On May 1st, Liz Markuci, Director of VOLS’ Immigration Project, spoke to a standing-room only crowd of over fifty advocates from all over the United States at the 2014 NLADA/ABA Equal Justice Conference.

Ms. Markuci chaired a panel that included Jennifer Colyer, Pro Bono Counsel at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, and Harlene Katzman, Pro Bono Counsel and Director at Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett LLP. The presentation, titled “Back To School: Lessons Learned from School-based Legal Clinics” compared two pro bono legal service delivery models that bring volunteer lawyers into schools in New York City through the VOLS’ School-based Children’s Project and VOLS’ Dream Not Deferred Project.

Ms. Markuci said:

“There are many challenges we’ve overcome to make these partnerships work well, and we are happy to share our experiences with interested firms, non-profits or other stakeholders who want to bring legal services directly into their communities. Many of the students and families we have served have never met with a lawyer, nor accessed any type of legal service before.”