Taking a Year to Help KIND
- Wednesday, September 14, 2011 |
- Written by Matthew Mesa
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Fresh out of law school, two first-year associates at Ropes & Gray took a less conventional path to launch their legal career. They accepted a one-year fellowship at the firm to practice public interest law at an organization of their choosing -- nonprofit organization, government agency, international organization, or a prosecutor or public defender office. Lucky for us, they chose KIND.
Nicole Quinn Krea had just graduated from Suffolk University Law School and had always known she wanted to work with children. When the firm offered her the opportunity to defer her start to pursue this dream, she jumped at the chance. And after interviewing with KIND's pro bono coordinator in Boston, Ann Cooper, she knew she wanted to work with unaccompanied children.
Maura Sullivan had lined up a job with the firm the summer between her
secondand third year of law school, at Boston University. She had spent the previous summer working in immigration law at a small firm that had been started by a former immigration judge. She, like Nicole, was interested in working with children. She could have worked as a deferred associate anywhere in the world. She chose KIND after she met Ann and learned that her interests and KIND's work were a perfect match.
Maura Sullivan - "A wonderful experience"
Upon joining KIND, and while waiting for the results of her bar exam, Maura immersed herself in researching immigration law and unaccompanied children. She also participated in intakes of new clients, and attended trainings given by KIND's pro bono coordinator. By the time she was notified that she passed the bar and would be able to start representing KIND clients, she was already familiar with a wide spectrum of KIND cases.
"Ann was a great mentor. She was able to strike a good balance between keeping an eye on the progression of my cases as well as not micromanaging," Maura said. "Ann genuinely cares about the children we serve and the attorneys she mentored."
While Maura represented a number of children, one child's case holds a special place in her heart. It involved a boy with cancer from the Caribbean who had been neglected by his father and cared for by a teacher who eventually became his guardian. Maura was able to get him special immigrant juvenile status for abused, abandoned, and neglected children. Now that he has legal status, he is able to accept the full merit-based scholarship that he was offered by a university.
"Working for KIND has been a wonderful experience. I will remember all of my cases, but especially Andre's case," Maura stated. When asked more about her experience with KIND, Maura said, "Professionally, I have become so comfortable in court. I feel like my writing skills and verbal skills have increased as well. I was given a lot of responsibility that I likely would not have received elsewhere."
Nicole Quinn Krea - "Being in court is not as scary as I had imagined!"
"Working at KIND was an opportunity to do something different, and very meaningful," Nicole said. Though Nicole did not have experience working in immigration law, she was in good hands with KIND's pro bono coordinator Ann Cooper. Nicole credited Ann's mentorship with helping her to make the quick transition from law school graduate to practicing attorney. "Ann is fantastic. She has a lot of knowledge in this area of law and is very patient and approachable when it came to assisting me and others who are new to immigration law."
As she waited for her bar results, Nicole helped with intakes, attended court, reviewed case files, and assisted Ann with the mentorship of other attorneys. Once she was able to represent KIND clients, Nicole worked on her first two cases with Maura. These cases were complex so it was helpful for them to collaborate on research and preparatory work together. "Special immigrant juvenile cases involve a multi-step process; having two people take on various aspects of the case is very beneficial," Nicole said.
When asked about the highlights of her fellowship, Nicole said, "I am amazed that I've spent a year being in court. I left law school knowing that I wanted to be a corporate transactional attorney and thus spend little time in court. This experience at KIND has been totally different and I am glad I had the opportunity to do it. Being in court is not as scary as I had imagined!"
She added, "Hearing children's stories and realizing that I could actually make a difference - even in a small way - reassures me that my actions can have a positive impact on someone's life."
Nicole started as a corporate lawyer at Ropes & Gray in early September; Maura began her work in Ropes & Gray's litigation department in late August.
KIND will miss Maura and Nicole's dedication and talent greatly, and cannot thank them enough for their service to KIND and unaccompanied children.
*The client's name has been changed to protect his identity.
