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Volunteer attorneys are the cornerstone of inMotion’s work
Last year, inMotion’s panel of volunteers donated 65,000 hours valued at over $18 million. The vast majority of this time was donated by attorneys providing pro bono representation for our clients in matrimonial, family and immigration law matters.
Lawyers also donate their time to staff our walk-in clinics, providing legal advice and assisting with client intake. Attorneys with significant experience in our three practice areas can volunteer to mentor other attorneys or assist with our CLE trainings.
Different career paths and goals—attorneys who volunteer with inMotion come to us from different workplaces and have a variety of backgrounds:
- Partners, counsels and associates at major corporate law firms, with offices typically located in Manhattan
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- Lawyers at small firms and solo practitioners, with offices located throughout the five boroughs and the surrounding metropolitan area
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- Attorneys who have retired or whose legal careers are in transition (e.g., returning to work after taking time off to raise a family)—typically these attorneys work from inMotion’s Manhattan or Bronx offices as in-house volunteers
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Regardless of where you may be in your legal career—a first-year associate at a major firm, or starting a private practice later in life—inMotion offers volunteering options that can fit your career and personal objectives:
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- Pro bono representation—matrimonial and family law matters in Supreme and Family Courts (litigated and non-litigated cases), and Violence Against Women Act immigration petitions, processed through the bureau of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. Learn more
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- Mentoring and training—practitioners experienced in matrimonial, family or immigration law serve as mentors to volunteers who are representing inMotion clients and as presenters or panelists in our CLE training program. Learn more
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Pro bono representation
We offer intensive training programs and mentoring for our pro bono volunteers
InMotion supports attorneys who provide pro bono legal representation through a program of free CLE-accredited trainings and intensive mentoring. Our trainings focus on the impact of domestic violence on the lives of survivors and the challenges faced by immigrants. Our experienced back-up for volunteer lawyers increases their sense of confidence and personal satisfaction and enhances their successes for clients.
Social work services are available for clients receiving direct representation by our volunteer attorneys
During the course of your pro bono case, you may discover that your client is dealing with difficult and challenging non-legal issues, such as finding safe and affordable housing or accessing important financial and health benefits. Many clients also need help coping with mental health issues. Our social work support reduces the amount of time and energy attorneys need to devote to helping their clients deal with issues and situations that are not the directly involved in their legal cases.
InMotion offers a diverse range of cases and pro bono experiences tailored to suit your needs
Tell us what type of case you are most interested in handling and the time you are able to commit and we will find a case that best suits your needs and the type of experience you are seeking.
Hands-on litigation and courtroom experience
Lawyers interested in developing courtroom skills can represent individual inMotion clients in litigated matters. You may choose to take a divorce involving financial or child-related issues in Supreme Court or an order of protection, custody/visitation or child or spousal support matter in Family Court. Learn more.
Prefer not to litigate?
Lawyers who do not seek adversarial court experiences can assist inMotion clients with uncontested divorces and immigration petitions for domestic violence survivors seeking legal residency in the United States.
Special need for bilingual attorneys
Lawyers fluent in languages other than English and familiar with one of the many immigrant communities in New York City can provide culturally sensitive representation to women who cannot communicate their legal needs to the courts in English. Spanish-fluency is particularly valuable, as more than 50% of clients are Latina.
Your commitment
When you take a case, you will become the lawyer of record for your inMotion client. However, inMotion serves as the attorney of record for cases handled by volunteer attorneys working in our offices. Because our legal staff is small and our roster of on-going cases is large and constantly expanding, inMotion does not offer a co-counsel relationship nor the possibility of second-seating our volunteer attorneys in court.
- Your time commitment—Using the past experiences of our pro bono attorneys as a guide, inMotion can estimate how long (number of total hours as well as the period of months or years) each case is likely to require. We will discuss with you the situations facing individual women whose cases are on our waiting list, so that you are in a position to judge the anticipated demands of their cases.
However, given the range of factors outside of your and our control, we cannot guarantee that what begins as a simple or single-issue case might not develop complexities that need much more time to resolve.
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- Pair up with a colleague—InMotion encourages volunteer attorneys at corporate firms to pair up, knowing that the demands of your non-pro bono work may be unpredictable. It is essential that your client is represented by knowledgeable counsel at each scheduled court date.
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- Retainer—You and your client will discuss and enter into a written retainer agreement that defines clearly the extent of your professional commitment to her.
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What you gain
You will enjoy the satisfaction of assisting your client in obtaining a life-altering legal outcome benefiting her and her loved ones. Corporate attorneys especially value this chance to help an individual human being instead of the impersonal institutions they more usually represent.
Equally important, you will become a better lawyer while familiarizing yourself with a new area of law and practice. Solo and small firm practitioners can immediately transfer the skills learned in handling our pro bono cases to developing their practices for paying clients.
Enhance your professional skills
InMotion cases give lawyers at an early stage in their legal careers professional experiences they seek, which may include:
- Client interviewing and document drafting
- Discovery and motion practice
- Adversarial hearings requiring witness preparation and delivery of oral arguments
- Direct and cross examinations of witnesses and, in rare cases, full trials
Satisfy CLE requirements
Your work for inMotion clients allows you to meet your professional obligation to provide pro bono assistance to those who cannot afford counsel. Attendance at our trainings counts toward your mandatory CLE requirements. We also provide pro bono CLE credits for providing an inMotion client with direct legal representation.
Learn more about our free CLE training programs.
Meet a few of our attorney volunteers and learn about the life-changing legal outcomes they have won on behalf of inMotion clients.
For more information, contact:
volunteer@inmotiononline.org
646.442.1178
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Mentoring and training
Become a mentor to our volunteer attorneys
If you are an experienced practitioner in matrimonial, family or immigration law, you can volunteer to mentor one or more pro bono attorneys who are representing inMotion clients. You can also become a presenter or panelist in inMotion’s CLE training program.
Share your time and expertise
Mentors must make themselves readily available to the volunteer lawyers they offer to assist. We ask them to discuss in advance the best times and ways in which they can be reached and the timeframe in which they will be able to respond to questions.
You can also tell us whether you are willing to review drafts of documents and provide coaching on negotiation, discovery and trial preparation strategies to our volunteer lawyers.
InMotion’s legal services director will meet with you in advance of any mentoring assignment to answer all questions about how our pro bono program is conducted and the amount and extent of assistance you wish to provide.
Help train volunteer attorneys to represent women in domestic crisis in our City’s courts
Our CLE trainings are scheduled throughout the year during the work week. The evening sessions are held at Manhattan-based law firms or the Bronx Supreme Court. Most of our trainings are led by two presenters, one of whom, typically, is an inMotion staff attorney.
What you gain
Our mentors and trainers tell us that it gives them great satisfaction to teach their craft. This is your opportunity to share experiences and insights gained over the years with newer members of your profession. In addition, this may be the best way in which you can support pro bono services to needy women and families.
For more information, contact:
volunteer@inmotiononline.org
646.442.1178
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