Justice for All: Minnesota's Civil Legal Aid and Pro Bono Landscape
Please join us for this event to celebrate Pro Bono Week at Minnesota Law for a presentation on Civil Legal Aid and Pro Bono in Minnesota. This program will educate attorneys and law students about how the civil justice system functions in Minnesota, how it seeks to provide access to justice, who it serves and how the system helps our neighbors most vulnerable to injustice, who is left out, and how soon-to-be lawyers and practicing attorneys (no matter their practice area) can contribute.
Minnesota has a robust legal services community that provides needed service to help the disadvantaged have access to justice. Civil legal service programs, private attorneys, and the court system work together to meet the basic legal needs of Minnesotans of limited means, seniors, veterans, people with disabilities, the LGBTQ community, and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. Few legal professionals and law students in our state have a full idea of how the needs of low-income Minnesotans are met through the state's civil justice system.
This program is a project of the Minnesota State Bar Association Access to Justice Committee, and will highlight the importance of pro bono work for both new and seasoned attorneys. The last part of the lunch hour will feature recent Minnesota Law alumni sharing stories about their pro bono practice in their first several years as licensed attorneys.
RSVP here by October 15, 2024
Speakers:
Andrew Carlson ('98)
Andy is a Partner at Taft and represents businesses and governmental entities in litigation and regulatory proceedings throughout Minnesota and the United States. He practices principally in the areas of state tax litigation, contested matters for utilities, telecommunications, and commercial litigation. Andy is the immediate past chair of Taft’s Pro Bono Committee. He has worked on a wide variety of pro bono matters. In 2023, he received Taft’s Legacy Award, and in 2020, he was recognized by Minnesota Lawyer as an Attorney of the Year, for his leadership of Taft’s firm-wide pro bono program.
Tom Walsh ('04)
Tom Walsh is the Executive Director at Volunteer Lawyers Network. He began his career at VLN in 2005 as an Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Attorney working to develop programs bringing together private attorneys and law students to provide legal services to low-income Minnesotans. He later joined VLN as a full-time staff resource attorney focusing on bankruptcy and family law, before becoming the Program Director and later, Executive Director. In 2016, the Hennepin County Bar Association awarded Tom its Pro Bono Publico Award of Excellence for a Public Attorney.
Featuring pro bono stories from:
Yemaya Hanna ('22)
Yemaya Hanna is an attorney in Maslon's Estate Planning Group. As a law student, Yemaya was student director of the U of M Law School Immigration and Human Rights Clinic, co-president of the Black Law Students Association, vice president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association Student Affiliate; and a Diversity Committee admissions ambassador. Yemaya was awarded the 2022 Equity and Diversity Award from the University of Minnesota Law School and the 2022 Clinical Legal Education Association’s Outstanding Clinical Student Award.
and
Navin Ramalingam ('21)
Navin is an Associate Attorney in the Intellectual Property and Technology Litigation Group at Robins Kaplan LLP. Navin was the Editor-in-Chief of the Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality (Vol. 39), a Student Director at the Consumer Protection Clinic, and a member of the McGee National Civil Rights Moot Court Competition Team. He also participated in National Moot Court and Mock Trial, and provided over 50 hours of pro bono legal service. Before law school, Navin was a Management Consultant at Deloitte and Ernst & Young for over six years solving clients’ problems in the financial regulations and compliance industry, and a Software Developer for three years.
Lunch will be provided with a timely RSVP.
Co-Sponsored By: Minnesota Law's Corporate Institute, MSBA Access to Justice Committee, The Minnesota Justice Foundation
CLE Credits
1.0 Elimination of bias CLE credit requested (in-person); event code: #514556 & 1.0 Elimination of bias CLE credit requested (on-demand); event code: #514557 (10/22/2024-10/22/2025)
Parking Information