Profile

It provides free legal services to immigrants who have been the victims of violence. We serve several types of people. Some people are seeking asylum in the United States because of violence in their home countries. Some have been victims of torture because of their political beliefs or religion and they are afraid to return home. They are usually well educated and out spoken.

Another group of people we serve are immigrants who are experiencing violence here in the United States, usually women. They may have married a United States citizen or green card holder who is abusive. They have a right to become legal in the United States because of their marital status but often their abusers hold their undocumented status over them as part of the cycle of abuse. There is a way for those women who leave their violent abusers to gain legal status.

We also represent immigrant victims of violent crime. They may obtain a type of visa if they cooperate with the police.

We represent victims of trafficking who were brought into the United States for work or prostitution and can’t get away from the person who is controlling them. We also represent some children who were abused or neglected in their home country.

I do a little bit of everything.I manage two other attorneys and a legal assistant. I coordinate volunteer attorneys and students.I supervise initial intakes, analyze cases, and do lots of legal work on our cases.

I also go to court, do research and write briefs, including appellate briefs.

I work in a small office. There are eight employees. It’s a non-profit so in comparison to a big firm it’s a little bit more laid back and casual but people are just as intense when things need to be done.

Most of our asylum clients are from Africa.

In our Women and Children’s Program, most of our clients are from Mexico and Latin America.

I work with lots of volunteer lawyers who work at big and small law firms throughout Dallas. Some of them are immigration practitioners, but most of them aren’t.

I also work with lots of student volunteers.

I work with a fund raising person and a social services coordinator who helps our clients with their non-legal needs like housing, food, and other needs.

Days are just not typical. When I get to work, I answer emails and then the days vary depending on the day of the week. On Tuesday and Wednesday we have intakes in the morning to evaluate possible cases. I may go to court. Once a week we have a staff meeting and a legal team meeting.

I do everything from talking to attorneys about their cases, directing the work flow, assigning people to work on new matters.

I also look at issues that may affect our clients and work on advocacy.

Attention to detail, conscientiousness, professionalism, a curious mind, listening, being able to build trust with people.

Writing and all communication skills are extraordinarily important in my job. Before I went to law school, I was a journalist. Writing has always been something that I’ve loved.

I work part time. I started out in this job two and a half days a week as a staff attorney after going back to work after having the last two of my three children. Now I work about 75-80%. I’m in the office three days a week. I work long days when I’m in the office. I work from about 8 to 6 and an hour or two at night when my kids go to bed. On the days I am home, I work for a couple of hours when my kids aren’t around.

I love what I’m doing. The whole reason I went to law school was to do something that was intellectually challenging but also helped people. I spent the early part of my legal career just doing the intellectual side and working on a lot of cases that were about money. It was fine but it wasn’t as fulfilling for me.

I’m really happy that I’m finally doing what I always wanted to be doing. I’ve always been interested in international human rights and in particular the rights of children and women. This job allows me to be exposed to both of those.

I like that knowing about what is going on internationally is a job duty for me now and not just something I do in my spare time. It’s something that really matters.

The people we are helping are incredibly grateful for what we do. What we do changes their lives. It’s hard when something doesn’t work out but fortunately we are usually successful.

We are truly saving their lives in many respects and helping theme live the American dream. That’s what they want to do. They want to be here, be legal, work hard, pay their taxes, and have kids that grow up just like immigrants for generations have done. It’s great to watch them go through that process.

I don’t like losing cases. Part of being a lawyer is that if you take hard cases you are going to lose part of the time. It stinks to lose. It stinks every time. At my current job, the stakes are much higher.

I don’t always like dealing with personnel issues. But I do like mentoring people.

The court system, the government, and attorneys who don’t do their job properly can be frustrating.

I’m inspired by people who sincerely try hard at what they do all the time. I’m inspired by people who work very hard and don’t ask for much in return.

My parents. They have always been very supportive of everything that I wanted to do from travel to school. They also instilled a huge work ethic in me which has really helped me be successful.

To not go to law school. Some people thought I was selling out because I didn’t know what I wanted to do. But it wasn’t true for me.

It’s bad advice when people have a preconceived notion about what your life is going to be like: Aren’t you going to quit your job when you have kids?

Several people said that to me. I felt that it was something that I had to push back against.

I think they should try to figure out what they are interested in. If they are lucky enough to be passionate about something, figure out how to make that into a career. They will be much happier if they are doing something they really love.

In today’s world, there are a lot of mixed messages about working moms verses stay at home moms. Having done both, I don’t think there is a right or wrong in general. There is a right and a wrong for each family and each individual. When you have children, you need to listen to yourself and your partner.

Work hard and do your best and doors will open for you.

Developing language skills would be great, Spanish or French especially.

International relations, current events, and immigration would be good to study.

Traveling is good to help develop an understanding about the world.

In most big cities there are also volunteer opportunities at non-profit organizations. Just call them up and ask them what you can do to help.

I would not have wasted so much time in high school worrying about what other people, especially boys, thought of me.

I don’t know the key. I don’t have balance. I try to take one day at a time and focus on my schedule for that day.

The hardest part about trying to have balance is that you never feel that you are giving as much of yourself as you can to the place where you are. There is always a little bit of you at the other place.

It’s much easier doing a job I love. I wouldn’t do it for a job I didn’t like. I’m lucky to have that option. I know a lot of women don’t.

Good childcare is very important. One of the biggest stresses in my life is when something goes wrong with my childcare.

The best advice is that you can’t do it all, all of the time. Some days, work is more important. Some days, family is more important. It’s always about prioritizing.

When I was in high school, I knew I wanted to be a journalist or a lawyer. When I went to college, it seemed that lots of people who didn’t know what they wanted to do focused on law school so I focused on writing.

I went to a school that had a fantastic sports program. I’ve always loved sports. I worked on the school newspaper in the sports department. I got to cover big time college football and some important basketball games and tennis. I got great experience. I edited the whole sports page when I was a senior. I loved it, loved it, loved it.

I got out into the world and got my first journalism job and a hated it. I was disillusioned. I had a bad first job and not a very encouraging boss. I felt like I was not using my brain. People told me that it would be ten years before any promotion. I just couldn’t envision that.

So I started to think about the law again. I thought it would be a good way to use my writing skills and to also use my brain.

I worked as a legal assistant at a law firm for a year before going to law school. I wanted to know more about what I was getting into before I made the investment in law school. I enjoyed that.

I went to law school. After law school, I worked for seven years at a couple of big law firms. One was a very big national firm and one was a more regional firm. I got great experience. I did business litigation. I got to do a lot. I liked it much more than I ever thought I would - doing that type of litigation.

When I started having a family, I worked part time. Eventually I took a few years off with my three children.

I started back to work part time at The Human Rights Imitative here in Dallas and then was promoted to Legal Director. It was a great transition back into working. I very much missed working when I was home even though I loved being home with my kids.