公益是志愿者肖恩·多兰的慰藉

2020年11月16日

说说你自己吧. 你在哪里长大的? 是什么让你决定上法学院的? 你练习的领域是什么?

I am a Counsel in the Private Equity group of Goodwin Procter LLP’s Washington, D.C. 办公室. Although I grew up in Pittsburgh and have lived in a number of cities throughout the country, 我认为D.C. 区家. For most of my life I (and others) always assumed I would wind up going to law school (perhaps I was just an argumentative child?), but I wasn’t convinced of the decision until I spent the year after undergrad working in the legal department of the Covenant House (a homeless shelter for 18- to 21-year-olds) in Newark, 新泽西, 作为耶稣会志愿者团的一员. It was an eye-opening experience as to how much legal advocacy could help vulnerable populations.

是什么促使你参与无偿服务? 你是怎么挤出时间的?

虽然我最终没有选择直接从事公共利益法, pro bono has remained an important part of my practice throughout my legal career. 我一直努力把它放在首位. 然而, I definitely understand that it can be tempting to put pro bono service on the backburner when other work is busy. 我也总是选择公司, 包括Goodwin Procter, 我所有的无偿服务时间都是可计费的, 这有很大帮助吗.

You volunteer with the 公益性服务 Center’s Landlord Tenant Resource Center (LTRC) at D.C. 高等法院, through your firm, a longtime partner in the resource center. 对你来说，典型的志愿者轮班是什么样的? 你帮助谁??

房东和租客资源中心让做志愿者变得非常容易! 轮班非常灵活. 现在更是如此，因为在大流行期间，LTRC非常遥远. It’s easy to take a quick break between LTRC calls to knock out a few firm work emails, etc. One of the other things I like about the LTRC is that they help both tenants and small landlords–it truly is about just making sure people know their rights.

你是如何学会在日常工作之外的领域帮助别人的?

有一些培训材料是很好的介绍, but the best thing about the LTRC is that there is always a fantastic supervising attorney from the 公益性服务 Center available to answer any questions. 这对志愿者来说是一个很好的安全网! 我还参加了D.C. Law Students in Court program (now known as Rising for Justice) while at Georgetown University Law Center, through which I volunteered at the Landlord Tenant Court in a very similar role.

你能告诉我们你帮助过的值得纪念的客户吗?

I’ve seen many clients who are on the brink of eviction before coming to the LTRC. 我帮助过的一位妇女只会说阿姆哈拉语，而且患有肾衰竭. She was slated for eviction in one week and I shudder to think what would have happened to her had she become homeless. It was also frustrating as the entire issue likely could have been avoided if there hadn’t been the language barrier (or a landlord who seemingly was trying to take advantage of that fact). We were able to help educate the tenant (via an interpreter) about her rights and, 至少, 将她的驱逐推迟一个多月，等待她的案件审理.

Have you learned anything about the need for pro bono lawyers in the District through your volunteer service?

很明显，我们需要更多的公益志愿者. I really believe that there is a perfect volunteer opportunity out there for everyone. I would encourage others to identify a topic about which they are passionate and find a related pro bono opportunity to support those individuals/groups.

是什么让您不断回到房东租户资源中心?

I keep coming back because it is an easy way to give back to the community and I know that even a few minutes of my time often makes a tremendous difference in the lives of those we help.

自从大流行开始以来, thousands of people have lost their jobs and have trouble paying their rent. Although there is currently an eviction moratorium, a flood of evictions is looming in D.C. 公益澳门赌场官网如何帮助那些面临失去住房风险的人?

我从志愿活动中发现的第一件事是 这么多 租客有他们根本不知道的法律辩护. 此外, 因为绝大多数租户都没有代表, 他们在业主租客法庭上已经处于不利地位. 相应的, I implore other attorneys to get trained to help represent tenants in the looming eviction proceedings. It can be as simple as helping vulnerable tenants during mediation hearings (which are quite common at Landlord Tenant Court).

除了, 还有其他可以提倡的政策项目, such as eviction moratoriums plus rent relief (including back rent) to prevent more long-term harm. 事实证明，驱逐大大增加了COVID的发病率等. 驱逐已经是一场危机，而且会变得更糟. 再一次。, this can be something as simple as following subject experts on 推特 – I will give a personal plug for @emilyabenfer, 在过去的几个月里，我从他那里学到了很多东西.

疫情期间你的身体状况如何? 对你来说最大的挑战是什么?

There are times when it is challenging to focus on traditional big law work in a year when 这么多 are suffering. 幸运的是，无偿服务是一个很好的发泄方式. 我也试着在黯淡的一年里找到积极的一面, which for me is being grateful for all of the extra time I’ve gotten with my wife and two daughters (age 2 and 4) while working from home.

了解贵公司如何为D.C. tenants and small landlords through the 公益性服务 Center’s Landlord Tenant Resource Center, 联系房屋管理澳门赌场官网Gabriella Lewis-White.