Pro Bono Panel
Pro Bono attorneys from Berman & Simmons celebrate a grant of asylum with their clients in the halls of Boston Immigration Court in 2019.
ILAP’s Pro Bono Panel is a critical partner in our efforts to serve the needs of low-income asylum seekers in Maine.
For more information about ILAP’s Pro Bono Panel or to join, please contact Asylum Program Attorney Michelle Gentry via email or at (207) 874-1318.
Asylum law is a discrete area of immigration law that is manageable for non-immigration practitioners to learn, and asylum cases are incredibly rewarding. These are life or death matters, and the reality is that asylum seekers who lack legal representation are far less likely to win their cases than those who have representation (government statistics demonstrate this). Asylum cases that ILAP accepts may be “affirmative” (i.e. non-adversarial cases before U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services) or “defensive” (i.e. before the Immigration Court of Boston).
ILAP conducts client intake and does preliminary research on the merits of each case before deciding to accept it and place it with an attorney on the Pro Bono Panel. We then give the attorney a detailed case memorandum and preliminary country condition information to help them get started. Throughout the case, we provide mentoring with members of our Asylum Team or experienced members of the Pro Bono Panel.
“I am in awe of [my clients’] strength, resilience, and hopefulness…My pro bono work is truly the most important and rewarding thing I have done as a lawyer, and I enjoy my regular work. I am so grateful to ILAP for providing me the training and support to be able to do this work.”
In 2019, ILAP welcomed Ilana Greenstein, Esq. from the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) for a defensive asylum training for Pro Bono Panel members.