Legal services at the client's levelwww.vsl-law.com

Assists low-income eligible clients with legal needs on a limited basis including participation in Lawyer for the Day services. Attend monthly trainings on diverse areas of law and assists in the translation of legal self help material into Haitian Creole and Spanish.

General civil practice emphasizing employment, family and immigration law.• Responsible for own litigation caseload in federal and state courts, including fact investigation, legal research, development of theory and strategy of case• Prepare petitions, orders, motions and other court documents; interview clients and witnesses; draft contracts and real estate documents; prepare all discovery material and requests; research and wrote memoranda and briefs; negotiate settlements and assisted in trial preparation.

Reviewed documents for large litigation firms as assigned by various staffing agencies; analyzed content for relevance to legal issues and privilege, prioritized and organized documents using software such as Relativity, Kroll on Track, Adobe and Summation; Clients: State Street/WilmerHale, Bingham McCutchen/Morgan Stanley, DebtX: The Debt Exchange

Clinical Law Fellow (Aug.2010-March 2011): Supervised clinic students one day per week at Dorchester and Roxbury Divisions of the Boston Municipal Court; provided civil legal advocacy support to the Boston Medical Center program staff, developed content for DVI website and provided training sessions to advocates at community organizations.Team Leader & Court Advocate (Aug 2009.-May 2010): Provided civil legal advocacy services at the Dorchester District Court-- secured civil restraining orders and provided referrals and brief advocacy for other services such as family law, housing, income benefits, and immigration. As a Team Leader, supervised a team of six first-year law students in providing advocacy services in the Boston Medical Center emergency department.

Provided direct representation during unemployment hearing appeals: interviewed, researched, planned, investigated, counseled, and negotiated for each client in seeking reinstatement of benefits; participated in structuring and delivering a well received training on access to benefits to an Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender youth organization.

Assisted attorneys at a union side labor and employment law firm; performed legal research, prepared evidence, attending hearings, conducted factual investigations and drafted legal documents including complaints, discovery requests and responses, legal memoranda and briefs.

Assisted attorneys in busy family law firm; researched custody, alimony, child support and other domestic relations issues and wrote internal memoranda of law and blog items for firm website. Attended court hearings and participated in client interviews and office meetings

Extensive legal research and writing on a variety of employment and labor based issues including employee privacy rights, retirement benefits, and employee dismissal. Drafted internal memoranda of law, letters to clients and a brief in support of motion on the pleadings. Attended and participated in arbitration and proceeding before the Division of Labor Relations.

Researched and analyzed child welfare, delinquency, and child custody issues for six judges. Drafted findings of fact, court orders, and bench memoranda with recommendations for court actions on motions to vacate, motions to suppress evidence, and discovery matters. Observed delinquency, care and protection, and Child in Need of Services (CHINS) proceedings.

Wrote articles for local papers on topics such as current events in politics, life & style, entertainment, women’s issues. Publications include: Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Dorchester Reporter, Brockton Enterprise, and District Chronicles.

Provided high-level support to attorneys in this small firm specializing in immigration law. Drafted legal documents such as immigration forms and conducted legal research on immigration standards for permanent residency. Corresponded with clients, members of the legal community, and the general public on matters such as asylum, temporary visas and applying for permanent residency. Managed client files.

Wrote captions and sidebars for monthly city magazine. Assisted editors daily with production of the magazine. Responsible for the management of the front office.

Assisted sole practitioner in the drafting of a summary judgment appellate brief. Drafted pleadings, conflict-of-interest agreements, court filings and client correspondence.

Wrote news stories and briefs, edited articles, assisted editors with the daily process of updating website, posted discussion pieces and attached media files.

Researched and wrote bi-weekly articles for the national black wire service and its partner, the Howard University’s student-run website.

Researched and wrote a variety of news stories on educational issues such as the “No Child Left Behind” Act, school funding and desegregation.

Drafted site content and assisted in the development of search engine friendly sites for growing businesses by helping improve their site’s content level through research and innovation.