Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge

At Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge, community service is not just an ideal, it is what we practice, day in and day out. In every office and across all practice groups, our lawyers have been there for those in need, for those who don't have access to legal services, and for those who have nowhere else to turn to solve the legal problems that matter most. We understand that the legal profession is uniquely situated to deliver services that make a difference in people's lives, and we're proud to help make that difference.

Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge provides vigorous representation to a variety of pro bono clients, handling matters for them in a variety of areas, including:

Civil Rights and Constitutional Challenges
Low-Income Housing
Unemployment Compensation
Non-Profit Organizations, Trusts and Foundations
Family Law
Intellectual Property
Community-Based Loans and Venture Financings
Artists and Arts Organizations
Refugee/Asylum Law
Environmental Protection

The firm is also a long-time participant in the Law Firm Pro Bono project. The project is an initiative of the Pro Bono Institute and the American Bar Association, which was created to support and expand the pro bono programs of the nation’s 850 largest firms.

The success of our pro bono program derives from the dedication of our lawyers and staff and the enthusiastic support given to the program by the firm’s management. The firm not only encourages participation in pro bono work generally, but also specifically recognizes outstanding individual pro bono achievements. The firm holds annual pro bono awards ceremonies, granting awards to associates, partners, staff, legal teams, and departments who have made special contributions to the community.

Representative Matters

In conjunction with the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights (LCCR), we represented Jehad Alshrafi, an Arab American and United States citizen, in his discrimination action against American Airlines and one of its pilots. American and its pilot refused to allow Alshrafi, a local engineer with Defense Department security clearance, to board one of its flights. The airline was charged with ethnic and racial discrimination. The case settled shortly before trial.
Since 2001, the firm has represented Turkeys 4 America, in negotiating a favorable settlement of an dispute over the charity’s name . Turkeys 4 America is a non-profit charity started and run for the past seven years by Dan and Betsy Nally, who were nine and six years old when they began this organization. Turkeys collects money to purchase and distribute turkeys through the Greater Boston Food Bank to needy families for Thanksgiving, feeding more than 200,000 people in 2003. We now assist the organization with tax and general corporate government matters.
We represented Habitat for Humanity in the creation of a three unit condominium in the inner city and the sale of each unit to a first-time homeowner.
In a case of identity theft, we represented a quadriplegic woman faced with a collection action by a creditor. Without the means to defend herself, the woman was in danger of incurring crushing financial obligations for credit card charges that she insisted she never made. One of our litigators aggressively investigated the alleged charges made in her name, and discovered that the woman’s identity had been stolen by a former caregiver. The client’s case was immediately brought to a successful resolution.

The firm currently represents thirteen Massachusetts city and town clerks challenge orders by Governor Romney and Attorney General Tom Reilly that require them to discriminate against same-sex couples who come to Massachusetts to marry. One of our attorneys presented oral argument to the SJC on October 6, 2005, appealing a lower court ruling which held that the local officials have no right to challenge orders of state officials on constitutional grounds. The clerks come from a broad cross-section of Massachusetts cities and towns, including Provincetown , Somerville , Worcester , Acton , Burlington , Cambridge , Marblehead , Nantucket, Northampton , Plymouth , Sherborn, Westford and Rowe. Their case is consolidated with the complaint of eight same-sex couples from out-of-state challenging the state’s refusal to grant them marriage licenses. The current case is the third case involving same-sex marriage that has been heard by Massachusetts ’ highest court. Our attorneys filed amicus briefs in the historic case of Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, which ruled that same-sex couples could not be excluded from the privileges and benefits of marriage under the state Constitution, and in the follow-up case, Opinion of the Justices, in which the Court held that a bill proposed by the Legislature to establish civil unions for same-sex couples did not comply with the Goodridge ruling. Just prior to the date that Goodridge went into effect on May 17, 2004, the Governor instructed municipal clerks not to issue marriage licenses to any non-resident same-sex couples. The Attorney General then threatened several of the clerks with legal action if they disregarded those instructions, action that could lead to fines and a prison sentence of up to one year. The clerks’ case then commenced. Both the Governor and the Attorney General have disavowed any intent to discriminate, although they are relying on a moribund 1913 state statute that had never before been invoked to prevent any out-of-state couple from marrying in Massachusetts . The statute says that marriage licenses shall not be given to nonresidents whose marriages would be “void” in their home states. A decision is expected from the Supreme Judicial Court in January, 2006.
A team of firm attorneys and paralegals run legal clinics and service indigent clients at Boston ’s Pine Street Inn, which serves more than 1300 homeless men and women per day in housing disputes, social security appeals, and probation issues in criminal matters.

Representative Clients

Casa Esperanza, which serves Latino recovering alcoholics and its sister organization, Nueva Vida, which provides services to Latina women and their children
Cambridge Cares About Aids, providing case management and housing programs to persons with HIV, and community prevention programs to populations at risk of becoming infected with HIV.
K&E Scholarship Fund, a charity formed to provide scholarships to underprivileged Boston and New York City children to attend summer camp in New Hampshire;
Learning Center for Deaf Children, a non-profit corporation serving more than 200 deaf and hard of hearing children from infants through high school in Eastern Massachusetts;
Neurofeedback Group, research and educational services organization that uses neurofeedback in treating students and adults with ADHD;
Racewatch, a non-profit dedicated to educating and advocating against racism, violence, oppression, and discrimination;
The Somali Women And Children’s Association, which offers community education, family counseling, job skills training, health care referral services, and English language classes to immigrants from a variety of countries;
Transition House, the oldest shelter in New England for victims of domestic abuse;
The Travis Roy Foundation, a foundation dedicated to spinal cord injury victims and research; and
The Youth Advocacy Project, which seeks to ensure legal representation for juvenile defendants.

Pro Bono Partner Organizations

Volunteer Lawyers Project of Massachusetts
Rhode Island Volunteer Lawyer Program
American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts
Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts of Massachusetts
Political Asylum and Immigration Representation (PAIR)
Greater Boston Legal Services
Trust for Public Land
Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights
Economic Justice Project
Lawyers Clearinghouse on Affordable Housing and Homelessness
Women’s Bar Association Elder Law Project
Women’s Bar Foundation