Ropes & Gray Attorneys Offer Free Legal Help at Airports in Boston, New York and San Francisco

In The News
February 3, 2017

Due to the immigration and travel restrictions resulting from a Jan. 27 White House executive order, a group of Ropes & Gray attorneys offered free immigration-related assistance to people in need this week at Boston’s Logan International Airport, New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, and San Francisco International Airport.

The volunteers were assembled by the firm’s Immigration Forum, a 355-member group of attorneys who are committed to working on pro bono asylum and other immigration and asylum cases. The firm’s efforts in response to the executive order are being led by appellate and Supreme Court partner Douglas Hallward-Driemeier (Washington, D.C.) and tax & benefits partner Jennifer Rikoski (Boston). Since the executive order was issued, Ropes & Gray attorneys have logged many hours tracking and summarizing the rapidly developing court cases in response to it around the country.

The Ropes & Gray volunteers at the airports held signs offering free legal help and spoke to family members waiting in the international flight arrivals halls, advising them of their right to an attorney should they or their families be held for questioning by U.S. law enforcement.

“There is no Ropes & Gray playbook or precedent for this type of work,” Ms. Rikoski told the group in Boston. “Our goal is to identify people in need and figure out a way to help them.”