Marian Hatcher (center), project manager for the Women’s Justice Program of the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, was the guest speaker for the Pro Bono Program and Clinic recognition luncheon. She was welcomed by (from left) Linda Anderson, Professor F. Willis Caruso, Katie Anderson and Kelly Burden-Lindstrom.
The volunteer efforts of more than 100 students who participated in The John Marshall Law School Pro Bono Program and Clinic over the past year were celebrated at an April 28, 2014, luncheon.
Guest speaker Marian Hatcher, project manager for the Women’s Justice Program of the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, applauded the work of alumnus John Antia (J.D. ’13) and students — Magdalena Wilk, Samantha Sims, Italia Lima and Amanda Bolhuis — who drafted the “National Day of John’s Arrest Partners and Their Solicitation Laws” report for the Sheriff’s Office. Hatcher said the work of these John Marshall students was invaluable. Their legal findings have been published and are used as the basis for the county’s initiative in establishing sting operations.
Hatcher told the students she was thrilled by the work students did on the project, and that she is “really proud to be partnering with this great institution, John Marshall.” During one’s career “you can grow and learn and be part of some really important work,” Hatcher said, while stressing that it is important to represent all peoples because “it takes people helping each other.”
The Pro Bono Clinic is directed by Professor F. Willis Caruso. Katie Anderson, is staff attorney and coordinator, Linda Anderson is supervising attorney and Kelly Burden-Lindstrom is the Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation project staff attorney.
Clinic projects this past year were:
- People v. Bailey, a criminal appeal in the 1st District that had students Michael DeSantis, Robert Marcus, Greg Ruggie and Lauren Schroder look at the issues of appropriate sanctions for discovery violations in misdemeanor cases.
- People of the State of Illinois v. Dunn, is an innocence case with Professor Hugh Mundy as supervising attorney working with alumna Sheida Ahmadzadeh (J.D. ’13) and students Jillian Berner, Leighten Hendricks and Megan Tribe.
- U.S. Bank National v. Dunn is a federal foreclosure case with attorney Linda Anderson supervising students Mark Bernachea, Chris Cardona and Charles Portman.
- Jones v. Burge had students Rebecca Kaiser and Jordan Yurchich working with attorney Victor P. Henderson and Professors Linda Crane and Kim Chanbonpin and Adjunct Professor Sheila Murphy and with Professor Steven Schwinn and the International Human Rights Clinic representing those who are police torture victims.
- Knuth v. Erlenbush, a federal case in which the Pro Bono Clinic represented a man who argued excessive force by police. Caruso supervised students Matthew Kaufmann, Kalli Kling, Margaret McWhorter, Sarbani Mukherjee, Samantha Sims and Tanvi Sheth. They received special assistance from Adjunct Professor Ed Voci.
- D.K. v. City of Chicago, an administrative appeal, was handled by students Jerrica Messer and Kelsey Morrison.
- Joi Lyons represented during administrative hearings in the Circuit Court of Cook County and in the 1st District Appellate Court clients who were in danger of losing Section 8 housing vouchers.
Pro Bono research assistants were Adam Ansari, Andrew Edelman, Sarah Hess, Joi Lyons, Jerrica Messer and Kelsey Morrison.
Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation pro bono students were Adobje Abidemi, Mark Bernachea, Angela Biesiada, Sean Brogan, Elizabeth Brusa, Chadwick Buckner, Naila Campbell, Colin Carlucci, Jason Diaz, Adam Dobrino, Sarah Donnellan, Catrina Erickson, Lindsay Garner, Rachel Gartner, Seinja Grebovic, Iris Guiterrez, Danial Han, Angelica Harb, Ryan Hennen, Heather Hensley, Jennifer Hunter, Zachary Jordan, John Junze, Myra Khan, Megan Larkin, Thomas Laser, Andrew Macas, Jay Nims, Timothy Oliver, Katherine Porter, Evan Randall, Colleen Redden, Nicholas Richardson, LaQuenta Rudison, Nicole Scott, Daria Shikina, Djentia Svinjar, Travis Talboys, Wilma Walker and Bryan Wallock. They were supervised by Pro Bono Clinic staff attorneys, with additional assistance from attorneys Karl Fehr, John Fehr, Dennis Smith, Allison Romelfanger Professor Mary Nagel .
Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation student representatives were Jeffrey Arman, Collin Carlucci, Michael Consentino, Gennafer Garvin, Jourdan Levy, Joi Lyons, Samantha Ordonez, Nicholas Pope, Joseph Rourke, Wendy Scott, Melissa Tannehill, Elizabeth Vicars and Victoria Yan.
Northside Housing Collaborative Access to Justice law clerks were Mark Bernachea, Chris Cardona, Patrick Koncel, Jackqueline Saldarriaga and Aarti Sharma.
Students who staffed the University of Illinois-Chicago Student Legal Services Pro Bono Project were Paul Atkins, Danielle Bukhardt, Michael Consentino, Disa DisBuono, Crystal Elusta, Catrina Erickson, Christine Frymire, Yasemine Garmon, Gennafer Garvin, Yasemine Garmon, Hayk Ghalumyan, Ricardo Hicks, Paul Hoxha, Sahin Jutla, Jacklyn Kaczmarek, Cinthya Larios, Syeda Madani, Akemi Malone, Jessica Manning, Britney Monroe, Christopher Parrish, Marissa Polk, Tanya Prabhakar, Aarti Sharma, Shari Stewart, Arthea Stokes, Travis Talboys and Thomas Trench who worked with supervising attorney Melissa Williams.
Pro Bono Clinic students were John Antia, Joe Arviv, Rhianna Biernat, Angela Biesiada, Amanda Bolhuis, Mike Burgner, Leena Chopra, Senjia Grebovic, Qing Geng, Leighten Hendricks, Kate Jung, Kasia Kaczmarek, Kalli Kling, Matthew Kaufmann, Italia Lima, Margaret McWhorter, Jessica Messer, Sarbani Mukherjee, John Painter, Dave Pallavi, Charles Portman, David Salazar, Samantha Sims, Tanvi Sheth, Libby Vassmer and Magdalena Wilk.
Illinois Legal Aid Online pro bono students were Meghan Andrews, Viannie Bell, Jasmine Bridges, Ray Chung, Stacie Colston, Jeanette Conrad-Ellis, Cate Curtis, Ariann Ernic, Hayk Ghalumyan, Valerie Gigante, Tom Hall, Andrew Hamilton, Sarah Hanneken, Danielle Kegley, Kristen Koeller, Gregory Lederman, Katie Lowe, Annie Myers, Terri Ross, Annalee Ruiz, Aleksandra Sajdak, Marie Sarantakis, Mike Schauer, Tanvi Sheth, Arthe Stroke, Gerald Tan, Stephanie Villinski, Bryan Wallock, Kristen Wetzel and Izabela Zeglen.
