Charlotte Gillingham, Crowell & Moring LLP

In late 2005 and early 2006, I was horrified by the human trafficking stories I had been reading about in the newspaper. I could not stand by any longer while these human rights abuses were being committed knowing that I could use my legal skills to help relieve some suffering. For that reason, I contacted Susie Hoffman, Crowell & Moring’s Public Service Partner, and she put me in touch with the Tahirih Justice Center. I had recently attended a Tahirih fundraiser where I fell in love with the organization, so I was pleased to accept Mary’s case. Crowell & Moring LLP has a tremendous pro bono program, and it has been great to work with such a strong team over the years that included my colleagues Adrian Mebane, while he was with Crowell & Moring LLP, and Jeanne Sourgens.

There were many truly inspiring moments during this case, but of course, the highlight was when our client was granted asylum after over three long years of advocacy. It was a moment of overwhelming relief that our client could now live with her children in a world free of the often debilitating fear that she had been experiencing. Working on this case, we had many long days and nights filled with emotional, difficult times as our client had to essentially relive very painful memories and experiences. Through this time together, however, we witnessed the beginning of an amazing healing process that demonstrated the resilience and strength of spirit in women like Mary. To be a part of this process with Mary was an extremely moving experience that will remain with us for the rest of our lives. Mary demonstrated inspiring courage, perseverance, and tenacity.

By taking on a pro bono case you are afforded both professional and personal rewards. Professionally, you realize that to be a zealous and effective advocate you must take the time to really know your client. On a personal level, we could not help but be inspired by Mary and women like her. These women face unique challenges as they try to navigate a foreign legal system. In this country we are afforded many opportunities that we often take for granted until we work with someone like Mary. Her case demonstrates the impact that attorneys can have on the lives of others if we do our part to use our legal skills to help those in need.

I have really enjoyed working with Tahirih over the years. It’s an incredible organization. Several years ago, during the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, two friends (lifelong residents of New Orleans) were staying with me in D.C. as they grappled with their experience as survivors of the storm and the devastating changes that had just occurred in their lives. I invited them to join me at the Tahirih Benefit dinner that September, and they accepted. After listening to the incredible stories of the women who spoke at the event, my friend turned to me with tears in her eyes, and said, “If she was able to find the courage and strength to face her experience, then we will find the strength to get through this too!” Through this “pay it forward” process of inspiration, Tahirih has made a difference and planted the seeds of hope not only in the lives of the women and children they directly help every day, but in the lives of countless others, pro bono attorneys included.

Jeanne Sourgens, Crowell & Moring LLP

In 2009, I joined Charlotte to work on Mary’s case. During our work on her case, we were inspired by the amount of support Mary was able to garner for herself during this process. Mary has a remarkable way of rallying the troops around her. She had the support of Tahirih, her pro bono attorneys, her church, and a nonprofit organization that helped her get housing and job training. Also, we were able to connect Mary with the medical clinic at Bread for the City, which was able to provide Mary with a free physical examination to support her testimony that she was a victim of FGM.

In addition to helping clients, pro bono attorneys gain a great deal professionally. Attorneys in firms that would not otherwise have the opportunity to work closely with clients until later in their careers are afforded a great opportunity to take a lead role in representing a client. You have direct contact with the person whose life will be impacted by your work. You work closely with that client to develop the factual record, draft her affidavit, and determine whether there are other witnesses who may support her case. You have an opportunity to work directly with experts and take testimony in court. I would strongly recommend this amazing experience to other attorneys. You have the opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life. Take it.

*Name has been changed to protect privacy.

Become A Pro Bono Advocate

We are always looking for attorneys willing to give their time and energy to help women and girls in need. Participating in our Pro Bono Attorney Network offers you an opportunity to transform the life of an immigrant woman or girl.

To read more visit the Pro Bono Attorney Network section of our website. If you have questions or are interested in providing pro bono help, please email legal@tahirih.org.

Erin first learned about the Tahirih Justice Center when she was in law school and met Layli Miller-Muro, Tahirih’s Executive Director, through a friend. She decided then that she wanted to get involved in Tahirih’s work.

Grace, who is interested in immigration and asylum and has a passion for women’s issues, heard about Tahirih through various friends and also through K&L Gates’ pro bono opportunity newsletter. She signed up and attended one of Tahirih’s training sessions.

Having discovered our joint interest in Tahirih, we decided to team up to take a case together. Both of us wanted to work with an individual whose issues were important to us. We hoped to impact an individual’s life, and, in this case, help a woman fleeing violence obtain the legal status she was entitled to.

Simply having the honor to serve Martine and her two beautiful boys was truly an amazing experience for us. After we filed Martine’s U visa application, we were waiting for months for a decision. Martine’s job at a hospital and residence in transitional housing was in jeopardy during this time and we advocated relentlessly with US Citizenship and Immigration Services to have her case adjudicated. When we received the news that her U visa had been approved, we were thrilled to convey the news to an overjoyed Martine.

This experience reminded us of why we went into the legal profession and renewed our passion to serve those in need. Both of us have taken away a better understanding of immigration law. Although this area of the law is very complicated, we were driven by the purpose underlying Martine’s case, so the drafting and revising did not feel like work. Both of us have a much deeper appreciation and compassion for the struggles facing immigrants in this country after working with Martine. We have gained a larger perspective on what is important in life and the benefits that we take for granted as citizens. We experienced such fulfillment from our work and relationship with Martine.

*Name has been changed to protect privacy.

Become A Pro Bono Advocate

We are always looking for attorneys willing to give their time and energy to help women and girls in need. Participating in our Pro Bono Attorney Network offers you an opportunity to transform the life of an immigrant woman or girl.

To read more visit the Pro Bono Attorney Network section of our website. If you have questions or are interested in providing pro bono help, please email legal@tahirih.org.

We first became involved with the Tahirih Justice Center during our search for a rewarding asylum case. Howry, our firm, has a well-established history of working with Tahirih on gender-based asylum claims, and one of our team members had previously worked with Tahirih on such a case. Ultimately, we wanted to use our legal skills to obtain asylum for Ida, who had suffered a lifetime of horrors and whose three daughters were facing similar fates.

We applied skills essential to any lawyer’s practice. We conducted several interviews with the client and worked with her on her affidavit. We interviewed and obtained key affidavits from Ida’s siblings in The Gambia and England to support her factual claims concerning the traditions of her family and tribe. We worked with a medical expert to prove Ida’s past persecution, and we worked closely with a psychological expert to establish that she suffers Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder resulting from her FGM and past abuse.

We also conducted significant legal research and analysis, drafted Ida’s asylum brief, and prepared all other papers and documentary evidence supporting her claim for asylum. The case was particularly challenging because we had to prove an exception to the one-year deadline for asylum applications, as well as overcome a particular legal bias. Specifically, we had to counter the argument that parents are not entitled to asylum if they base their claims on the fear of harm to their US citizen-children (as are Ida’s three daughters). Although asylum cases involve completely different substantive law than we normally encounter in our firm work, we were able to gain valuable hands-on experience relevant to our daily practices.

The true hero of the case was Ida because she was required to recall and relive her hellish past. She understood the consequences of not persevering, and thus entrusted us with helping her avoid additional persecution. It was Ida, however, who found the strength to present her story and convince a stranger that she was entitled to asylum in the United States. Our client’s expression of disbelief, joy, and hope upon hearing she was granted asylum was undeniably a rewarding moment for everyone involved in her case. Moreover, her victory provided a needed boost of confidence and light of hope for a future without fear.

We are grateful to have had the chance to represent Ida, and to get to know her personally. She is an amazing individual who has worked hard to overcome extreme oppression and adversity. In learning about Ida’s horrifying experiences, we gained a much greater appreciation for the rule of law, our opportunities in this country, and our responsibility to share our legal talents with those who are less fortunate. Ida and her daughters now have the chance to live their lives free of fear and to build a new life here in America. Through this asylum case opportunity, we are grateful for the feeling that we did something to lessen the suffering in this world.

*Name changed to protect privacy.

Become A Pro Bono Advocate

We are always looking for attorneys willing to give their time and energy to help women and girls in need. Participating in our Pro Bono Attorney Network offers you an opportunity to transform the life of an immigrant woman or girl.

To read more visit the Pro Bono Attorney Network section of our website. If you have questions or are interested in providing pro bono help, please email legal@tahirih.org.

I learned about the Tahirih Justice Center when I attended American University, Washington College of Law. While I worked at the school’s International Human Rights Law Clinic, I heard of the heroic efforts that Tahirih’s founder, Layli Miller-Muro, had undertaken to secure asylum for an immigrant woman from Togo. Her story inspired me and my fellow classmates to fight for our asylum clients with the same passion as Layli. Little did I know that a few years later I would find myself taking on a pro bono case from Tahirih when a colleague, who was leaving the firm, asked me to work on a Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) petition on behalf of a Korean woman.

My client’s case was challenging because there was little easily attainable evidence to build her case upon. She had only lived with her abusive husband for a short time before she fled his house, and there were almost no witnesses who could corroborate her story. Other charitable organizations had turned her away, telling her that it would be too difficult to win her case. Her life, however, turned around when she finally contacted Tahirih.

With little other evidence to work with, I knew that we had to convincingly relate the facts of her story. It was daunting for my client to tell a complete stranger (even with the help of a female Korean interpreter) the most intimate details of her life. To ease some of her own fears and inhibitions, I had her attend several counseling sessions with a psychologist. And the strategy worked! My client began to gradually reveal the extent of the abuse she had endured at the hands of her US-citizen husband. And it was the power of her testimony that helped me build a persuasive argument on her behalf. Within a few months of filing our paperwork, immigration officials approved her VAWA petition.

My client and I have remained friends even after the case concluded. We continue to meet for coffee or lunch whenever we can and she keeps me informed of her activities. She is looking to get a new job and take more English classes. I am glad that I was able to help her start on this new journey.

From a legal perspective, this case reminded me again of some of the lessons I had learned in the human rights clinic—foster trust with your client, show empathy, find as much evidence as possible, and, if everything else fails, build a case for appeal. However, this experience also taught me something else—it taught me about the strength of a woman’s spirit in the face of adversity. That no matter how difficult others may paint your case to be, it is precisely at that moment that we should not give up and instead we should let our pro bono clients inspire us to be more creative in our advocacy.

Working with the Tahirih Justice Center was an excellent experience. It gave me the opportunity to provide legal assistance to my client and help her begin a new chapter in her life. Without Tahirih’s willingness to take hard cases like Hana’s, I am not sure where she would be today. At this point in our nation’s history, when all of us are being called to serve our country, what better way to make an impact in our community than by providing pro bono representation to those in need. I hope that other attorneys join Tahirih’s efforts to provide legal services to immigrant women and girls and ensure that they receive the relief that they are entitled to under the law.

*Names have been changed to protect privacy.

Become A Pro Bono Advocate

We are always looking for attorneys willing to give their time and energy to help women and girls in need. Participating in our Pro Bono Attorney Network offers you an opportunity to transform the life of an immigrant woman or girl.

To read more visit the Pro Bono Attorney Network section of our website. If you have questions or are interested in providing pro bono help, please email legal@tahirih.org.

Sarah resisted, but her husband insisted that the village elders deemed it necessary. Two women from the tribe visited Sarah and told her they were there to prepare her for the procedure. Sarah decided she had to escape. She told her husband that she was going to a religious conference with her two daughters in the capital. Instead, Sarah took her daughters to her sister’s house and then went to the US embassy to get a visa to come to the United States. Sarah hoped to gain asylum so that she could then bring her daughters to the United States and find safety together.

I learned about Tahirih’s work through Rachel Strong, our pro bono partner at Howrey. Howrey has a very active pro bono practice, and Rachel encourages new associates to work on behalf of asylum applicants. The law firm has partnered with Tahirih to take gender-based asylum cases for the past few years.

We first applied for asylum with the Department of Homeland Security, US Citizenship and Immigration Services. However, we faced a setback when asylum was not granted outright and the case was referred to immigration court for further review.

Then, I distinctly remember that during the time we were awaiting the hearing before the immigration judge, a violent conflict erupted in Kenya over disputed elections. Understandably, Sarah was upset and very worried about her family. Moreover, we had to quickly find accurate information about the situation in her village and update our briefs to convey how the unfolding crisis impacted her asylum claim.

By working through the immigration process with Sarah, I have learned a lot about dealing with unanticipated roadblocks. For example, as is common in many asylum cases, a lot of the evidence we had hoped to rely upon was unavailable, and we had to think creatively about how to prove the claims, while also clearly communicating our client’s story to the judge. After spending more than a year advocating for just Sarah’s asylum claim, it really brought home to me how urgent the need for access to pro bono legal services is, and how daunting the system must be for people who aren’t able to get professional help. Fortunately, Sarah was granted asylum in May 2008. Unfortunately, her daughters remain in hiding in Kenya, and Sarah is working to assure their safety and resolve their immigration status so that they can join her in the United States.

I’m thankful to have had the chance to work with Sarah, and to get to know her personally. She summoned amazing strength and independence in order to weather the ups and downs in her case. It is a very rewarding feeling when you are able to help someone find protection from a future of persecution. Knowing that you have had just a small role in that feeling of security makes all the trials and tribulations of the immigration process worthwhile.

*Name has been changed to protect privacy.

I have known and respected Tahirih’s work for many years. In fact, I was one of the first interns at the Tahirih Justice Center in 1998, when the organization was just getting started. Over the years, I had hoped to once again have an opportunity to work with Tahirih. When I joined Latham & Watkins, I immediately looked for a way to establish a pro bono partnership. I soon became involved in Farida’s asylum case.

In the course of working with Farida, her courage was apparent. While it is sadly true that these sorts of human rights abuses are widespread, it somehow seems unlikely that many victims have Farida’s strength. Not only was she willing to confront dangerous and uncertain situations in order to find a better life, but also she risked everything when she repeatedly demanded her father’s freedom. Farida’s example is undeniably inspiring.

During the course of our representation of Farida, I recruited Mia Sussman and Andrew Stein (also at Latham & Watkins), to work with me on the case. Over the course of several months of interviews, we noted how by the end Farida had become increasingly confident and assertive. However, when we first began working with her, she was quite shy and determined not to share particularly brutal aspects of her persecution for fear that it could ruin her reputation in her local community. We repeatedly made it clear that if it was her wish, we would have the courtroom cleared of non-essential people that she preferred to keep in the dark with respect to the awful details of her story. Surprisingly, on the night before her hearing, Farida called us and said that she wanted her friends to be at the hearing. She felt that the time had come for her to face her fears, realize that what had happened to her in Eritrea was not her fault, and that she should not feel ashamed. She said, “I don’t need to fear my past anymore—I only need fear God.” This was a striking shift in Farida’s disposition, and telling evidence of how she had come a long way in overcoming her persecutors.

As junior associates in a large law firm, working on Farida’s case gave us all invaluable trial court experience. Mia expressed surprise at seeing how her understanding of a legal issue, based on time-consuming research or extensive discussions among our team, could be turned on its head in a moment in the courtroom. Andrew and I had both worked on asylum claims in the past, but this was the first time we were in the driver’s seat. It was a great experience to be able to manage a case from start to finish, through all the ups and downs. It was also good practice to participate in the hearing at the Arlington Immigration Court, which became a heavily contested proceeding with zealous, impromptu oral arguments.

In the end, Farida’s asylum case was long and at many times quite stressful. As attorneys, we are familiar with the flaws of our immigration system; nevertheless, providing an asylee with the mechanism she needs to navigate the bureaucracy and to tell her story to the court is incredibly rewarding. During the hearing, it was difficult to look over and see, despite her strong front, how terrified she really was. This discomfort was surely worth the wait—when the judge finally granted Farida asylum, her face blossomed as the anxiety faded in favor of sheer joy. At that moment, I realized that Andrew, Mia, and I had truly helped another human being, and that is a feeling worth repeating.

*Name has been changed to protect privacy.

In May 2006, Sahar came to Tahirih seeking a protective order from her abusive husband. During our interview, we discovered that Sahar pled guilty to the crimes she had been falsely accused of. At the criminal proceeding, Sahar was represented by her husband’s divorce attorney who advised Sahar to accept the plea bargain offered, suggesting either her husband would lie on the stand or she might go to jail for lying to the police. For Sahar, the implications of pleading guilty to crimes she did not commit were grave; the result was that her immigration status and ability to keep custody of her children were called into question.

After a difficult search to find a pro bono attorney to take the complex case, Tahirih reached out to Arnold and Porter, committed supporters of Tahirih’s work. Randy Miller and Ross Goldstein took immediate interest in the case and Ross arranged a meeting with Sahar within a few days.

I first learned about the Tahirih Justice Center Pro Bono Attorney Program during the Nataliya Fox case. I had been working with David Orta on another matter, and he had mentioned he had this “mail-order bride” case that he was working on. I expressed interest, and the next thing I knew, I was working with him and Randy on the case. I’ve been involved with Tahirih in one way or another ever since.

The one thing that stood out most when I agreed to represent Sahar was her original attorney. Her attorney had a horrible conflict of interest in the case, which someone in Sahar’s position would not have known. The case was an opportunity to really get my hands dirty. Once we managed the incredible feat of getting the conviction and guilty plea set aside, we had to craft a defense from scratch—visiting the scene, talking to witnesses, and developing experts.

Perhaps the biggest impact the case had on me on a professional level was that I really understood how important it is to have resources in order to mount a successful defense. Fortunately, we were able to expend a lot of money and time on her behalf to fight the power of the state. I shudder when I realize how many other people are in Sahar’s position, being charged with a crime that they did not commit, unable to help themselves navigate a confusing legal landscape, and are unable (for any number of reasons) to access the resources that could help them. It is just horribly unfair, and that is something that, as an attorney, I will never forget.

As for me personally, the thing I will never ever forget is the moment when I walked up to Sahar on the day of trial. An hour earlier, she had courageously rejected the Commonwealth’s generous plea offer, choosing instead to put her faith in our team at trial. I gave her the news that the Commonwealth had decided to dismiss the case rather than go to trial. When I walked up to her, she looked at me with real fear and trepidation in her eyes, and I told her, “You win.” It took a second for it to register, but then she leapt to her feet, hugged me and wept for several minutes. I looked down and saw her nine-year-old daughter, who had been facing the prospect of having to testify on her mother’s behalf, latch on to Sahar’s legs and smile a genuine smile for the first time in the months that I had known her. There is simply no greater feeling as a human being, let alone as an attorney.

*Name has been changed to protect privacy.

Julia escaped her native El Salvador because of the severe domestic abuse she suffered at the hands her common law husband for over ten years. The abuse left her with many physical and psychological conditions, including a traumatic brain injury that at times affected her behavior. As a result, we faced a number of unique difficulties. Finding ways to overcome those challenges has been extremely rewarding. When we had Julia’s hearing on the merits, virtually two years after the date of her first master calendar hearing, seeing her finally be able to focus on the reasons she came here and to tell her story in her own words was extremely moving and gratifying. The day we received the judge’s order granting Julia asylum was the happiest day of my professional career.

When this case began, I could not have imagined how emotionally involved I would become. Julia and I have been through many challenging times together, and I have come to admire and respect her courage and dedication. I have seen her go from truly terrified at the idea of returning to El Salvador one week, to elated with the news that she could stay here and build a life for herself the next. Knowing that I had a part in that joy has given me joy as well. I know we will remain in contact, and I look forward to the day when she is happily settled here with her children, whom we are hopeful she will be able to bring from El Salvador soon.

Because of my work with Julia, I am now more aware of the struggles that many immigrants in the Washington, DC, area face and the horrors they often escape from in their home countries. I feel more strongly now than ever that it is vital for attorneys to offer their services to those who cannot afford to pay for them, because they deserve access to justice just like everyone else.

Professionally, I have grown as well. I do not engage in litigation in my day-to-day work, and working on this case has been a fantastic opportunity to develop skills I otherwise would not have had. Furthermore, preparing for and running the hearing has given me confidence that I can take on a wide variety of legal tasks.

*Name has been changed to protect privacy.

The very first meeting we had with Annie was heart wrenching for us and very difficult for her. We were total strangers, whom she did not choose, asking her to tell us the most personal details of her family life and of her attack. It was incredibly painful for her and for her husband, who listened again to the tragic story of his young wife, who is also a mother. By the end of the meeting, when Annie hugged us and thanked us again and again, we had decided that she had put her blind trust in us and that we were not going to let her down. We wanted to help her in every way possible, legally, personally and emotionally.

First, Annie’s husband had been diagnosed with a terminal disease and believed he could not get medical care because he lacked financial resources. We were able to look into treatment for him through free medical centers, his own insurance, and other subsidies available for people in his position. Second, Annie’s two young children were still in El Salvador with neighbors and had been receiving death threats from the men who attacked her. We were able to work through the immigration issues involved in bringing the children to the United States. Third, Annie was deeply depressed and in need of help. We were able to find a counselor to assist her near her home. Finally, Annie needed U-Visa interim relief, which of course, is what we agreed to do for her in the first place. This turned out to be the least complicated aspect of her situation. Tahirih was amazing! The staff guided us through every step of the way, enabling this process to flow as seamlessly as possible under the circumstances.

We are very privileged to work in a law firm that not only supports this type of work, but expects its attorneys to do it and to do it well. With Tahirih’s and Akin Gump’s fabulous support, we were able to ensure that Annie would stay in the United States, her husband’s disease would be in remission and their children would join them in Virginia so they can live as a family again. This did not require a tremendous effort on our part, but truly made all the difference in this family’s life and in their view of lawyers, Americans and the United States. It is a great privilege to be able to participate in a meaningful manner in the lives of other people.

*Name has been changed to protect privacy.

Working with Mireya was also an incredible learning experience from a professional standpoint. There were evidentiary complications, emerging legal issues, and a communication barrier to deal with, all of which taught me invaluable lessons about client management and case strategy and preparation. The most important legal issue that emerged in Mireya’s case was whether severe domestic violence suffered outside of US borders constitutes grounds for asylum in the United States.

Legally and factually Mireya’s case is similar to that of Rodi Alvarado. As you may know, Ms. Alvarado’s immigration status has been in limbo since she fled Guatemala in 1995 to escape repeated and severe domestic abuse. Although an immigration judge granted her asylum after finding that her husband had inflicted severe abuse and that she was unable to seek protection from the Guatemalan government, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) reversed the immigration judge’s decision in 1999. Then-Attorney General Janet Reno vacated the BIA decision to deny asylum to Ms. Alvarado and the former Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) issued proposed regulations making clear that victims of domestic violence and other gender-related persecution are eligible for asylum. However, these proposed regulations are yet to be formally adopted and remain in “interim” status.

Our challenge was to ensure that Mireya, unlike Ms. Alvarado, did not have to wait indefinitely for a final decision. I think that point is most important, from a legal standpoint – Mireya’s case fit squarely into the legal framework recommended by the Department of Homeland Security (the former INS) in arguing in support of Ms. Alvarado’s case and, despite the “interim” status of the regulations, the Immigration Court was comfortable enough with the authority of those legal precedents to make a final decision that effectively applied and implemented the “interim” regulations. I believe the outcome of Mireya’s case has positive implications for other victims of domestic violence who seek asylum under the same framework.

Mireya had an impact on every person who met her and I was no exception. From our interpreters, to our expert witnesses, to the other members of the firm – everyone was inspired by Mireya’s character. That she has maintained her dedication to her family, her strength of character, and her sense of humor through everything that she endured gave everyone who worked with her a reason to believe that we could overcome any obstacle put before us, no matter how severe or traumatic. I am honored to have been part of this success and will always cherish Mireya’s strength, character, and compassion.

I learned about Tahirih’s important work in 2005, when I was invited by another member of Akin Gump to attend a “Learning Lunch.” After my incredible experience with Mireya, I am glad that I had the opportunity to give hope to another human being. I hope that other attorneys will be moved by her story and contribute their expertise and passion to Tahirih’s cause.

*Name has been changed to protect privacy.