Pro Bono Representation at Bond Hearings.

Judith Wood, executive director of the Human Rights Project, has been trying for years to get pro bono representation for immigration detainees in the Los Angeles area. Now such a project is set to start; detainees will soon be getting volunteer attorneys at bond hearings.

The Human Rights Project, in cooperation with O’Melveny & Myers and the Los Angeles County Bar Association, will train lawyers how to do bond hearings. Training will be held in Los Angeles. Both Assistant Chief Immigration Judge Fong, of Los Angeles, and Immigration Judge Laurent, of Lancaster, will participate in training.

O’Melveny and Myers’ Los Angeles office has enlisted several experts to compile a new training manual for lawyers in immigration bond hearings. The manual will be published in September 2009, and will be the textbook for volunteer lawyers willing to appear at bond hearings in the Los Angeles area.

On August 26, 2009, with these plans and resources already secure, Judy got pledges of full cooperation from the government side. She met with immigration judges, government attorneys and deportation officers at the Mira Loma Detention Facility in Lancaster, California. All participants at the meeting were very supportive of the project. The judges and deportation officers were all eager to share tips on how to handle bond requests in different cases.

The Lancaster court promised to provide a space for the pro bono attorneys to meet with clients. Any licensed lawyer with bar card and driver license can participate. Training will give lawyers ability to do initial screening (to determine whether detainee has any chance of bond) and the knowledge of how to prepare and conduct a bond hearing.

Pro Bono attorneys appearing for bond hearings will not be held responsible for subsequent hearings.