Issues & Trends
WCL Forum Highlights Pro Bono Opportunities
June 24, 2022
The Washington Council of Lawyers held its Summer Pro Bono and Public Interest Forum in June, an annual event that encourages summer associates and interns to make pro bono or public interest work a part of their legal careers.
Presented as a six-part series this year, the forum kicked off on June 8 with a keynote address by Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Clarke described efforts by her office to protect voting rights, prosecute hate crimes, address systemic racism in policing, and improve unconstitutionally poor jail and prison conditions.
Clarke also touched upon DOJ’s work on a broad range of civil rights and social justice issues including equal opportunity in housing, education, and health care. “Simply put, when it comes to pushing for equal justice in America, we are on the case,” she said. “We will continue using every one of the civil rights laws at our disposal to stand up for the most vulnerable among us.”
Clarke referenced civil rights protestors of the past and present, saying that attorneys’ challenges to unconstitutional laws contributed to social changes they sought then and seek now. “I challenge all of you to ensure that you are finding your own way to use the law to advance justice, whether that means through service in the government, in the nonprofit sector, or through pro bono work at a law firm, or ensuring that your firm or corporation remains steadfast to the goals of diversity, equity, and inclusion,” Clarke said.
The forum’s keynote presentation was followed by five virtual panel discussions throughout June spotlighting pro bono needs and opportunities in areas such as poverty law, criminal law and the death penalty, civil rights and civil liberties, and immigration and human rights.
At the criminal law and death penalty panel on June 16, Tara Chen, staff attorney with the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, described a wide range of work by lawyers defending the accused and advocating for individuals who have been convicted. Naida Henao, head of engagement for the Network for Victim Recovery of DC, discussed her organization’s representation of victims in the criminal justice system.
Illustrating the many places within the justice system where attorneys can make a difference, Jenner & Block partner Matthew Hellman and Miller & Chevalier Litigation Department chair Andrew Wise talked about how they incorporate pro bono efforts into their private practice. Hellman argued the case Nance v. Ward before the U.S. Supreme Court, which sided with a Georgia death row inmate seeking to die by firing squad instead of by lethal injection.
“[Pro bono work] never gets old,” Hellman said. “In the pro bono space, being able to report back to a client what we were able to accomplish on his or her behalf in that sphere [is] my favorite part of the job. It really is.”
Wise found parallels between his private practice and the public defense he provided earlier in his career. “The gravity of representing somebody is profound in all of these cases,” he said. “The essence of lawyering is that you have a client who relies very heavily on you.”
Meanwhile, Emily Olson-Gault, director of the American Bar Association’s Death Penalty Representation Project, described how her office places pro bono volunteers with death penalty cases. Olson-Gault also said an acknowledgement of critical race theory is a necessary part of criminal defense work, particularly in death penalty cases.
“All of our cases are inextricably linked with the history of racism and racial violence in this country,” she said. “You cannot be an effective lawyer in this area without acknowledging that history.”
