Sabrina Surgil
Without a doubt, my pro bono experiences at UVA have been the most consequential part of law school for me. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to jump right into pro bono work from the second week of 1L, when I began volunteering with African Services Committee, an immigration legal aid organization based out of New York City. In between the monotony of doctrinal courses like Civil Procedure and Contracts, I manned ASC’s immigration hotline and supported attorneys on affirmative asylum applications, deepening my dedication to public interest law through direct client service. I was able to volunteer with ASC from August through May, which enabled me to cultivate and develop meaningful relationships with my clients to better support their asylum cases. (And since my clients were French speakers, I could finally put my undergraduate degree in French and francophone studies to use!)
Beyond ASC, I also joined a Virginia Innocence Project Student Group case, and I filed a few adjustment of status applications for resettled refugee families with the Charlottesville office of the International Rescue Committee. At first, I worried that the time I spent doing pro bono would distract from my coursework, but I quickly realized that these substantive experiences were what gave my semesters meaning — and they also helped me engage with my classes in a way that I might have struggled with otherwise. Pro bono is an important reminder that the law is more than a pile of court decisions and legal theories; it is not created in a vacuum, and it affects — and often harms — real people in tangible ways. Whether with ASC, the Innocence Project or the International Rescue Committee, pro bono work has shaped my critical lens for viewing and engaging with the law. I am now committed, more than ever, to building a career in client-centered advocacy and movement lawyering, and I thank these pro bono projects for pushing me in this direction.