Pro Bono Attorneys and Volunteers

Human Rights First matches asylum seekers who need help with trained lawyers who can represent them on a pro bono basis.  We provide mentoring, training, and guidance throughout the representation to ensure that our pro bono lawyers get the support they need to provide the highest quality legal representation to clients seeking asylum in the country.

There are many ways to help Human Rights First and its asylum clients.  Here are some opportunities to get involved:

Attorney Volunteers

If you are an attorney who is interested in taking a pro bono case with Human Rights First, please contact the following Refugee Representation staff members:

• New York, NY: Maya El Cheikh at [email protected]​
• Washington, D.C:  [email protected]
• Los Angeles, CA: Jenna Gilbert at [email protected]

Through Human Rights First’s Refugee Representation program, volunteer lawyers have the unique opportunity to change the lives of refugees by helping them win asylum in the United States. Our clients have fled from political, religious, ethnic, and gender-based persecution in countries plagued by human rights violations. They cannot afford counsel and desperately need representation. Volunteer lawyers learn about U.S. asylum law and international human rights law and then have the chance to represent individual clients at an asylum interview or a hearing before an immigration judge.

Interpreter Volunteers

Many of our clients do not speak English, so we are always looking for bi-lingual volunteers to help during screening phone calls and intake interviews.  We also frequently need assistance translating foreign language documents into English.  If you are fluent in English and another language and you are interested in volunteering with us as an interpreter/translator, please reach out to the following Refugee Representation staff members:

• New York, NY: Maya El Cheikh at [email protected]​
• Washington, D.C: Sugeily Fernandez at [email protected]
• Los Angeles, CA: Jenna Gilbert at [email protected]

Law Student Interns

Human Rights First’s Refugee Protection program offers summer and semester internship opportunities to law students.  Interns play a critical role in our success.  Among other things, we rely heavily on our legal interns to help conduct client intakes, perform extensive research regarding the human rights conditions in countries around the world, and to help critically analyze potential client’s asylum claims.

Medical and Psychological Volunteers

As a result of the torture and other brutal forms of persecution that many of our clients have endured, they may have physical and psychological scars.  Volunteer health professionals can play a critical role in helping our clients gain asylum in the U.S. by providing them with medical and psychological evaluations to help corroborate their accounts.

If you are a medical or mental health professional who would like to donate your skills and time to this important cause, please reach out to Physicians for Human Rights or HealthRight International for information about their volunteer opportunities.  These are two of the organizations that regularly work with Human Rights First volunteer attorneys and clients.

Refugee Volunteers

Former Human Rights First clients and other refugees who are interested in publicly sharing their stories can volunteer to participate in our Refugee Voices series.  The series highlights the struggles refugees face around the world and focuses on the courageous individuals we have met through our work providing pro bono legal representation to asylum seekers.