Akin Pro Bono

Hannes Sigurgeirsson and Joey Lee helped represent two young men from Afghanistan, R.J. and R.R., in their applications for asylum in the United States.?R.J. and R.R., who shared similar backgrounds as ethnic Hazaras, met at a US refugee camp and were then referred to the firm by the Jewish synagogue that was helping them in Boston.?After they were granted asylum in 2023, Hannes and Joey helped them apply for lawful permanent residency in the US; their green cards were granted last month. When they received the good news, R.J. shared this with the team: “I just wanted to take a moment to express my deepest gratitude for all the hard work, dedication, and effort you and your team put into my case. Thanks to your guidance and persistence, I finally received my green card, and I can’t tell you how much this means to me. This journey hasn’t been easy, but having a team like yours by my side made all the difference. Your professionalism, patience, and commitment were evident every step of the way, and I truly appreciate everything you did to help me reach this milestone… thank you from the bottom of my heart.” #ProBono #ThisWeekinProBono

M.S. is a Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq for 13 months in 2007-08, during which time he was promoted but also under constant stress that was difficult to manage. After leaving Iraq, a military psychiatrist diagnosed M.S. with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder resulting from his time deployed there. The PTSD caused M.S. to develop behavioral issues, including alcohol abuse, that ultimately led to M.S. being discharged with a characterization that made him ineligible for most VA services and carried with it harsh social stigma. ? The Veteran Advocacy Project (VAP) believed M.S. was eligible for a discharge characterization upgrade and referred his matter to Akin. Mike DiLernia, Fatima Bishtawi and Sarah Tinaphong were successful in getting M.S.’s records released and discovered that the psychiatrist who made the PTSD diagnosis had recommended that command take this diagnosis into consideration. But there was no evidence they had done so. Armed with this discovery, the team worked with Veteran Advocacy Project (VAP) to submit to the Naval Discharge Review Board a request for review of M.S.’s discharge characterization. With that request, they submitted briefing and a declaration from M.S., in addition to representing him at a hearing before the Review Board. ? Their advocacy was successful. The Review Board’s final decision wiped out the negative characterization that had estranged M.S. from the military community for more than 15 years. In its place, the Board entered a general discharge under honorable conditions, which provides M.S. access to nearly all VA benefits and resources, including health care. ? Mike had this to say about the outcome and sharing the good news with M.S., “We relayed this news to the client this past Monday. He was thrilled with the result and said to our team that the news of this upgrade was the best news he had received in a very, very long time. We learned, as we grew to know him, how important the Marine Corps was to his life, how much it meant to him to say he was a Marine, and how personally painful it was to him that his discharge stained the record of his service. A deep and abiding personal shame has been wiped away. Personally, I feel that the pride in his service that we have restored to him, and the restoration of his sense of self, is the great and enduring accomplishment of this representation—even more so than its legal effect, which is life-changing, of making nearly all of VA’s benefits available to him.” #ProBono #ThisWeekinProBono #Veterans

Congratulations to Ryan Fayhee for his appointment to the McCain Institute's John McCain Freedom for Political Prisoners Initiative (FPPI). Ryan serves as a member of our DC Pro Bono Committee and has established himself as the go-to pro bono advisor for families of Americans wrongfully detained overseas.

After nearly 900 days of unlawful detention by the Taliban, American citizen Ryan Corbett has returned to U.S. soil. At the time he was taken hostage, Corbett—who had worked in Afghanistan for more than a decade on various humanitarian projects—had returned to Afghanistan following the U.S. evacuation after being invited through official channels. In a statement announcing his release, Corbett’s family recognized the team who advocated for Corbett’s safe return including Ryan Fayhee, Ryan Anderson, Blair Austin Campion and John Babcock writing, “We would not be reunited with Ryan were it not for the counsel, support and countless hours you have invested in getting us to this day.” ? In total, 14 Akin attorneys, senior advisors and paralegals, led by Ryan Fayhee, supported the Corbett family and raised awareness of the case. Corbett’s long-awaited return to the U.S. was finalized during a series of negotiations unfolding over the course of the last days of the Biden administration, and in the first hours of the second Trump administration. ? “What has happened in the midst of a Presidential transition was an act borne out of courage and necessity,” Fayhee said in a statement following the prisoner swap that sent Corbett home but left others detained. “Ryan is finally free after nearly 900 days as a victim of hostage diplomacy.?While his family can cherish this hard and long fought triumph, we must all acknowledge the continued suffering of families like Ryan’s.?American citizens have been left behind in Afghanistan and now it is President Trump’s charge to bring them home and to establish and enforce effective deterrents to hostage-taking as a means of foreign policy.” #ProBono #ThisWeekinProBono

In 2024, over 625 Akin professionals earned a place on our Pro Bono Honor Roll by taking the time to make a difference in the lives of our pro bono clients. Our monthly Pro Bono Honor Roll celebrates attorneys, advisors and paralegals who recorded at least 20 hours of pro bono client time, as well as non-timekeepers who were nominated for their pro bono work. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the success of our pro bono practice in 2024 and to our legal aid partners who make this work possible. #ProBono #HonorRoll

Akin partner in charge of the Washington, D.C. office Anthony Pierce speaks with The New York Times, Axios and CBC about the firm’s years-long pro bono effort to help secure the posthumous pardon for civil rights activist Marcus Garvey following his 1923 conviction for mail fraud in a trial that was widely viewed as flawed.? Read more on the firm’s pro bono efforts here: https://lnkd.in/eYYrSVZE #AkinProBono #ProBono #Pardon??

After nearly 900 days of unlawful detainment by the Taliban, American citizen Ryan Corbett has returned to U.S. soil. In a statement announcing his release, Corbett’s family recognized an Akin team who advocated for Corbett’s safe return including attorneys Ryan Fayhee, Ryan Anderson, Blair Austin Campion and John Babcock writing, “We would not be reunited with Ryan were it not for the counsel, support and countless hours you have invested in getting us to this day.”?? Read the full extent of the firm’s pro bono efforts here: https://lnkd.in/ebARJN3B #AkinProBono #ProBono #NationalSecurity?

Pro bono work has given Akin tribal law and policy lawyer Katie Brossy the opportunity to help preserve history and ensure important stories are told. Through her pro bono efforts, four statues now stand in the U.S. Capitol, including one of Chief Standing Bear, a Ponca leader whose landmark court case affirmed that Native Americans are “persons” under the law. For Katie, this work is about preserving legacies for future generations. Scroll to learn more about how Katie’s pro bono work has made a lasting impact. To learn more about Akin’s pro bono practice, visit: https://bit.ly/40j3SQM #ProBono #TribalLaw

Akin is featured in The Texas Lawbook among the law firms in Texas helping those in need this holiday season through pro bono and public service initiatives. Highlighted in the story is the firm’s Dallas office women’s initiative for its participation in a thankfulness project to support Mosaic Family Services (pictured), and the firm’s Houston office for its participation in the Houston Young Lawyers Foundation’s (HYLF’s) Adopt-an-Angel program. Akin’s Dallas women’s initiative collected donations to purchase hygiene products to support Mosaic’s clients and assembled more than 120 care packages with toiletries, and donated over 6,400 diapers and many other household goods. Akin’s Houston office again participated in HYLF’s Adopt-an-Angel program, an annual gift drive that pairs donors with children (“angels”) who may not otherwise receive a gift this holiday season. This year, our Houston office adopted 50 angels to help fulfill their holiday wishes. Read more on Akin’s Texas #HolidayGiving here: https://lnkd.in/eiKAyGyR #ProBono #CommunitySupport

“Covering Their Tracks” was named Best Podcast (Non-Fiction) at the 2024 Rio Webfest Awards. The podcast, hosted by Tablet Studios, tells the story behind Akin’s pro bono work on behalf of Holocaust survivors in their pursuit of justice. This massive litigation and legislative advocacy pro bono effort, spanning over a decade and involving 50+ lawyers and advisors across offices and practice groups, culminated in US-French treaty establishing a $60+ million compensation fund for hundreds of Holocaust survivors and their family members. The five-part podcast series, featuring Kim Koopersmith, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (DC-PLP) and Raphael Prober (DC-LIT),?tells the story of Akin client Leo Bretholz who, at the age of 21, escaped from a moving train bound for Auschwitz in 1942. Leo would later testify in multiple Congressional and state legislative hearings. Listen to the five-part mini-series on Tablet Studios here: https://lnkd.in/e4stEcfp #ProBono #ThisWeekinProBono