Removing barriers to justice . . . in both the nonprofit and private sectors!

OneJustice supports a network of 100+ nonprofit legal organizations, law firms, law schools, and businesses.  Each year this network provides life-saving legal help to over 275,000 Californians facing legal barriers to basic life necessities and core civil rights.  You – like everyone in our network – are an essential part of the solution for the millions of Californians who are suffering needlessly from solvable legal problems.

Andrea knows pro bono – from her prior work at the Justice & Diversity Center and now as Pro Bono Manager at Covington & Burling LLP

In honor of the work that our network does, each month we feature an interview with a different participant in the network. This month we interviewed Andrea Fitanides, California Pro Bono Manager at Covington & Burling LLP and former Supervising Attorney and Pro Bono Manager at the Justice & Diversity Center of the Bar Association of San Francisco.

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Andrea, you are involved in managing pro bono work at Covington & Burling LLP. How do you approach that work, and how does your approach also inform your work with OneJustice?

I have been fortunate to be involved in pro bono work from several different angles. First, as an associate at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP volunteering on a range of pro bono matters. Second, as an attorney with the Justice & Diversity Center of the Bar Association of San Francisco (JDC), developing pro bono projects and cultivating relationships with our volunteers and pro bono partners, including large law firms. And, currently, in my position as Pro Bono Manager at Covington & Burling LLP, partnering with legal services organizations on pro bono matters.

Having worked at a legal services nonprofit, I have a strong awareness of the invaluable support such organizations provide for law firm pro bono programs, from expertly screening matters for placement, to structuring volunteer opportunities, to training and mentorship over the course of the matter. And, as a corollary, we couldn’t have provided the services we did for the community at JDC without pro bono support from law firms. At Covington, I’m glad to have the opportunity to be part of providing resources to legal services programs, both in terms of volunteer hours and charitable giving.

Because of this, I believe strongly in collaborations in our pro bono work. OneJustice, in bringing together different pro bono stakeholders, is a great resource for supporting collaborations and thereby strengthening the services delivered to the most vulnerable in our society.

How does Covington & Burling approach its pro bono work and what are some recent successes?

Covington has a strong commitment to public service, and we strongly encourage all of our attorneys to participate in pro bono work.  We devote significant resources to finding pro bono projects that reflect the interests of our attorneys. Because of this, our pro bono program encompasses a wide range of areas, including civil rights, gay rights, veterans benefits claims, criminal matters, and transactional work for nonprofits.

Most recently, we are excited about victories in two racial profiling cases this year. The first was in Melendres v. Arpaio, a nationally publicized Arizona racial profiling case where a Covington team challenged disproportionate stops and arrests of Latino drivers and passengers by an Arizona sheriff’s office. The court there permanently enjoined the use of race as a factor in such stops and arrests—a significant civil rights victory for our clients.

The second was in Floyd v. City of New York, a federal class action lawsuit, challenging the unconstitutional stops-and-frisks made on the basis of race or ethnicity. In August of this year, a federal judge found the New York City Police Department (NYPD) liable for a pattern and practice of racial profiling and unconstitutional stop-and-frisks.

What have you enjoyed about being part of the OneJustice network, from both the nonprofit and law firm perspectives?

The Bay Area Rural Justice Collaborative brings volunteers to staff monthly free legal clinics in Napa County, as well as in the Gilroy area and the coast of San Mateo County.

I have always had a wonderful experience working with OneJustice and its dedicated, passionate staff. I greatly appreciated the support OneJustice provided to me as an attorney at a legal services nonprofit, including its orchestration of quarterly meetings for legal services pro bono managers throughout the Bay Area where we had a forum to share ideas, problem-solve, and develop our community.

At Covington, I’ve been excited to work with OneJustice on the Bay Area Rural Justice Collaborative (RJC) and to support its mission to expand access to legal services in rural communities throughout the Bay Area. I had the opportunity to volunteer at an early RJC housing clinic in Napa, along with one of our Summer Associates, Paul Meyer. There, we met with clients to discuss their housing issues and provided referrals, drafted letters to landlords, and gave clients information about their rights. As always, the OneJustice staff provided the needed support and training, in advance of and during the clinic, to further our ability to serve the clients. It was a rewarding experience and we look forward to supporting upcoming Rural Justice clinics.

Which project with OneJustice is most exciting to you right now?

Again, I would note the work that the RJC is doing, which is particularly exciting because it’s the first IMPACT (Involving More Pro bono Attorneys in our Communities Together) Project to launch in the country. The IMPACT Project is a direct response to a meeting held in Washington, DC in 2012 among Vice-President Joe Biden, Board members of the Association of Pro Bono Counsel (APBCo), and senior management of the board members’ firms, and is intended to provide increased access to free legal services for those in need. I hope that the Rural Justice Collaborative can become a model for delivery of legal services in rural areas that can be replicated nationally.

I’m also excited for the upcoming OneJustice California Pro Bono Conference this fall. It’s always a great opportunity to connect with pro bono stakeholders throughout California.  (Staff note: Click here for more information and online registration for the October 9th Pro Bono Conference.)

Thank you, Andrea, for your outstanding commitment to pro bono and legal services, and for your terrific work at Covington & Burling LLP.  We are so fortunate to have you in the OneJustice network!

What individual most represents justice?

You had some amazing answers to this question!

Thank you all for posting your ideas of the one person who most embodies the concept and/or work of justice.  The suggestions were wide ranging and truly inspiring!  We’ve posted nine of the submissions below – can you identify them just from their photos?  (Answers at the bottom of the blog).

And the winner of the awesome Justice Bus water bottle is . . . (drum roll please . . .)  Tim Smith for his suggestion of Martin Luther King, Jr.  With the 50th anniversary of the civil rights movement underway, we couldn’t agree more!  Tim is a change agent and justice seeker in his own right as the Director of Programs and Engagement at the Full Circle Fund.  (Haven’t heard of the Full Circle Fund? Click here to check out their thoughtful and strategic approach to driving lasting social change.)

The October justice contest will be announced here and in our “Justice Matters” newsletter next week – keep up the posting, we love it!

From left to right:

Row 1: Martin Luther King Jr., Susan B. Anthony, Eleanor Roosevelt

Row 2: James Gilliam, Fred Korematsu, Ella Baker

Row 3: Dorothy Day, Alice Walker, Dolores Huerta

Meet our new Fellows – Kelsey and Renée

And find out why they are passionate about bringing legal help to domestic violence survivors and veterans.

Hello all you members of the OneJustice network!  We’re thrilled to introduce you all to two brand-new members of the OneJustice family: Kelsey Williams and Renée Schomp.  We know that you all will enjoy working with them as much as we already do!

Kelsey Williams is a recent graduate of Loyola Law School and is joining our Los Angeles team as a Loyola Law School Post-Graduate Public Interest Law Fellow.  Kelsey is launching a brand-new project in Los Angeles to support a network of legal services nonprofits and law firms that are working together to bring free legal clinics on housing, immigration, and public benefits to survivors of domestic violence.  You’ll definitely be hearing more about Kelsey’s project as she gets up and running!

Renée Schomp is a recent graduate of University of Michigan Law School and will be based on the San Francisco office to run Justice Bus trips in Northern California.  Renée is an Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Legal Fellow and part of Equal Justice Work’s national Veterans Legal Corps.  All you NorCal Justice Bus riders will enjoy working with Renée as she continues the existing schedule of trips while also building new trips to reach low-income veterans living in rural and isolated communities.

We sat down with Kelsey and Renée on their second day on the job, and subjected them to the interview questions below so that you all can get to know them just a little better.  Want more details about their projects and work?  What questions do you have for them – just let us know, and we’ll get them blogging soon!

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Kelsey Williams is cooking up a new project in LA to connect domestic violence survivors with legal assistance and pro bono attorneys

Kelsey, what drew you to the work of OneJustice?

Growing up in Red Bluff, CA (a small town famous for its annual rodeo and bull sale), I was drawn to OneJustice’s commitment to providing legal services to rural parts of California and to underserved communities more generally. Now, as a seven-year resident of Los Angeles (I’m told that means I can call myself a native now!), I am excited to reach out to underserved communities in LA and help improve the community I’m so happy to call home.

Renee Schomp’s love of travel will be put to good use in running Justice Bus trips in NorCal, including reaching rural veterans

Renée, what drew you to the work of OneJustice?  

As the daughter of a disabled Vietnam veteran, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with OneJustice to provide legal services to veterans and other underserved populations throughout rural Northern California.  I was particularly drawn to OneJustice’s entrepreneurial and strategic approach to strengthening the legal services community through innovative programs such as the Justice Bus Project.  The Justice Bus Project connects pro bono partners with rural nonprofit legal services providers in order to increase resources available to low-income communities throughout far-reaching parts of California.  It’s just one example of the unique and exciting work that OneJustice does!

• What will you be responsible for at OneJustice – and what do you hope to achieve?

I will be further developing the Justice Bus Project in Northern California with an emphasis on serving the all-too-often forgotten veterans who live here and who lack much-needed legal services assistance.  I’ll continue to build OneJustice’s partnerships with a wide range of pro bono, law school, and nonprofit stakeholders in order to facilitate the Justice Bus Project’s work removing barriers to justice for rural low-income communities.  I also plan to further expand the number of 1 and 2-day legal clinics the Justice Bus Project facilitates throughout rural Northern California through the hard work and dedication of our partners.  In so doing, we hope to reach the many veterans, both young and old, who are in need of legal support in our state.

• What did you do before coming to OneJustice that led up to this Fellowship?

Before law school, I worked at the law firm of Skadden Arps and then at Human Rights First, both in New York. As a law student, I externed at the Legal Aid Society – Employment Law Center in San Francisco and at the ACLU of Michigan, and I spent my summers at the East Bay Community Law Center in Berkeley and at Instituto para las Mujeres en la Migración in Mexico City.

• And what should we know about you that is not focused on justice?

I live for my next traveling adventure: I’ve traveled everywhere from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for work to Petra, Jordan, just for fun, and many places in between—but I still have a LOT of places to check off my list!