the face of a system designed to stifle personal growth. Everyone should have the opportunity to share their journey and I believe survivors have an obligation to spread their fortitude.