Photo Essay
What Motivates Pro Bono Leaders?
Photography
by Anastasiia Sapon
by Anastasiia Sapon
“I do pro bono to help people disenfranchised by legal bureaucracy in some of their most challenging and consequential moments.”
— 3L Anisa Ricci
Legal Obstacles Veterans Encounter
Berkeley Law Alternative Service Trip (Montana)
Post-Conviction Advocacy Project
“Pro bono helps us see that our own hands can make the world that’s in our minds.”
— Inspired by Langston Hughes
— Inspired by Langston Hughes
— 2L Jacob Wilson
Reproductive Justice Project
Berkeley Law Alternative Service Trip
“The real success is carrying disability justice forward, expanding access to culturally-responsive mental health care, and mentoring the students who will do the same.”
— Gabrielle Birog ’23
Staff Attorney, Disability Rights California, Mental Health Practice Group
Berkeley Abolitionist Lawyering Project
Disability Rights Project
Pro Bono Champion Award
“Pro bono is an important way to harness the privilege granted with our education to help the world.”
— Samuel Sokolsky ’22
Deputy Attorney General, California Department of Justice
Berkeley Law Alternative Service Trip (Central Valley)
Call for Necessary Engagement in Community & Timely Response (CNECT)
Pro Bono Champion Award
“I wanted to be the person I needed when I was younger.”
— 2L DeShawn Carter
Family Defense Project
“Pro bono at the border with Al Otro Lado reminded me why I came to law school and shaped the lawyer and advocate I’ve become.”
— Katie O’Leary ’22
Immigration Defense Attorney, Alameda County Public Defender
International Refugee Assistance Project (Berkeley Chapter)
Berkeley Law Alternative Service Trip
“I do pro bono work to empower those with the least access to justice.”
— Lilli Paratore ’17
Director of Legal Services, UnCommon Law
Post-Conviction Advocacy Project
Kathi Pugh Award for Exceptional Mentorship
“A better world is possible, and every day that we work for each other and the public good helps create it.”
— 2L Dexter Lim
(holding a “touchstone” desert rose)
Clean Energy Leaders in Law
Berkeley Law Alternative Service Trip (Alaska)
“A past sentence shouldn’t erase someone’s chance at a meaningful life.”
— 3L Leor Bases
Reentry Advocacy Project
“I’m the daughter of immigrants who sacrificed everything for a better life. I became an immigration attorney to protect that promise for others.”
— Jocelyn Gomez ’24
Attorney, Immigration Institute of the Bay Area (Equal Justice Works Fellow)
Berkeley Immigration Group
Berkeley Law Alternative Service Trip (U.S.-Mexico Border)
Francine Marie Diaz Memorial Award
Learn more: law.berkeley.edu/pro-bono-program