meet a pro bono partner
Rob Canning
Associate
Latham & Watkins LLP
- Q: Why did you join Tahirih’s Pro Bono Network?
- A: I thought working with the Tahirih Justice Center would be a great way to learn about new areas of law, develop my legal skills, and represent a real person in a life-changing matter. It has proven to be all of that and more. I regularly think that working on my Tahirih case has made me a better attorney by improving my ability to empathize, think creatively, and overcome obstacles.
- Q: Share a highlight from a pro bono case with Tahirih.
- A: After we learned that the visas for our client’s children had been approved, we contacted the client’s mother, who had been looking after the two children in their home country, to let her know. While talking on FaceTime, our client and her mother broke out in tears with the knowledge that the children would be escaping the regular danger and fear of reprisal they faced on a daily basis and would be joining their mother in the United States. It was extremely difficult with those emotions so expressively displayed to not get caught up in the moment and feel so strongly for the client and her family and what the whole team had accomplished on their behalf. To say the family was incredibly appreciative does not begin to describe it.
- Q: How has your pro bono service impacted you?
- A: At a time in this country of increased fear, hostility toward immigrants, and focus on differences, it feels good to know that I can utilize my professional training in a small way to aid inclusiveness and right societal wrongs. My work with the Tahirih client has helped open my eyes to a wider world beyond the large law firm life, beyond metropolitan Washington, DC and beyond the United States, and given me perspectives that would have otherwise been difficult to obtain.
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Please join us as a pro bono partner or volunteer today! Your time and talents can truly make a difference.meet more pro bono partners
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Meghan Leibold Lidster
Staff AttorneyRichards Kibbee & OrbeIt has been humbling to work with a client who, despite extreme hardship in her past, has been able to increasingly open up to me. -
Lindsay Wright Brett
Associate AttorneyBaker & McKenzie LLPThe women and children I've worked with over the years inspire me to take on new cases. -
Alicia Balthazar, Deborah Wei, Maria A. Arboleda, & Marta Thompson
Hogan Lovells US LLPRealizing the impact of the case’s outcome not just for our client but for her son, shows how these cases can be completely life changing for a family’s future.
