Record number of pro bono hours logged this school year
USC Law students who helped set a new record for pro bono hours this year were celebrated at the annual Pro Bono Luncheon, hosted by USC’s Public Interest Law Foundation.
Law students logged more than 3,627 hours of pro bono legal work during the 2006-07 school year, said PILF president and 2L Lindsay Toczylowski.
The volunteers worked with more than 30 organizations in the Los Angeles area, including the Legal Aid Foundation and the Alliance for Children’s Rights. More than 100 students participated in more than 30 different legal clinics PILF offered this year.
Receiving special recognition at the April 17 luncheon were 3L Jennifer Douglas, PILF student of the year; Caron Caines ’90, PILF attorney of the year; and Richard B. Kendall ’79, the Paul Davis Memorial Award recipient.
“This is my favorite day of the year at USC Law,” Dean Edward J. McCaffery said, adding that, for the 10 years he served as PILF faculty advisor, it was the “happiest” job he had. “PILF is really an organization by the students and for the students, and today’s winners are all wonderful representations of everything that the law school is.”
Douglas, student of the year, is active in the Post-Conviction Justice Project at USC Law, representing prisoners who have exhausted their court-appointed appeals. During her second year at the law school, she began volunteering at Neighborhood Legal Services’ Workers Rights Clinic – taking a nearly three hour bus ride to get there. Last summer, she worked with Public Counsel. Douglas plans to work as a public defender in the Washington, D.C. area.
Twenty-seven first- and second-year students were selected for PILF summer grants this year to fund work with groups such as the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office, Homeboy Industries, the New Orleans Public Defender’s Office and the Inner City Law Center.
Two students – Marissa Gonda and Martin Gauto – will receive Sydney & Audrey Irmas Fellowships for post-graduate work. Gonda, who also received the Karen A. Lash Grant, will work at the Cabrini Green Legal Aid Clinic in Chicago. Gauto will work at the Catholic Legal Immigration Network.
The USC Law Office of Public Service, which launched a “100 hours of service” challenge this year, recognized eight students and four student groups for completing the challenge. More than 115 students participated, with 23 volunteering at least 50 hours. La Raza Law Students Association collected more than 400 hours of service, much of that spent working with local high school students.
Attorney of the year Caines is a directing attorney at Neighborhood Legal Services, where she has worked for 17 years. She helped create seven self-help legal clinics in Los Angeles County to serve residents who can’t afford an attorney.
Caines said her experiences growing up help her understand where clients are coming from.
“I knew what it meant to not know if you’re going to be evicted, or if there’s going to be food on the table,” she said.
When her mother needed to file for divorce, Caines studied law books in the library and helped complete the forms, only to be scolded by the judge in court because the forms were filled out incorrectly. Caines’ decision to go into public service is a need rather than a choice, she said, and “I haven’t regretted a single moment of it.”
Kendall, a partner at Irell & Manella, was honored for remaining committed to public interest. He told the law students at the luncheon that doing pro bono work is one of the best opportunities to gain real experience working with a client and completing a case. It also affords attorneys the satisfaction of standing up for their beliefs, he said.
“The best advice I can give is to ensure that (public interest) is an important part of your legal work,” Kendall said. “Virtually all the law firms in this city will be supportive of you doing it.”
Previous Article
