O'Melveny's 2018-2019 Pro Bono Review

O’MELVENY PRO BONO PROGRAM REVIEW 2018- 2019 33 Securing Public Assistance for a Mother of Two Ms. S., a Senegal native and single mother of two, is studying to be a home health aide. She is also a domestic violence survivor and relies on public benefits to care for her family. Last year, the New York Human Resources Agency (HRA) discontinued her benefits because she had failed to return a recertification form. (She did not receive the form because her ex-husband’s family controls access to her apartment’s mailbox.) Still, when Ms. S. learned she needed to recertify—during a meeting on the last day that she could—she complied in person. O’Melveny, through Sanctuary for Families, represented Ms. S. at a hearing before an administrative law judge, and HRA withdrew the discontinuance, assuring that she would continue to receive her vital benefits. Government Benefits Our most vulnerable citizens are also those most in need of legal services: the poor, the disabled, and the elderly. These are the people O’Melveny represents in Social Security Disability benefits matters. Securing benefits for them and their children can mean the difference between housing and homelessness, an adequate diet and malnourishment, or even life and death. Gaining Social Security Benefits for a Disabled Woman Ms. P. is a 52-year-old woman suffering from congestive heart failure, diabetes, depression, anxiety, and other medical conditions that were caused or exacerbated by decades of trauma and poverty. She is a survivor of childhood sexual assault and parental abuse. Ms. P. has endured the loss of an infant son, estrangement from her family, and has spent years either homeless or living in shelters. She struggles with walking, preparing simple meals, and taking public transportation. Despite all of this, she was denied Social Security disability benefits. O’Melveny represented Ms. P. at a hearing before an administrative law judge and the judge found that Ms. P. was, in fact, disabled and entitled to retroactive and ongoing benefits. She and her husband now reside in an apartment they won in the low-income housing lottery. O’Melveny is highly ranked among AmLaw200 firms for its pro bono commitment.