35 Lawyers Clearinghouse The Lawyers Clearinghouse is an organization dedicated to providing pro bono legal services to residents of homeless shelters, and others in need, in the Boston area. Mintz Levin is a proud law firm partner of the Lawyers Clearinghouse and, for over 20 years, many Mintz Levin attorneys, Project Analysts, and Summer Associates, as well as Mintz Levin clients such as Liberty Mutual, have contributed to the Lawyers Clearinghouse’s efforts by representing its clients in a wide variety of housing, immigration, social security, and other matters. Jehanne Bjornebye, Samantha Kingsbury, and Colin Van Dyke coordinate Mintz Levin’s participation in the Lawyers Clearinghouse legal clinics. Lawyers’Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Formed to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law requested Mintz Levin’s assistance in representing a Haitian family subjected to several years of harassment by their neighbors. Colin Van Dyke and Project Analyst Natalie Young assisted the client in extending harassment prevention orders and pursuing criminal prosecution by the District Attorney for repeated violations of those orders. Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers On behalf of the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Mintz Levin drafted an amicus brief in Commonwealth v. Allissa Pugh, a case that involved questions surrounding the right of a woman to choose to have an unattended birth. The defendant, Allissa, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter (and sentenced to three years in prison) for the death of her fetus because she failed to summon medical attention during the birth, which, because of unanticipated complications, resulted in the death of the helped Island Creek Oysters establish the foundation and incorporate it into a 501(c)(3), and continue to provide general counsel to the foundation. Itismy.org Itismy.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving access to technology and advancing educational opportunities for children in Africa. The organization was founded by Desktop Analyst Wube Kumsa after he successfully configured a system to turn one personal computer into multiple workstations for students in his home country of Ethiopia. With the assistance of Mintz Levin attorneys, including Anthony Hubbard, Christopher Bird, and Peter Miller, Wube successfully incorporated Itismy.org as a 501(c)(3) organization in 2010. With financial and material donations from several charitable benefactors, including Mintz Levin and many of its attorneys, Wube was able to donate multiple computer workstations to schools in Ethiopia and Gambia in 2011. Lawyer for the Day at Boston Housing Court The Lawyer for the Day Program is a joint effort of the Volunteer Lawyers Project and the Real Estate Section of the Boston Bar Association, which recruits Boston attorneys to give advice and provide limited representation to pro se tenants facing eviction. Mintz Levin’s participation began as a pilot program in 2010 and became a monthly event in 2011. Under the guidance of attorneys Nick Bentley and Katy Ward, the program’s directors, 15 other Mintz Levin attorneys participated in Housing Court in 2011, including Fred Armstrong, Jennifer Sacco Smith, Kaci White, Andy Dean, Eric Blythe, Nate McConarty, Adam Veness, Paula Lyons, Ella Shenhav, Vita Wilson, Jill Collins, Ken Gantz, Manny Vazquez, Stefanie Abhar, and Jonathan Ursprung. Mintz Levin attorneys also began providing full representation to clients from the program. Additional Pro Bono Highlights from 2011