top of page
PRO BONO INITIATIVE
Anderson & Associates
THE PRO BONO PROGRAM
OUR MISSION
Pro bono, meaning for the public good in Latin, is work undertaken by legal teams for no charge. A small but dedicated team, we work to engage the entire firm in the A&A Pro Bono Program to encourage maximum engagement and in the number of lives touched. We believe it is the solemn duty of lawyers, law clerks, and support staff to use their education and experience to contribute to the public good. Our chosen area of focus, immigration, was selected in response to the unmet need for trained and thoughtful legal services for immigrants in New York City. Currently immigrants make up 40% of the city's population and an indispensable one third of our workforce, however, many do not have the means to access legal representation. With immigrants across the country under attack by proposed and actual legislation, NYC nonprofits and law firms must work together and form ranks. Especially as a smaller law firm, A&A will have the greatest impact building off of the work already being done and the systems already established by these organizations instead of starting from scratch. We are determined to form partnerships with a diverse selection of nonprofits in order to address the unique challenges posed at the various intersections of immigrant identity.
While the Anderson & Associates pro bono team will focus primarily on issues related to immigration, subtopics will include housing, tenant cases, domestic violence, removal proceedings, employment and labor, business, bankruptcy, education, and criminal justice. By regarding immigration as a general category of focus, the firm can still accommodate different areas of expertise and interests, while harnessing their resources in a targeted and impactful way. Individual lawyers and pro bono team members will choose to take cases on either their legal specialities or interests.
Form to Demonstrate Need for Pro Bono Services
Please answer each question on this form so we may determine whether or not to take your case. We take cases pro bono based on demonstrated financial need, urgency, and whether or not our staff has the resources and experience to take them. We do not take more than 10 pro bono cases total at one time. We will respond to your request as soon as is possible. If you have any questions please email s.hou@aalawpc.com.
NonProfit Partners
Anderson & Associates has partnered with a number of nonprofits that will facilitate intake for pro bono clients.
Lawyers Alliance connects pro bono attorneys with community organization and offers corporate, tax, real estate, employment, and intellectual property legal services, among other things, to clients based on merit and financial need. Lawyers Alliance is dedicated to helping programs that provide aid, relief, and opportunity to poor and underserved communities, while improving urban health and promoting the arts. Through extensive outreach (panels, emails to community groups, advertising) and a screening process to assess specific needs, Lawyers Alliance matches attorneys with attorneys who have the necessary experience and ability.
The City Bar Justice Center is dedicated to providing free and low cost legal service to those in need on wide array of matters, including immigration, bankruptcy, elderlaw, housing, real estate, and provides special services to cancer patients, LGBTQ+ people, the homeless, and veterans. They mobilize law firms and attorneys to provide pro bono services, impact policy, and educate the public on pertinent legal issues.
Her Justice was created to protect and support women. They are a group of fourteen female attorneys who reach hundreds of people by training other attorneys to take cases in a less popular areas of law with high demands for affordable representation. They handle mostly battered spouse and children under VAWA, Battered Spouse Waivers, U Visas, and T Visas.
Their two pro bono programs are Legal Aid Help Desks and Know Your Right Seminars. Legal Aid Help Desks are at soup kitchens and homeless shelters across the city to provide on site legal help on issues like family, employment, and housing law.
The seminars are given to low income and homeless New Yorkers to inform them of their rights and responsibilities. For example, rights of homeless people in public places.
NYLAG's services include comprehensive , free civil legal services, financial empowerment, impact litigation, policy advocacy, and community partnerships. Their focus is on combating racial, economic, and social inequality. Some of their legal programs include pro se clinics, employment law, immigration law, legal health, LGBTQ+ law, DV law, tenants rights, family law, and more. Their pro bono program includes individual case referrals, community-based one day clinics, hosting trainings, and the attorney emeritus program.
The Queer Detainee Empowerment Project, or QDEP, provides structural, emotional, educational, health and wellness, and legal services to LGBTQ+ people who are detained or in danger of being detained. They offer both referrals and direct services. They are a smaller organization. Their goals are to abolish ice, prevent prison expansion in NYC, and give more leadership positions in organizing to minority groups.
The Legal Aid Society is a massive network of pro bono attorneys (1,400- 1,500 attorneys just in NY) and 2,000-3,000 volunteers. They do advocacy work and provide legal representation on everything from finance, to divorce, to juvenile rights, equal rights, and immigration
Through a combination of litigation, advocacy, organizing, and educating, AALDEF works with Asian American communities nationwide to secure human rights for Asian Americans.
They have a number of educational and political projects, along with a pro bono program with wage dispute, employment, housing, immigration cases and more.
IDP was founded to combat the targeting of immigrants for mass imprisonment and deportations. They offer legal advice and training, strategize for impact litigation, advocate for human rights' policies, and refer detained immigrants to pro bono counsel. They handle mostly criminal immigration work, but often need other services for once a client wins their removal case.
bottom of page