Client Successes

Catholic Charities Bureau of the Archdiocese of Boston

In the wake of the recent budget cutbacks at the Catholic Charities Bureau of the Archdiocese of Boston, our lawyers assisted in the creation of a public charity. The new nonprofit assumed the operations of a program that provides low-income women throughout the greater Boston area with substance abuse treatment in a transitional residence. It is the only such program in the state that accepts pregnant women or those with infants. Our representation included forming the corporation, providing advice on general corporate matters and obtaining tax-exempt status for the organization.

Protecting First Amendment Rights

We represented a professional clown in a First Amendment challenge to a Massachusetts town's street-performer bylaws. In connection with a series of negotiations with the town's counsel and police department, we participated in drafting proposed amended bylaws. The amended bylaws, among other things, protect a clown's First Amendment and due process rights to perform in a public forum without fear of government persecution.

Providing Safety from Inhumane Practices

Our lawyers helped a Guinean woman obtain political asylum after she fled a forced, abusive marriage—from which her government offered no protection. Once in the United States, our client received a letter from her father indicating that he would kill her if she returned to Guinea because she disgraced him by leaving the man to whom he "gave" her. Our client also feared that her father or forced-marriage husband would take her baby daughter from her in order to have female genital mutilation (FGM) performed. Our client has always opposed the practice, and had reason to fear it tremendously after her own sister died from infection following the procedure. The Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services approved our client's asylum petition, which we based on her opposition to FGM and forced marriage, and the lack of protection from these practices in Guinea.

Working Hand in Hand with State Leaders

Our lawyers assisted the Massachusetts attorney general in a lawsuit on behalf of a battered women's shelter sued by one of its clients for disability discrimination, race discrimination and violations of the public accommodations law. The case was settled just prior to trial and a final agreement was reached that achieved all of the shelter's settlement goals.
First Previous 1 Next Last