SPRING
2012
dwt.com/probono
Pro Bono Report 6
INSIDE: 2
An Interview with Karen Ross
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Transgender Minor's Case May Impact Asylum Law
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Providing Compassion and Advice for Homeless Shelter Clients
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Working Toward Media Accountability in Georgia
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Trial Transforms Lives of Neglected Children
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Awards and Recognition
Working Toward Media Accountability in the Republic of Georgia
Our lawyers and staff are committed to obtaining equal justice for people and organizations that might otherwise not have access to legal assistance. We are pleased to share these recent pro bono successes.
Anchorage
New York
Seattle
Bellevue
Portland
Shanghai
Los Angeles
San Francisco
Washington, D.C.
In each issue of the Pro Bono Report we talk to a Davis Wright Tremaine attorney about the impact and value of pro bono work. For this issue we spoke to Karen Ross, a senior associate in Washington, D.C., to get her perspective on the value of pro bono work both to the community and to a legal career. Q: Karen, how did you get started doing pro bono work? Karen: I’ve always known that I would do pro bono work. When I first left law school, I did some pro bono work for a business law clinic, hosted by the D.C. bar, where entrepreneurs or sole proprietors could come in for free legal assistance with contracts or entity formation-type issues. Later I signed up to be a referral attorney for the Children’s Law
Center here in Washington. The center provides free legal services in family law. They train volunteer attorneys in custody law, adoption law, and to serve as a guardian ad litem. We receive case lists every month, and can select the cases we want to work on. In my first case, in 2009, I represented a single grandmother
who was seeking custody of her two young granddaughters due to neglect. The case was contested by the children’s parents. In the course of representing the grandmother in the custody case, we also represented her in a parallel domestic violence case to seek a protection order against her daughter, the mother of the children. The second case involved representation of a foster parent
in adoption proceeding. In between cases for the Children’s Law Center, due to my
work representing the grandmother in the civil protection case, a senior partner at DWT called on me to assist with an urgent pro bono civil protection case involving a family friend, and I was happy I could assist.
Q: Do you enjoy working on family law cases? karen: It’s very gratifying to be able to help the less
fortunate. There’s a certain amount of fear on my part because I’m not a litigator. But I’ve always been reminded by the Children’s Law Center that the next best option for these clients is to represent themselves, and any help we can offer is often more than they can do for themselves. That’s what drives me.
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I especially like helping children because they don’t create these
sometimes horrific circumstances, but are ordinarily stuck until adulthood unless someone intervenes. Children in these situations have so little say about what’s going on in their lives, so I’m drawn to work that offers them the chance to be raised in a better environment where they have the chance to excel.
Q: Can you describe a case you worked on recently? karen: I was involved in an adoption case that abruptly ended toward the end of 2011. We were trying to help a foster parent adopt a foster child who had been in her care for a while. This involved a court trial at which we attempted to have the parents’ rights terminated. In this case, the young child’s father had never seen or supported her, and her mother allegedly repeatedly used drugs and sold drugs and ammunition from the home and neglected to care for the young girl and her four siblings.
This
was probably the hardest pro bono case I’ve worked on. I was opposite four counsel. The birth mother and father each had court-appointed c o u n s e l . There was a guardian ad litem (GAL) representing the child, and the D.C.
continued pg. 10
Providing Compassion and Advice for Homeless Shelter Clients Sometimes it can take just one bad
incident to change a person’s life. Other times, it’s ongoing adversity that keeps someone engulfed in hardship. As our attorneys provide free legal assistance at homeless shelters in several cities, they encounter people who are accustomed to life on the street, as well as those who’ve only recently suffered a major setback. D.C. associate Jennifer Toland-Frewer, volunteering at the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, was introduced to a disabled man who suffered from schizophrenia and hearing loss. Because of his disabilities, he could not get a job. Yet his requests for Social Security disability status and housing assistance had been denied. “After interviewing this man extensively, it was clear to me there was no way he could get gainful employment,” says Jennifer. Jennifer worked on his behalf for six years, ultimately obtaining disability benefits and housing for him. Now, on every major holiday, her former client sends her a note thanking her for helping him get off the streets. “It’s so valuable to me on so many
levels to help people who are so clearly deserving of assistance,” says Jennifer of her work at the clinic.
Linda Atkins, of counsel in our Bellevue office, volunteers at the YWCA Angeline’s Eastside Women’s Center in Bellevue. She counsels homeless women during monthly clinics, providing assistance when the clients have legal problems or referring them to other service agencies when necessary. “The kind of person you wouldn’t think would wind up at a homeless shelter” is how Linda describes one of her clients.
“It’s so valuable to me on so many levels to help people who are so clearly deserving of assistance” The woman had been successfully employed for many years with a Seattle company. Several years ago she was the victim of an assault that left her with cognitive problems. She can’t work, and with no family to rely upon, is dependent
on homeless shelters and Social Security disability income. “She spends a lot of time shuttling between shelters and the street,” says Linda. The woman’s medical problems were compounded recently when she was the victim of a hit-and-run driver in a parking lot. She now has residual medical issues. Linda is trying to help the woman find who hit her and recover nonreimburseable medical expenses. Most of the women Linda has counseled have been disabled in some way. “They just want to find work, stay fed, and keep a roof over their heads,” she says. Paula Lehmann, a partner in our Bellevue office, provides similar assistance at The Sophia Way, a shelter for single homeless women. As an employment lawyer, Paula was concerned that she would not be familiar with the types of problems her clients would have. “As it turns out,” she says, “many issues overlap with employment issues.” Equally important, notes Paula: “You can make them feel heard, which I feel is very important to these women. And you send them from the continued pg. 10
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Transgender Minor’s Case May Impact Asylum Law “ The U.S. government does recognize that men and women with sexual-identity or sexual-orientation issues are subject to persecution in many South and Central American countries … they have been recognized as eligible for asylum in the United States.” A 12-year-old diagnosed with gender identity disorder (GID) is
the subject of an important asylum law case in Washington state. The case itself may expand the boundaries of asylum law, and an appeal, which is likely, may clarify several important legal issues. he child, who was born male in Colombia, identifies as female T and goes by the name of Amanda. She has been living in the Seattle area for 10 years, having fled Colombia with her mother, Maria, who sought to escape a guerilla organization that had murdered her husband for unrelated reasons. manda has been diagnosed with gender identity disorder (GID), A the formal diagnosis that psychologists and physicians use to describe persons who experience significant discontent with their biological sex and/or the gender they were assigned at birth. Amanda has identified as a female since she could speak, and now attends a school in Seattle that provides support to children with gender-identity issues. She has been receiving hormone treatments to prevent the onset of puberty and plans to undergo gender reassignment surgery when she turns 18. ccording to Boris Gaviria, an associate in our Bellevue office who A has filed an asylum application for Amanda, she is “an excellent candidate for asylum.” The U.S. government does recognize that men and women with “ sexual-identity or sexual-orientation issues are subject to persecution in many South and Central American countries,” says Boris. “They have been recognized as eligible for asylum in the United States.” manda’s case may impact future asylum claims involving A transgender minors because there is so little case law discussing such cases. It may also impact asylum cases for family members. Boris is also working to keep Amanda’s mother, Maria, in this country. He is asking the United States Customs and Immigration Service (USCIS) to keep her here while Amanda’s application is pending. However, he faces an uphill battle, because Maria’s asylum case involves allegations of terrorist activity that the U.S. government has made against her.
aria says she and her late husband, Amanda’s father, were M repeatedly threatened by the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), a guerrilla organization that has been fighting a civil war in Colombia for decades. They were forced to house and feed members of FARC when they passed through the area, and Maria’s husband was forced to pick coca leaves by the armed rebels, who would often kill or torture farmworkers who did not cooperate. I n 1998, when members of FARC found out that Maria’s husband once worked as a government clerk, they shot him to death and beat Maria. She fled to Bogota, where she was subjected to continued harassment by FARC. She eventually paid “coyotes” to bring her and Amanda into the U.S. illegally after she obtained a visa to visit Mexico. I n 2010, the USCIS began removal proceedings against Maria. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) accused her of drug trafficking. She says her husband had occasionally picked coca leaves for use in home remedies, a common practice in Colombia, where some coca farming is legal. DHS also accused Maria of supporting terrorist activities because she admitted to having fed members of FARC, cleaning their clothes, and paying them a “tax” they demanded when they would arrive in her village heavily armed. oris took Amanda’s and Maria’s cases through the Northwest B Immigrant Rights Project, an organization he has volunteered for almost since he started at Davis Wright in 2000. “This is an area of the law that is crying out for pro bono assistance,” says Boris, “because immigration and asylum laws impact and divide families, and the system is plagued with extensive delays and technical rules.” oris has a personal stake in assisting immigrants. His parents B emigrated to the United States from Peru when he was 2 years old. They both completed their medical residencies here and put Boris through law school. “I have always appreciated becoming a legal and full member of our U.S. society,” he says. “I would like to assist other immigrants in obtaining the same opportunity.” he overloaded immigration court has continued both Maria’s and T Amanda’s trials until September 2012. 5
Working Toward Media Accountability in Georgia
tHe rePuBliC of Georgia was among the first of the former Soviet republics to declare independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The country has been establishing its footing in the international community, joining the United Nations and seeking membership in NATO. Georgia is also looking westward for guidance in a key domestic sector: media and communications. While most media outlets in the country are privately owned, there are concerns about the actual behind-the-scenes control of some outlets, and the influence that can be exerted by certain political parties and by Russian interests. Russia invaded Georgia in 2008, and portions of the country remain under the control of Russian-backed regimes – some of which have gone so far as to declare their own independence. In this atmosphere, the Georgian National Communications Commission (GNCC), Georgia’s equivalent to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, is struggling with issues of transparency of 6
decision-making, international influence over communications outlets, and the balance between free speech and consumer and civil society protections, while at the same time dealing with the mundane day-to-day issues of communications regulations. Members of Georgia’s parliament and other groups are asking Western experts for assistance as they seek to build more independence, accountability, and transparency into their media industry. Leaders in Davis Wright’s communications-related practice teams are helping on both the legislative and regulatory fronts. The request for assistance came through our partnership with the International Senior Lawyers Project (ISLP), which in
turn is assisting an international nonprofit called IREX. An IREX program called Georgian Media Enhance Democracy, Informed Citizenry, and Accountability (or G-MEDIA) seeks "to address internal and external obstacles to a professional, sustainable media." Brendan Holland, of counsel in our Washington, D.C., office, was asked to help evaluate draft Georgian media legislation for the project. “They needed help parsing rules and comparing them to U.S. legislation,” says Holland, “to determine whether the proposed legislation was appropriate or if it might be too open—expecting too much too soon.” “I was a little hesitant about jumping into the laws of a foreign country,” says Holland, “but once I did, it was fascinating.” Early in 2011, Holland and Barbara Swann, a pro bono strategist and media lawyer with ISLP, submitted a detailed analysis of the proposed legislation for review by the Georgian parliament. “Based on what Brendan provided in his commentary and analysis,” says Swann, “the Georgian lawmakers realized they need to consider more issues than they had anticipated. As a result, things are
now moving at exactly the right pace and with the consideration they should be given.” IREX then asked DWT partner Dave Oxenford, also of our D.C. office, to travel to Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, to meet with media industry representatives, government regulators, and public-interest groups. Oxenford’s clients include hundreds of broadcasters and webcasters, and he has represented them before the FCC, in proceedings before the Copyright Office and Copyright Royalty Board, and in business transactions.
"… the [GNCC] … is struggling with issues of transparency of decision-making, international influence over communications outlets, and the balance between free speech and consumer and civil society protections …" In two days of meetings with the chairman of the GNCC and much of its legal and regulatory staff, Oxenford discussed topics ranging from media ownership rules and advertising sponsorship identification to political broadcasting regulations, the digital television transition (which has not yet occurred in Georgia), Internet piracy, and indecency on the airwaves. “It was a great opportunity to watch as the issues are being
hashed out,” says Oxenford. “Even though the GNCC is less than a decade old, they are grappling with many of the same kind of issues we’re still dealing with here in Washington with a regulatory agency that has been around since the 1930s, plus many of the new issues that are still unresolved in our country – like online piracy and the digitization of the media.” On the third day of Oxenford’s visit, he helped moderate a roundtable discussion between government and industry officials on electronic media regulatory issues, a meeting that may have been the first of its kind in Georgia. “These were sensitive, important issues,” says Richard Winfield, a director of ISLP. “It’s a highly politicized environment. David navigated that very difficult regulatory and legislative assignment with aplomb.” Swann also noted that the Georgians were impressed with Brendan and David’s “contextual knowledge and cultural sensitivity.” “Each of them has made an important contribution to improving the media environment in Georgia,” adds Swann. The Georgian government continues to request input, but has not yet implemented changes in its media-related legislation or regulations. David and Brendan are working with ISLP and IREX to coordinate a visit of GNCC offi cials and representatives of Georgian media and public interest groups to Washington, D.C., in March, when they will meet with the FCC, industry and public interest offi cials, and DWT lawyers during a week-long study tour.
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Trial Transforms Lives of Neglected Children
tHe reCent case of two siblings, ages 18 months and 3 years, who were removed from their mother’s care demonstrates the difficult but important role of court-appointed special advocates (or CASAs). In this particular case, Seattle associate Modessa Jacobs worked with the CASA to obtain a life-changing ruling for the children. E a c h y e a r m o r e t h a n 70 0, 0 0 0 children nationwide are placed in foster care, usually after being taken from abusive or neglectful parents. Judges appoint CASAs, who are volunteers, to guide some of these children through juvenile court and the foster care process. The website of the National CASA Association notes that “For many abused children, their CASA volunteer will be the one constant adult presence in their lives.” In our recent case, the two siblings had been removed from the home nearly two years prior because of their mother’s drug addiction and neglect. At that time, a King County (Wash.) juvenile court judge ordered the mother to complete 8
state-provided programs, including mandatory urinalysis and parenting classes, in order to regain custody of her children. In such cases, if the parent does not complete the services within six months, the state can file a petition with the court to sever the parental relationship permanently. The judge also assigned a CASA to represent the children. The state chose to file for termination of the mother’s parental rights because she did not complete the required programs. The court set a date for the trial at which her permanent parental rights would be determined. Through our ongoing relationship with the King County
CASA Program, Seattle associate Modessa Jacobs volunteered to help the CASA prepare for the trial.
“For many abused children, their CASA volunteer will be the one constant adult presence in their lives.” As a labor and employment lawyer, Modessa drew on her experience preparing witnesses to coach the CASA. “He was very knowledgeable about the children and their lives,” says Modessa, “but he had some anxiety around testifying. You never know what the lawyer for the state
or for the parents will be like, or what they will ask.” She met with the CASA several times so he could practice answering questions as a witness.
“She did an excellent job laying a foundation for [the CASA] to be able to testify about the parent’s substance abuse.”
At the three-day trial, the first of her legal career, Modessa made opening and closing statements, and crossexamined three of the 10 witnesses who testified.
For his part, the CASA made the
“Anyone would feel for the mother in that situation,” says Modessa. “But it came down to whether the state had given her adequate opportunity to improve her life and her parenting skills.” Modessa made it abundantly clear that the mother had not taken that opportunity. In fact, she extracted an admission from the mother that she had disobeyed a court order allowing only supervised visits with her children. Susan Llorens, an assistant attorney general for the State of Washington, represented the state at the trial. “Despite the fact that this is not an area of law in which Modessa regularly practices, she was extremely familiar with the relevant statutes and case law,” says Llorens.
“Anyone would feel for the mother in that situation,” says Modessa. “But it came down to whether the state had given her adequate opportunity to improve her life and her parenting skills.” case for the children so well that the state’s counsel asked him only three questions on cross-examination. “He performed brilliantly,” says Gillian Murphy, a senior labor and employment associate at DWT who supervised Modessa’s work on the case. “He had the most personal knowledge of the children, and the best handle on the important dates
… His testimony was particularly crucial because the [state’s] social worker was somewhat unengaged.” The mother’s parental rights were terminated, and the girls are now living with a family that wants to adopt them both. The mother also has an older child, whose future will be determined in a parental rights termination trial later this year. Modessa and the same CASA are assigned to that hearing as well.
Photos this article: casaforchildren.org
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Providing Compassion and Advice... (continued from pg. 3) appointment with the steps they can take to work toward solving their problems.” Attorneys in our Bellevue office volunteer for this work through the Eastside Legal Assistance Program (ELAP), which marked its 20th anniversary in 2009. Our Seattle office has a long-time relationship with Downtown Emergency Services Center (DESC), a large homeless shelter for men and women where we assist people with their legal matters through the King County Bar Association. DWT was instrumental in establishing the bar’s legal services program for the homeless about 20 years ago. One day each month, a team of DWT lawyers and staff goes to the shelter to meet with people who have signed up to talk with us about their legal issues. Associate Joanne Montague joined the team about a year ago, and has discovered that most of the clinic’s attendees are struggling with a tangle of problems relating to housing, unemployment, bankruptcy, past
criminal convictions, or other such issues. “They may come in with one problem,” Joanne says, “but when we speak to them we discover a lot of underlying problems that have to be dealt with first. My goal,” she adds, “is to break down the issues into smaller parts and advise them on what to work on first.” A recent client is a young man without a birth certificate. Born in Massachusetts with albinisim, he was apparently unofficially adopted by a woman who raised him and whose last name he used as his own. When her alcoholism and lifestyle turned abusive, the client, then a 15-year-old, ran away to the streets of New York where he lived for several years,
Interview with Karen Ross (continued from pg. 2)
government had an attorney as well. I had the support of the GAL and the government, but things became more problematic as the case matured. W hen we started the case, our client—the foster mom—was
single, and the birth mother seemed to be willing to consent to the adoption after negotiation. As the case matured, new facts, including our client getting married after a short courtship and the birth mother disappearing for long periods of time, changed things rapidly. Furthermore, due to scheduling, the second day of a two-
day trial had to be scheduled two to three months after the beginning of the trial. In the intervening time, the birth mother had swooped in and influenced the child so much that it changed the child’s behavior. This young girl had been with our client for three years. All of a sudden her behavior became explosive and erratic, and she was saying, “I don’t want to be adopted.” We were later told by the government that the birth mother manages to disrupt proceedings every time the kids in this family get close to adoption. I n the end, our client decided she couldn’t go through with the
adoption.
Q:
How has doing pro bono work helped you develop your legal career? Karen It helps build skills—I had no experience doing litigation
before this. I work on regulatory and transactional matters, which is very different from pro bono litigation work. In these pro bono cases, the clients keep living their lives, and every day seems to add a new level of complexity to their cases. In fact, the Children’s Law Center ranks their cases as beginner, intermediate, or advanced. Both my cases started out as “beginner” and somehow turned into “intermediate.” I seem to have that luck! 10
until about three years ago when he came to Seattle. His need to access medical benefits for his health conditions brought him to our legal clinic, because without a birth certificate he is unable to obtain a Social Security number. We are currently researching his situation. In 2011, our DESC team served 46 clients. The team consisted of lawyers Marco de Sa e Silva, Joanne Montague, Carly Summers, Missy Mordy, Jonathan Lloyd, Pete Johnson, Ken Payson, Sheehan Sullivan-Weiss, Maya Yamazaki, Holly Wylam Klein, and staff Mieko Beyeler, Mary Dougherty, Patrick Watts, Julie Orr and Andrea Carino.
Pro bono work also provides opportunities to work with others in the firm. At DWT, associates have to have a partner advisor on pro bono cases, and in my case it was someone I wouldn’t ordinarily have the chance to work with. I also had the opportunity to work with and delegate work to a junior associate. I t’s part of our civic duty to give back in whatever way we can.
It does get hard to make time because of the demands of billable work. But it’s nice that DWT counts some of our pro bono hours as billable hours.
Awards and Recognition 2011 Pro Bono Award, New York City Mayor’s Office
The office of New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg honored two Davis Wright Tremaine attorneys with 2011 Pro Bono Awards during National Celebrate Pro Bono Week in November. Administrative Justice Coordinator David Goldin presented the awards to partner Ed Davis and former associate Maya Menendez to recognize their work on a citywide campaign raising awareness of human trafficking in New York. New York partner Nancy Felsten also contributed to the project, called "Let's Call an End to Human Trafficking." Our longtime client, ad agency Grey New York, generously contributed expertise and resources to creating the multimedia campaign. “The firm's commitment enabled the City to use modern media and technology to raise public awareness and consciousness about the global crime of human trafficking, helping to reach victims who would not have received help without the attention brought to the issue,” according to the mayor’s office. 2011 “Vicki” Sexual Freedom Award,
Woodhull Robert Corn-Revere, a partner in our Washington, D.C., office, received a Vicki Sexual Freedom Award from the Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance. The awards recognize individuals who have made landmark contributions to the sexual freedom movement. Corn-Revere, a First Amendment lawyer who is a tireless advocate for freedom of speech and expression, has extensive experience in First Amendment, media, communications and information technology law. Corn-Revere has been involved in challenging the FCC’s indecency rules, mandatory content filtering of public library Internet filters, and the Telecommunication Act’s restrictions of programming on sexually explicit cable networks. He has done extensive pro bono work in these areas as well.
“These are outstanding leaders and courageous activists,” said Ricci Levy, executive director of the Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance. “We are fortunate to have such dedicated colleagues in the effort to recognize sexual freedom as a fundamental human right. We are inspired by their work.” Pro Bono Challenge Award, Oregon State Bar
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP’s Portland office received a Pro Bono Challenge Award from the Oregon State Bar for the most pro bono hours worked by any large Oregon firm in 2010. The Portland office recorded more than 5,100 pro bono hours in 2010. Oregon Supreme Court Justice Paul De Muniz, who presented the award, particularly singled out the work of second-year DWT associate Paul Southwick, who argued, and won, a pro bono case before the De Muniz court. This is the fourth time since 2003 that the firm has won this award, which is given out by the Pro Bono Committee of the Oregon Bar Association’s New Lawyers Division. 2012 Artistic Freedom Award American Civil Liberties Union
The ACLU Foundation of Southern California has announced that it will be presenting Davis Wright with its 2012 Artistic Freedom Award, in recognition of our work as co-counsel on People v. MTA. The case was a defense of aspiring artist Cris Gheorghiu against novel attempts to restrict his most basic freedoms and ability to lawfully create art because of his alleged past membership in a tagging crew. The award will be presented to Bob Corn-Revere, Anna Buono, Rory Eastburg and Carla Veltman at the ACLU’s annual Law Luncheon in June.
DWT has a long tradition of pro bono service and public service – it’s in our DNA, starting with John Davis, our founding partner, who has said, “A life is worth living when it is dedicated to the service of others." From smaller individual direct representation of individuals and organizations to large impactful cases, we believe in contributing to creating healthy communities. We support participation by our lawyers and staff by providing billable credit to them for work that fits within the parameters of the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge, to which we have been signatories for many years. In 2011, DWT lawyers and staff provided 22,095 hours in pro bono service, and 17,717 hours of public service, totaling over $8.3 million. (Pro bono service is defined as legal services provided at no cost, while public service involves non-legal service.) 11
Contact Us Information about our pro bono policy is available on our Web site at dwt.com/probono or by contacting: Julie Orr, Pro Bono Coordinator 206.757.8586 julieorr@dwt.com
Pro Bono and Public Service Committee Robert Corn-Revere Chair 路 Washington, D.C. Duffy Carolan San Francisco Eric L. Dahlin Portland Stephen C. Ellis Seattle Rhys Farren Bellevue Jennifer Toland Frewer Washington, D.C. Alan Galloway Portland Boris Gaviria Bellevue Emilio Gonzalez Los Angeles Elizabeth Hodes Anchorage Melissa Mordy Seattle Vidhya Prabhakaran San Francisco Linda Steinman New York Robert K. Stewart Anchorage Aleah Yung Los Angeles Julie Orr Pro Bono Coordinator 路 Seattle
Anchorage Bellevue Los Angeles
New York Portland San Francisco
Seattle Shanghai Washington, D.C.