Author: dbertaux

During my time at the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, I have learned a tremendous amount. I have expanded on my knowledge of the legal system, and have learned a great deal about myself and others. In working at the Bureau, I have interacted with many individuals, of varying backgrounds and in diverse situations. I have gained perspective on the realities faced by many of those who are in need of legal aid, and have realized just how significant the need for legal aid truly is. My firsthand experiences with our clients’ difficulties and frustrations has taught me how to be persistent, yet patient and kind while helping others.
Through conversing with and assisting student attorneys, I have gained valuable insight into the legal field and what law school entails. Ever since I was a little girl, I have always dreamed of attending law school and becoming a practicing attorney one day. Up until this summer, I had never really understood the significance of my childhood dream. My limited exposure to law and the legal profession created a vague and unclear understanding of what it meant to be a lawyer, and as a young undergraduate student, I had yet to figure out what it meant for myself. While I have always viewed law as an instrument, a catalyst for change, and a means to protect and improve the lives of others, my perspective was still limited. Through my work at HLAB, I have finally come to understand what it genuinely means to be a lawyer.
In many forms of media today, whether it be a movie or a classic television show, it can be observed that lawyers are commonly portrayed to be bossy, pushy, aggressive and elitist. Some of the most infamous stereotypes of lawyers suggest that they are power hungry emotionless beings who thrive on pointing fingers and arguing for argument’s sake. Despite these negative portrayals, I was fortunate enough to see the rare and scarcely highlighted attributes of a lawyer, the honest ones that media is not clever enough to feature. The Harvard Legal Aid Bureau displayed a very different image of a lawyer. At HLAB, our practicing student attorneys and attorneys engaged in law from a client-centered stand point. Quality legal representation is frequently a privilege, only accessible to those who are fortunate enough to afford it. At the bureau, individuals of all socioeconomic backgrounds were given access to quality legal representation. The organization presented legal services in a different light, one which assured that quality legal representation was accessible to all, and given in a manner which supported and empowered our clients.
I have assisted student attorneys with various tasks on numerous cases. I have seen clients go through the process at HLAB from start to finish; from seeking legal aid, to eventually going to trial and receiving a judgement or reaching a final agreement. Whether it is a mother regaining custody of her child, or a family who was about to be homeless regain tenancy, I have seen for myself how law can be used to change lives for the better.
My time at HLAB has highlighted my passion for pursuing a career in the legal field. It has confirmed my desire to go to law school and eventually pursue a profession in public interest law. Until I had first-hand experience with cases and clients, and had witnessed how lawyers can use law to change the lives of their clients, I had not understood the true potential or depth of law as a means for change. One day, I aspire to take an integral role in using law for such positive change.

Change: “to make or become different.” When we contemplate the meaning of change within a context of social justice, it broadens not only to making something different, but ideally improving or enhancing. However, change–the results of compounded efforts over time–does not imply universal progress; just as it can build, it can equally oppress and recede. Nevertheless, with an intention of betterment, change can be a sequence of positive events that occur as the result of structured and defined goals. Embodying this at the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, our ultimate goal is to provide free representation to low income and marginalized communities in the greater Boston area, responding in a way that addresses the poverty-inducing sins of systemic racial, social and economic inequalities.

I can recall a conversation I had the other day with a clinical instructor and director at the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau. We discussed her experiences working at HLAB, and some of the most significant injustices she’s witnessed at the courts during her time. One issue that stood out over others was the disparity of representation among tenants and landlords in the housing courts. While ninety-three percent of tenants are unrepresented during trials at the housing court, seventy percent of landlords are represented.

The other week, I was able to witness this great discrepancy firsthand. Assisting counsel members at the Edward W. Brooke Courthouse for an event known as “Attorney for the Day,” I helped direct and prepare unrepresented tenants for their court cases. In supplement to the assistance I was able to provide, I had the opportunity to sit in and observe ongoing cases in the courtrooms. The number of tenants who were unrepresented in court was overwhelming. As I sat on the bench in courtroom 12, alongside individuals who faced the very real possibility of being evicted or losing their homes, I could only imagine how daunting it would be to partake in a court case without legal guidance and representation. In observing these cases, the advantages that represented landlords had over their unrepresented tenants was extremely evident. Without proper legal guidance or representation in court, the justice system will always be skewed to favor the party who has the privilege of legal representation. In this, the systemic racial, social, and economic inequalities that poverty is the result of will only be preserved.

The nonprofit legal work that the Bureau and other organizations do is integral to activating and sustaining social change. Targeting our social justice issues at the roots of the problem, from a systemic legal standpoint, is crucial for change to occur. But how can we measure and quantify change? How can we be certain that the work we are doing is making an impact? At the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, a multitude of clients have walked through our doors in search of legal aid. While the outcomes of these cases differ notably from each other, if HLAB is able to provide representation, guidance or even support, I believe we are making progress towards change and a justice system that provides equal opportunities for all. Quality legal representation should not be a luxury afforded by only the privileged, but a service accessible to everyone. By exerting the mission of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, we will influence positive change and create a ripple effect; influencing continued efforts for change and ultimately a justice system that works equally for the justice of all.

Throughout my life, my mother always taught me that kindness is the most important thing. This principle was instilled in me at a very young age, and every day I try to live by it. Coming to Brandeis, I have realized that the social issues we face today cannot be solved by kindness alone. While being good natured is an important way to live life, the social justice issues we are confronted with today need to be met by our own awareness and willingness to initiate change.

During the first semester of my freshman year, I took the Immigrant Experience Practicum with Professor Marci McPhee. During Professor McPhee’s course, we were able to volunteer at various organizations in Waltham that work directly with the immigrant community. During class, we reflected on our experiences and discussed the difficulties this population faces such as misconceptions, stereotypes, and negative stigma surrounding immigrants.

For the duration of the course, I spent my time working at the Prospect Hill Community Center, an education-based after school center for children in the heart of Prospect Hill, the area with the largest immigrant population in Waltham. More often than not, English was the second language of many of the families at the center, and they struggled with the language barrier. Speaking little to no English, many of them faced significant difficulties navigating an unfamiliar education system. Not only was this challenging enough, these families often faced forms of discrimination and intimidation relating to their immigrant status. This intimidation and fear among members of the community was highlighted following the 2016 presidential election, when many children were absent from the center and school. We believed these absences were closely related to the fear surrounding their immigration status and Trump’s viewpoints on immigration.

At the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, I am able to observe similar situations with our clients and the court systems. The majority of our clients are immigrants and English is their second language. In particular, there are many housing cases involving discrimination and unfair treatment of tenants who are immigrants. In many of these cases, landlords attempt to take advantage of the language barrier present and benefit from their tenants’ lack of understanding. There have been multiple cases where landlords have used their tenants’ immigration status to intimidate them, threatening to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) if they are late paying rent. Other cases have involved landlords informing tenants that they will not be able to show up to court for their eviction hearing because if they do so, ICE will be waiting to detain them.

Consequently, this gives landlords a huge amount of leverage over their tenants who are immigrants and creates a significant power imbalance. Paired with the language barrier and intimidation, an immigrant trying to navigate an unfamiliar and complicated court system creates a very skewed justice system. Truly, it is not a justice system if the system is not working equally for all.  

If our office is ever split between electing cases, our organization will always attempt to represent the client with the lower proficiency in the English language, because we understand that they may be more susceptible to unfair processes and uncertainty.

Working at the Bureau, I am able to apply what I have learned during my time at Brandeis. I have the power to choose to not be complicit in the stigma society creates around immigrants, and when working with immigrants, to be aware of all subconscious biases society has instilled. As a member of the Brandeis community and a global citizen, I hope to use my awareness as a tool to educate, advocate for, and empower others. Fair doesn’t mean equal, and I am determined to use my awareness to work in opposition to some of the greatest social injustices of our time.

This summer, I have the great opportunity to intern at the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau in Cambridge, MA. Founded in 1913, the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau (HLAB) is the oldest student-run legal services program in the country. The Bureau is committed to responding to the legal needs of low-income and marginalized populations in the Greater Boston area. Providing free quality legal representation, their free legal services encompass varied areas of law including family law, housing law, wage and hour law, government benefits, and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status matters. As one of Harvard Law School’s clinical programs, the Bureau is comprised of eight clinical instructors and nearly fifty students. During the summer, the Bureau has a summer counsel consisting of twenty fellows who are all in their first or second year of law school. HLAB aims to train student attorneys who will advocate vigorously for their clients and respond to cases in a manner that addresses the systemic inequalities that are the causes of poverty. Through HLAB’s invaluable work, individuals in the Greater Boston community are able to access quality legal representation, regardless of their financial status.

As an intern at the Bureau, I have a variety of administrative responsibilities and tasks. I am responsible for answering all incoming calls and directing callers to their destinations, as well as sorting mail and recording correspondence. As a Spanish speaker, I am also called upon to assist in translating documents and interpreting phone calls and meetings with clients. Additionally, I assist counsel members in any legal research they may need for their cases, retrieve court records as needed, organize and file records, and enter record data into our database.

While it may appear to be a minor task, filing and entering record data is instrumental to keeping the Bureau running smoothly. As graduating students transfer cases, it is integral that the next student attorney assigned to the case is able to understand all parts of the case so that they may advocate for their client to the best of their ability. Filing is a large part of my role at the Bureau, and I am currently undertaking a sizable filing project. This entails sorting through case files and checking to see that all necessary documents are in place, inputting them into our database, and finally filing them in our deposition room.

While several of my duties at the Bureau are administrative, by working closely with summer counsel members, I am gaining great insight into what it truly entails to be a lawyer and a student in law school. It has been fascinating to learn from my exposure to legal documents and other components of casework. As a student who is interested in immigration law, it has been the most interesting by far to see supporting documents sent from the Department of Justice on behalf of clients for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status matters.

By performing various tasks and administrative duties, I work to support the Bureau and assure that our organization runs with ease. Working to ensure that the logistics of the organization are well maintained, the Bureau is able to run efficiently and fulfill its mission. Through supporting marginalized populations of the Greater Boston area by providing free legal representation, the inequalities among these populations will be reduced drastically. If we can address these cases from a systemic viewpoint, we can begin to understand the systemic inequalities that drive the legal needs of these populations and perpetuate poverty, and we can ultimately work to create lasting and effective change.

Danielle Bertaux ’20