Archive for January, 2010

We would like to provide you with a list of pro bono opportunities available with Crawford and other bar associations.

First, Crawford will sponsor the month of March 2010 for the Hartford H.E.L.P. (Homeless Experience Legal Project) program.  In November 2009, Crawford members volunteered to staff the HELP clinic, and it was a success!

H.E.L.P. enlists local attorneys, law students, and law firm secretaries and paralegals in cities across the country to provide pro bono legal assistance to homeless individuals. H.E.L.P. was recently established in the City of Hartford. The volunteers meet with clients in local homeless shelters, providing assistance in various legal matters. We have scheduled a recruitment meeting at 1:00 pm on Tuesday, January 26 in the Starr Reading Room at UCONN Law School and a training and orientation for all new volunteers for 5:30 pm on Tuesday, Feb.  in the Davis courtroom at UCONN Law School.

• Please see this link for more information: http://homelesslegalprotection.com/Hartford.html.  And also read about the program on the CT Law Tribune – http://www.ctlawtribune.com/getarticle.aspx?ID=36157.

If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Alexis Highsmith (ahighsmith@ghla.org; 860-541-5037).

In addition, the Connecticut Hispanic Bar Association (CHBA) is working to help with relief efforts in Haiti.   CHBA has passed along the following information:   As you know, Haiti has been designated for temporary protected status (TPS).  There will be a six month registration period that will be opening up this week. The ExComm, CHBA pro bono chair, Amy Haberman, and CHBA’s immediate past chair, Kristin Hoffman had a teleconference  with Peter Goselin of the Connecticut Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild.  CHBA believes that the best way for us to help is to donate our time and expertise to help eligible Haitians apply for temporary protected status and work authorization.  Connecticut Lawyers for Haiti (http://ctlawyers4haiti.wordpress.com/) will be a Joint Project between the Connecticut Chapters of the National Lawyers Guild and the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

CHBA are modeling this project on our Citizenship Day projects in past years.  On February 6, 2010, CHBA will be providing pro bono assistance completing TPS applications for eligible Haitians in Hartford, Norwich, New Haven, and Stamford.  CHBA expects that this will be an all day event, from 8am to 5pm.  We are in the midst of obtaining spaces for the events.

At this time, we are asking for volunteers for the day – AILA attorneys, paralegals, secretaries, etc. to help with the intake, form completion, and legal review.  There will be more calls for help, but for now, please set aside that day and let us know that you can help. Also, if any of you have contacts in the Haitian community, please pass the word along and give us their contact information so we can get additional details to them.

Please volunteer.  To paraphrase Martin Luther King, Jr., “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.  What affects one person directly affects all of us indirectly.”  We have an opportunity to use our talents to help others.  We need to seize the opportunity. If you are interested in this oppurtunity with CHBA, please contact  Douglas Penn, Esq. at dpenn@infolaw.com or Maria Garcia at mgarcia@pullcom.com