IRAP celebrated its first ever Pro Bono Appreciation Week last week, April 5-9, 2021. Each day, we released videos honoring some of the dedicated students, attorneys, and law firms in our pro bono network. These honorees have worked on a variety of matters, ranging from representing clients in humanitarian parole and special immigrant visa applications, to co-counseling with us on litigation defending the rights of asylum seekers to work, to organizing conferences on the impact of climate change on migration.
Pro bono support is critical to IRAP’s mission to develop and enforce a set of legal and human rights for refugees and displaced persons. In 2020, IRAP and our clients received over 15,000 hours of pro bono assistance from our partners, and over 600 student volunteers comprise our network of 29 law schools in the United States and Canada. The entire staff and board of IRAP thanks all of our pro bono attorneys, law firm partners, and student chapter members for their tireless work and continuing support.
2021 Pro Bono Appreciation Week Honorees and Videos:
Introduction Video by IRAP Deputy Executive Director Amy Taylor
Excellent Cross-Chapter Initiatives
- Climate Displacement Conference (Haley Czarnek and the teams from the University of Alabama School of Law, George Washington University Law School, and American University Washington College of Law)
- IRAP Student Assembly (Tina Al-khersan and Ryan Durazo, co-facilitators)
Excellent Attorney-Student Teams
- Dentons/University of Michigan Law School (Randy Bregman, Andrew Shaw, Amanda Swenson, Jonathan Kagan-Kans, Rebecca Garfinkel)
- Duane Morris/Rutgers Law School (Brian Biglin, Erin Sweeney, Alexis Dorner, Michelle Allec Arreola)
Excellent Student Project Team
- Northwestern Pritzker School of Law (Keith Armstrong, Han Lin Rong, Adam Clark, Bradford McGann, Maren Klein, Regan Seckel, Samantha Reilly)
- Gibson Dunn & Crutcher (Joe Evall, Richard Mark, Katie Marquart, Brittany Garmyn, Josh Obear, Chris Jones)
Excellent Pro Bono Attorneys
- Roger Bond Choquette (Greenberg Traurig)
- Muhammad Faridi, Leigh Barnwell, Charlotte Allyn (Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler)
- Brian Levey (Hunton Andrews Kurth)
- Nika Broujeni (Osgoode Hall Law School)
- Elaria Youssef, Suhayla Ahmed (University of California, Berkeley, School of Law)
- Latham & Watkins