2022-2023 Pro Bono Program Review

SPOTLIGHT ON:

Esteban Rodriguez

Pro bono work is personal to me. As the son of undocumented immigrants, I saw firsthand how the trajectory of our family changed when my parents obtained legal status in the 1980s. Helping clients secure their rights can have a tremendous, life-changing impact on them. My pro bono work is often around immigration matters, including asylum cases, humanitarian parole, and helping people obtain visas. What really makes pro bono work meaningful to me is the immense gratitude clients express and their visible joy when you tell them they have legal status and are not going to be deported.

All attorneys should take seriously their responsibility to use their legal degree to advance justice and help those in need of legal representation.

I also serve as board chair of Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County, a non- profit that provides legal aid in housing, public benefits, immigration, and domestic violence— areas of the law that disproportionately affect the poor.

Colombian Survivor of Violence, Mistreatment, and Abuse Receives Asylum An O’Melveny pro bono team and The Bronx Defenders helped secure asylum in 2022 for a Colombian woman who was regularly beaten as a child, sexually and physically assaulted by family members and partners, and coercively sterilized after she was diagnosed with HIV.

8

PRO BONO PROGRAM REVIEW 2022-2023