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 Airlines 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.
- 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