O'Melveny's 2018-2019 Pro Bono Review

O’MELVENY PRO BONO PROGRAM REVIEW 2018- 2019 10 SUPPORTING SURVIVORS Securing Asylum J.G. lived in Guatemala with her domestic partner, a man who repeatedly beat and raped her, once injuring her so severely that she required hospitalization. She reported him to the police, but he continued to harass and threaten her and her family. After she fled from her village to Guatemala City, he tracked her down and raped her again. With nowhere else to turn, she came to the US, where she was placed in removal proceedings. While her case was Women’s Rights O’Melveny’s pro bono program is dedicated to helping ensure that women and girls have access to justice. We have achieved precedent-setting victories on behalf of women involving reproductive rights and important custody issues, while representing nonprofit organizations that assist women around the world. The firm also represents women in scores of individual matters, working, for example, to secure legal residency for immigrant survivors of sexual violence and obtaining protection for abused women. pending, she settled with her sister in California, found work, paid taxes, married, and had a son. A few months before her hearing, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued an opinion in a case titled Matter of A-B- that purported to weaken the longstanding Board of Immigration Appeals precedent that supported asylum claims for domestic violence victims, and stated that such claims should almost never be granted. In collaboration with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, a team from O’Melveny drafted a 50-page brief, accompanied by more than 1,000 pages of supporting material documenting the abuse Ms. G had suffered and the conditions she had faced in Guatemala. The brief explained why Matter of A-B- did not foreclose claims such as Ms. G’s and detailed six alternative grounds for asylum. The team also met several times with Ms. G and a psychologist to prepare her for cross-examination. O’Melveny received the 2018 Heroes Pro Bono Team of the Year Award from DV Leap, a legal organization that advocates on behalf of domestic violence survivors.