Pro Bono News

Uncertain Times Have Boosted Pro Bono

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Uncertain Times Have Boosted Pro Bono

"For New York law firms there has always been considerable risk in naming the current occupant of the White House, whoever it happens to be, and I don’t plan to name the latest one here, either.

Still, over the last couple of years at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, we’ve seen a marked rededication to the pursuit of justice through pro bono engagement from our partner attorneys, particularly in the area of immigration. And I don’t think that’s coincidental.
Believe me, to use an increasingly familiar turn of phrase, it’s been…huge. And it’s not hard to see why: Recent headlines about family separation may have prompted one protester to scale the Statue of Liberty, but the steady drip of immigration horror stories began long before that.

The 2017 death of Carlos Mejia-Bonilla while in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) followed repeated requests for proper medical care. He told his family that he wasn’t receiving the care he desperately needed. Sadly, he was right. NYLPI, in partnership with pro bono counsel at Dechert, is preparing to file a lawsuit on behalf of Mr. Bonilla’s daughter.
It’s worth noting that while the immigration attitude, policy and rhetoric of America’s federal leadership has taken a marked turn for the worse since the administration changed in 2017, human beings in ICE detention have experienced routinely dangerous conditions for longer than that, including delays in receiving medical attention, denial of requests for off-site specialized care and inadequate treatment for acute pain..."

Continue reading