Amicus Mundi: The Law Student Increasing College Access

Every month, we give the Amicus Mundi Award to someone in our community who exemplifies our shared values of service and volunteerism. In celebration of our law school graduates this May, we are honoring a remarkable volunteer who has not only made a significant impact — but did it while still in law school.

Join us in congratulating our first law student Amicus Mundi winner:

Congratulations, Nnamdi Nwaezeapu!

An example for his siblings: During his 3L year at Columbia, Nnamdi’s pro bono advisor introduced him to We The Action where he found a project with The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) that met his volunteer requirements and perfectly suited his interests.

  • Born and raised in Washington, DC, Nnamdi is passionate about education access. While in high school, he benefited from programs aimed to help students attend college. He was the first of his siblings to go to college, and wanted to set a good example for his family.

  • “TICAS is working to make higher education accessible for students, and I wanted to be part of that,” Nnamdi says.

Nnamdi’s impact: Nnamdi revamped the contract process for TICAS, building templates that they can use to negotiate vendor contracts to save time and maximize impact.

  • He also researched California legislation which directly affects TICAS' payroll, vendors, and contracts. The guide that he wrote will help ensure that TICAS remains compliant with California law.

  • Ana Oseguera, Associate Director of Operations at TICAS, emphasized the importance of Nnamdi’s work, saying that Nnamdi made the organization feel more comfortable now that they have better contract wording and an understanding of the new laws. 

  • “If we didn’t have a volunteer, we would’ve had to hire a lawyer which is really expensive for us,” Ana says. “We were happy to give a student this learning experience. We work to advocate for students, so it was great for us to be able to make that connection.”

Volunteering as a student: Nnamdi acknowledged that law school is very challenging, and it’s often hard to see how what is taught will be useful in the real world. 

  • “When you volunteer for organizations like WTA and TICAS, you get to put your lessons to work and it makes the law school experience come alive,” Nnamdi says. “If you want to make law school enjoyable, volunteer. I got to do something that touched my interests in transactional law but suited my interest in helping students get into college. There is no shortage of opportunity.”

  • We’re eager to continue working with Nnamdi after he is admitted to the bar!  


Congratulations to all 2023 law school graduates, and a huge thank you to Nnamdi Nwaezeapu for all of his hard work! If you want to follow in Nnamdi’s footsteps and volunteer, check out WTA’s project listings.

Legal Nonprofit We The Action Named “World-Changing Idea” by Fast Company

The tech and innovation magazine named We The Action a finalist in the Software category and Honorable Mention in the Social Justice category of their 2023 World Changing Ideas Awards.

Washington, D.C. — Today, legal nonprofit We The Action was named a “World Changing Idea” by leading technology and innovation magazine Fast Company. As part of Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Award, We The Action was named an award finalist in the Software category and honorable mention in the Social Justice category.

Using its state-of-the-art digital platform, WeTheAction.org, We The Action recruits and mobilizes lawyers from across the country to use their legal expertise to strengthen democracy, support immigrant communities, advance gender equity and racial justice, and more. To date, We The Action’s community of 45,000+ volunteer lawyers from all 50 states has donated 275,000+ hours in legal services worth more than $115 million to 550+ nonprofit organizations nationwide.

“At We The Action, we leverage technology to channel the passion of lawyers to build a more just and equitable nation,” says Anna Chu, Executive Director of We The Action. “Since our launch, our lawyers have been on the front lines of the most pressing issues facing the country, donating their time and expertise to be agents of change and fight for the causes they believe in  — but we’re not slowing down. Whether we’re protecting the vote in the 2024 elections, helping reunite immigrant families separated at the border, or defending reproductive freedom, our community of volunteer lawyers are ready to ensure that everyone — regardless of their race, income, ZIP code, or any other factor — can have access to justice.”

Since its inception, We The Action has worked with Able, a product design studio dedicated to helping ambitious founders build technology. In 2022, when faced with numerous national crises, Able and We The Action worked to push the boundaries of innovation and enhance the platform's capabilities. Through this collaboration, they were able to facilitate faster and more impactful responses to urgent national issues, at an unprecedented scale, unlocking the power of network effect, and speed of mobilization.

“I’m tremendously proud of the work that we’ve done with We the Action over the last six years,” said Andy McKinney, CEO of Able. “All of us at Able are committed to building products that create impact, and this acknowledgment by FastCo is evidence of what we’ve accomplished together.”

For the last five years, We The Action has used its custom platform to recruit volunteer lawyers to strengthen democracy and advance access to justice, helping low-income people, communities of color, immigrant communities, and other traditionally marginalized groups to access the resources and support they need to seek justice for their grievances. For instance:

  • A strong democracy requires that everyone have the ability to make their voice heard at every level of government. That’s why 3,500 volunteer lawyers donated more than 45,000 hours to 36 organizations to make the 2022 midterm elections safe, secure, and accessible for every voter.

  • Reproductive freedom is under attack in Congress and statehouses nationwide, and lawyers play a critical role in defending this human right. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s devastating decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, 220 lawyers volunteered to help abortion providers expand or modify services, track abortion-related bills, serve as legal observers at protests, and more.

  • The American immigration system is nearly impossible to navigate for our immigrant neighbors who live in fear of deportation — or worse. That’s why We The Action partnered with a coalition led by the law firm Akin Gump to mobilize 150 lawyers who donated more than 3,000 hours to help nearly 3,000 migrants prepare for interviews with the government.

  • In 2022, 4.6 million people were denied the right to vote due to a previous felony conviction. Lawyers play a critical role in reenfranchising returning citizens and protecting voting rights. Since 2020, 500 We The Action volunteers have partnered with the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition — a Nobel Prize nominee — to research over 15,000 cases for Floridians with previous felony convictions to help them navigate the labyrinth of red tape and fees to regain their voting rights.

  • Systemic racism permeates every level of the American legal system and We The Action lawyers are committed to breaking down barriers that disproportionately harm communities of color. For instance, one We The Action volunteer lawyer donated hundreds of hours to help a DC-based nonprofit successfully challenge the “Clean Hands Law,” an unfair fines and fees policy policy that exacerbates racial inequalities in a city where the median net worth of a white household is 81 times higher than the median net worth of a Black household.

Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Awards honors sustainable designs, innovative products, bold social initiatives, and other creative projects that are changing the way we work, live, and interact with the world. This year’s awards showcase 45 winners, 216 finalists, and more than 300 honorable mentions—with health, climate, energy, and AI among the most popular categories. A panel of Fast Company editors and reporters selected winners and finalists from a pool of more than 2,200 entries across urban design, education, nature, politics, technology, corporate social responsibility, and more. Several new categories were added this year including rapid response, crypto and blockchain, agriculture, and workplace. The 2023 awards feature entries from across the globe, from Italy to Singapore to New Zealand.

Amicus Mundi: The Lawyer Strengthening Survivors' Rights

Every month, we give our Amicus Mundi Award to a volunteer who has gone above and beyond in their work with one of our community partners. This month, we are honoring an attorney helping protect the rights of millions of sexual assault survivors.

Join us in congratulating Chuck MacLean!

Our honoree: Since 2021, Professor Chuck MacLean has volunteered with Rise, a national organization working to expand the rights of survivors of sexual assault. 

  • Rise was instrumental in passing the Survivor Bill of Rights, a landmark piece of legislation expanding the rights of survivors, unanimously through the U.S. Congress in 2016. Since then, they have worked with volunteers like Chuck to pass state-level Survivor Bills of Rights across all 50 states.

  • “Chuck has helped multiple state organizers map out the current ‘legislative landscape’ to understand the statutes already in place and identify gaps where changes are needed to strengthen laws for survivors' rights,” says Caitlin Ryan, Chief Strategy Officer at Rise. “This is an essential part of our organizing process and enables our work to pass laws. We wish there were more lawyers out there like Chuck!"

“Multiplied our impact”: As a longtime educator, Chuck has brought his volunteer work to the classroom. He teaches future law enforcement professionals at both Metro State University in Minnesota and University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, with a curriculum that emphasizes the importance of maximizing procedural justice. 

  • Chuck believes that having his students help with this research gives them an opportunity to have an impact on the issues they will likely deal with in their professions and better prepares students to become ethical criminal justice professionals. 

  • “It is so much easier to engage students on real issues instead of case studies and make believe,” Chuck says. “By working on Rise projects with students, we were able to give them experience and we multiplied our impact.”

  • And Chuck notes an additional win-win for this volunteer partnership. “Real research that might help real people – that’s a lesson that they’ll never forget,” he says. “For some students, it will drive them to public service and to take on tough tasks.”

Building a more just system: Because the legal system has so many protections for the rights of the accused, Chuck emphasizes the importance of building a more just system of protections for victims. 

  • “We have to identify shortcomings and be creative, insightful, and involve critical thinking to improve every corner of criminal justice so we’re not the sad story from the past,” he says. “With evolution and revolution, we have to work to better this.”

  • Because of the work of Chuck and his students, Rise is a major step closer to strengthening the rights of survivors in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

On volunteering: Throughout his long and varied career, Chuck has been committed to volunteerism, and has found volunteer opportunities through WTA in his main interest areas – voting, elections, and sexual assault.

  • “We The Action and Rise make it so simple,” Chuck says. “The project’s are clearly focused, the timing and deliverables are known, and it’s really manageable. Plus, it's its own reward.”

“I would volunteer on ten times the projects that I do now if I had the time,” Chuck says. Follow Chuck’s lead and sign up for a project here.

Congratulations to Chuck MacLean and a special thanks to his students for their hard work and profound impact.

#NationalVolunteerMonth2023: Happy National Volunteer Week!

Happy National Volunteer Week! This week recognizes the impact of volunteer service and the power of volunteers to tackle society’s greatest challenges. While we celebrate volunteers like you all year, we wanted to take this opportunity to share some of the ways lawyers like you have recently made a difference:

Four Ways Lawyers Like You Are Making a Difference (and Still Can!)

1. Strengthening Democracy (With a Nobel Peace Prize Nominee!)
A strong democracy requires everyone having the ability to participate and have their voice heard at every level of government. That’s why in 2020, We The Action launched a partnership with the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition to help people with previous felony convictions  — also known as returning citizens — restore their right to vote. Since then, 500 WTA volunteers from 26 states have researched over 15,000 cases for Floridians to help them navigate the labyrinth of red tape and fees to regain their voting rights. If you want to get involved in this effort, FRRC — who has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize! — has a project for lawyers who are barred in Florida and another project for lawyers not barred in Florida.

Nearly 300 We The Action lawyers have also donated more than 1,000 hours to help the Democracy Capacity Project develop state resource guides supporting grassroots organizations working on democracy-enhancing civic engagement and civil rights projects. They’re currently recruiting lawyers barred in any state for two new projects: one to help organizations understand laws surrounding absentee ballots, and one to help organizations understand ballot measures.

2. Advocating for Racial Justice
Systemic racism permeates every level of the American legal system and We The Action lawyers are committed to breaking down barriers that disproportionately harm communities of color wherever they exist. For instance, Jeff Nesvet, a retired lawyer and We The Action volunteer with 50 years experience, helped a DC-based nonprofit successfully challenge the “Clean Hands Law,” a DC policy that exacerbates racial inequalities in a city where the median net worth of a white household is 81 times higher than the median net worth of a Black household. Jeff was also featured in Law360 discussing his work to help overturn the Clean Hands Law. 

3. Fighting for Reproductive Rights & Gender Equity
In Congress and in statehouses across the country, reproductive freedom is under attack and lawyers play a critical role in the fight to defend the fundamental right of reproductive choice. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s devastating ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, 160 We The Action volunteers are still fighting alongside four key partners to protect reproductive rights. Last year, we highlighted Rachel Spitz, a volunteer lawyer who “had a direct impact on an abortion provider’s ability to stay open and continue providing abortion care in Georgia,” according to Regulatory Assistance for Abortion Providers, the organization who sponsored the project.

4. Supporting Immigrant Communities
The American immigration system is a labyrinth of red tape that is nearly impossible to navigate for our immigrant neighbors living in fear of deportation — or worse. That’s why 82 We The Action lawyers have already signed up this year to provide immigration legal services by representing unaccompanied immigrant and refugee children, translating legal documents so survivors of human trafficking can apply for immigration benefits, conducting research to support immigration cases for Afghan refugees, and more.

Browse the 30 immigration projects currently looking for lawyers!

Need Some Inspiration? Read About Some Amicus Mundi Award Winners from the Past Year!

From all of us at We The Action, happy National Volunteer Week and thank you for your commitment to volunteerism.

Amicus Mundi: The Lawyer Sharing Hope in an Email

Every month, we give the Amicus Mundi Award to a lawyer in our community that goes above and beyond in their work on today’s most pressing issues.

In recognition of National Sexual Assault Awareness Month, We The Action is honored to announce Katy Yang as our next Amicus Mundi Award winner. Katy was nominated by WomensLaw for staffing a domestic violence email hotline and providing legal information and hope to survivors.

Join us in congratulating Katy!

How it started: Katy was inspired to begin volunteering with WomensLaw after reading about the impact of a previous Amicus Mundi winner. When Katy found this project, she had recently stepped away from corporate law and was looking for opportunities to focus on projects that aligned with her values.

  • Katy had worked with domestic violence survivors during law school and in previous pro bono matters, so this flexible, ongoing project felt like the perfect fit to continue supporting a community that she cares about.

Giving hope: WomensLaw provides an email hotline to support survivors by helping protect them from domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking or overcome the effects of abuse. Every correspondence is guaranteed to be reviewed by an attorney, so the volunteers are very important.

  • Once a week, Katy sits down to complete her correspondence on the hotline.

  • It takes Katy about an hour to review the intake email, identify the relevant issues, search through WomensLaw’s extensive resource banks and craft a clear and comprehensive response addressing the survivor’s specific questions and related issues that they may not have considered. Since October, she has supported more than two dozen survivors in need.

  • “This opportunity seemed really perfect to reconnect with the reason I wanted to become a lawyer,” Katy says. “I was also looking for autonomy over my schedule so it was important to me that I could structure this project in a way that fit into my week."

The Impact of WomensLaw: In the past 12 months, WomensLaw has helped nearly 4,000 people via their email hotline. Because so many people need assistance, maintaining capacity is key to the mission and success of the hotline.

  • “The volunteers we have on our email hotline are a crucial part of our organization,” says Angelina Fryer, senior staff attorney at WomensLaw. “Volunteers like Katy make it so the hotline can stay open and we can help more people.”

  • Katy was nominated for being the type of volunteer every organization loves — reliable, easy to communicate with, and trustworthy.

How to Help: WomensLaw will host trainings later this year, so be on the lookout this summer for announcements. You can also find projects focusing on women’s rights, domestic violence, and sexual assault & harrassment at the link here.

  • As lawyers, we really are in a privileged position, and I believe it is our duty to share that with folks who could benefit from it and don’t have access to the resources we do,” Katy says.

Once again, congratulations Katy, and thank you for all that you do!

Amicus Mundi: The Lawyers Fighting for Representation in Government

Every month, we give the Amicus Mundi Award to an outstanding lawyer in our community who has donated their time and expertise to a cause they believe in.

We’re changing things up a little bit this month, and giving the award to two lawyers who’ve been friends for 20 years and teamed up to help increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in the federal government:

The Big Picture: Friends for more than 20 years, lawyers Susan and Stephanie helped engage lawmakers and policy experts to pass a federal law expanding the availability of the Plum Book, a key document for ensuring inclusive hiring practices across high-level positions in the federal government.

  • Though a relatively unknown document, advocates say that reforming the Plum Book, which lists more than 9,000 appointed leadership positions in the federal government, could be key to expanding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the federal government.

Increasing accountability and transparency: In the past the Plum Book was only published every four years — at the end of presidential administration — but under the PLUM Act, it will now be published every year.

  • “It’s impossible to hold any administration accountable when we only get this information once the administration is over,” says Mark Hanis, cofounder of Inclusive America, who sponsored the project. “If we want more equitable policies from our government, we need to have more diversity at the table where decisions are made.”

A chance to reconnect: A lawyer living in North Carolina, Susan says she often struggled to find engaging pro bono opportunities. But after finding Inclusive America’s project posting on We The Action, she saw an opportunity to work alongside her friend Stephanie.

  • “I like to use my skill set where I can contribute most,” Susan says. “So I volunteered on this project for myself originally, but then I realized it was also a good fit for Stephanie.”

  • Stephanie says she had no legislative pro bono experience, but jumped at the chance to break down barriers between underrepresented communities and leadership positions.

  • “You can’t dream about a job if you don’t even know it exists,” Stephanie says. “This was such a basic, simple fix that allows for greater public access to positions of power. It seemed like a big deal to me.”

A government that looks like our people: Inclusive America says their goal is to “make our government look like our people” by using data analysis, cultivation of qualified candidates from underrepresented communities, and urging governments and candidates for office to make structural changes to hiring practices.

  • Since 2021, Susan and Stephanie donated more than 100 hours to Inclusive America. Their volunteer work included conducting legal research, talking with Congressional staff, drafting language suggestions, engaging with partner organizations, and advising on strategy — all of which ended with President Biden signing the PLUM Act into law in January.

You can get involved too: These two lawyers highlight two different, equally impactful approaches to pro bono work: Susan volunteered on a project in an area where she already had experience and felt she could make a difference, while Stephanie jumped into a new subject area because she wanted the experience.

  • “I like to open more doors for myself and others than I close,” Stephanie says. “So I didn’t have any legislative experience, but when Susan called about this project I decided to say yes!”

  • Susan agrees, and encourages lawyers to use pro bono volunteering as a way to branch out from your day-to-day experience.

Do you have a friend you want to volunteer with this year? Forward this story to them and browse our 100+ projects together. As Susan says, “get out there and try something that looks interesting!”

#BlackHistoryMonth 2023: Honoring the Legacy of Black Lawyers in American History

February is Black History Month, a time to celebrate the achievements & history of Black communities in the U.S. While We The Action is dedicated year round to advancing racial justice and equity, we took this opportunity to highlight the legacy and impact that Black lawyers have had on our country and our profession.

This year, We The Action honored 21 of the most influential Black lawyers in our country's history. You can read more about these leaders and their impact on our nation below:

Amicus Mundi: The Lawyer Challenging Racial Inequalities

Every month, we give the Amicus Mundi Award to an outstanding lawyer in our community who exemplifies our shared values of service and dedication to building a more just and equitable society. This month, we’re celebrating a retired lawyer who helped overturn a DC law that was disproportionately harming low income communities and communities of color.

If this story inspires you as much as it does us, We The Action currently has more than 120 projects looking for volunteer lawyers of all experience levels, expertises, and availabilities!

Congratulations, Jeff Nesvet!

The big picture: A retired lawyer with more than 50 years of experience — including more than 40 in the federal government — Jeff has volunteered since 2019 to help overturn a DC law that disproportionately harmed low income residents and communities of color…and they won the case!

  • Jeff helped successfully challenge the “Clean Hands Law,” a DC policy that exacerbates racial inequalities. Under this law, anyone who owes more than $100 in unpaid fines or fees of any kind to the District of Columbia Government is barred from applying for a new or renewed driver's license until all fines are paid, regardless of their ability to pay.

Compelled to help: Since starting his career in the 1970s, Jeff says he felt called to use his legal expertise to advance the public good and even worked on various public interest projects before beginning his career in the government.

  • “People with a career in the federal government always talk about what they’re going to do when they retire,” Jeff says. “I always said I would go back to doing public interest work.”

Fighting an unjust law: In a jurisdiction where the median net worth of a white household is 81 times higher than the median net worth of a Black household, the Clean Hands Law deeply impacted DC’s communities of color.

  • That's why Jeff used We The Action to connect with Tzedek DC, a DC-based nonprofit with the mission of safeguarding the legal rights and financial health of DC residents with lower incomes who are dealing with often unjust, abusive, and illegal debt collection practices.

  • “Jeff's work over parts of the last four years has been integral to our analysis of why the law is unconstitutional and harms DC residents with low incomes, and what can be done about it.” says Ariel Levinson-Waldman, Tzedek DC’s Founding Director. 

A hard fought victory: Jeff says he helped with a two-pronged approach to overturning the Clean Hands Laws: convincing the DC Council (which has state and municipal-level authority) to overturn the law and, if that effort failed, having filings ready to urge the courts to overturn the law.

  • In July of 2022 — after years of effort —  the DC Council finally passed a law removing drivers licenses from the Clean Hands Law. And a few weeks ago, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction halting the enforcement of the Clean Hands Law until its repeal becomes official in October 2023.

  • The Court found that “tens of thousands of DC residents …have been barred from receiving driver’s licenses under the Clean Hands Law”  and noted that “ending the application of the Clean Hands Law to driver’s licenses will likely improve… [the] quality of life outcomes for Black residents who have a debt to the District government." They continued to say that overturning the Clean Hands Law will “mitigate the burden on D.C. residents with disabilities, those who lack stable housing, and those who are struggling to maintain steady employment.”

  • “It was a long process, but I couldn’t be more pleased with the results,” Jeff says. “The number of people in DC who will benefit will be really significant.”

You can help too: Though Jeff’s project took years to complete, he emphasizes that lawyers can also make a difference by signing up for shorter projects to help organizations solve smaller challenges.

On behalf of 45,000+ volunteer lawyers: Thank you, Jeff!

Is your resolution to donate more time fighting for causes you believe in? Sign up for one of the more than 120 projects looking for volunteer lawyers!

Protecting Voting Rights & Furthering Democracy

From protecting the 2022 midterm elections to empowering communities to engage with their elected officials, this was a banner year for We The Action’s democracy work. In all, 3,500 volunteer lawyers donated more than 45,000 hours to 36 organizations working to make the midterm elections safe, secure, and accessible for every voter.

For instance:

  • In 2018, We The Action partnered with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law to build the technology to support Election Protection — the largest nonpartisan voter protection campaign in the country. In 2022 alone, We The Action lawyers staffed 10,445 shifts on the 866-OUR-VOTE hotline and answered questions from nearly 40,000 voters.

  • Coordinated efforts to undermine election officials were all too common in the midterm elections, and 60 We The Action lawyers volunteered with the Election Official Legal Defense Network to help election officials navigate a deluge of open records requests and comply with open records laws while ensuring the elections continued to run smoothly.

  • With one in six election officials facing threats as they worked to ensure a safe and secure election, We The Action partnered with the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law to find lawyers to represent election officials. For instance, a We The Action volunteer represented an Iowa election official following harassment stemming from the 2020 elections.

  • With state voting laws changing across the country, 70 We The Action lawyers helped Rock the Vote turn complicated local voting laws into easy-to-understand voter guides to help empower young voters.

  • State laws vary greatly across the U.S. and can be difficult for small nonprofits to understand, so 200 We The Action lawyers worked with the Democracy Capacity Project to create 19 state guides to empower nonprofit organizations to design and run civic engagement, democracy support, and Get Out the Vote programs.

  • Given the complexity of state election laws, We The Action lawyers volunteered with When We All Vote to compile research on voter registration, ballot return policies, residency requirements, and more to inform voter outreach strategy for Civic Nation initiatives including When We All Vote, United State of Women, and All In Campus Democracy Challenge. 

  • We The Action partnered with Common Cause to expand our on-the-ground voter protection efforts, recruiting lawyers to serve as poll monitors and workers, solve problems at polling locations in real time, and work on time sensitive litigation and/or petitions as needed. From the start of early voting through the Senate runoff elections, We The Action lawyers were on the ground in 16 states.

  • After the polls closed on Election Day in the extremely close Georgia Senate race, We The Action lawyers flocked to sign up with All Voting Is Local to observe the statewide risk-limiting audit to help verify the fairness and accuracy of the vote audit.

  • For the second election cycle in a row, We The Action lawyers helped the Fair Elections Center update and confirm poll worker recruitment information for thousands of election jurisdictions. This work supports the massive national Power the Polls recruitment effort, of which We The Action is a coalition partner.

  • Amid reports of voter intimidation during highly competitive Senate and gubernatorial elections, We The Action lawyers volunteered with the Arizona Democracy Resource Center to answer voter questions via a statewide hotline and serve as point people in specific counties to troubleshoot issues and escalate more serious concerns.

Spotlight on: Democracy Capacity Project

State laws vary considerably across the U.S., but they regulate much of the work that nonprofit organizations do to promote civic engagement and a healthy democracy, like running voter registration drives, assisting voters with applying for a vote by mail ballot, organizing GOTV programs, and much more. This labyrinth of local laws can often discourage a nonprofit from doing election-related work — or stop them from participating altogether.

That’s why 200 We The Action lawyers volunteered with the Democracy Capacity Project to produce free resources to empower nonprofits to design and run civic engagement, democracy support, and Get Out the Vote programs while complying with complex state laws and regulations governing those activities.

Katherine Mirrasou, a recently-barred lawyer from California, volunteered with the Democracy Capacity Project to help create these state-by-state guides. In all, 19 guides were released over the summer.

“Katherine brought such enthusiasm and a kind of ‘magic sauce’ to the work!” said Sue Zachman, Founder and Director of the Democracy Capacity Project. “She quickly became a leader in this project — helping us design both our volunteer data collection process and the content of the nonprofit-facing resource itself!”

Read more about Katherine

Supporting Immigrant Communities

Throughout the year, as humanitarian crises raged on the U.S.-Mexico border, in Afghanistan, in Ukraine, and many other places across the globe, We The Action channeled the passion of our community to support immigrant communities however possible.

For instance, We The Action helped launch the Welcome Legal Alliance, a nonpartisan initiative that channels the passion and skill of the nation’s lawyers to help Afghan evacuees coming to the United States access critical pro bono legal services. 

We The Action also partnered with a coalition led by law firm Akin Gump to mobilize 150 lawyers who donated more than 3,000 hours to help nearly 3,000 migrants prepare for interviews with the government.

Spotlight on: Welcome Legal Alliance

In the spring, We The Action helped launch the Welcome Legal Alliance, a non-partisan initiative that channels the passion and skill of the nation’s lawyers to help Afghan evacuees coming to the United States access critical pro bono legal services. Since its launch in March, more than 200 lawyers have signed up for one of the Welcome Legal Alliance’s 32 projects to support immigrant communities.

The Welcome Legal Alliance is a program of Welcome.US, a new national initiative that mobilizes Americans to welcome and support refugees, beginning with those arriving from Afghanistan. WTA's platform is providing a single place for lawyers and legal organizations to find the right opportunity to help support our Afghan neighbors.

“We The Action is central to our ability to do this work,” said Robert Sabuda, Executive Director at the Afghan Refugee Housing Network. “WTA has saved us thousands of dollars in legal fees which we can then use to provide support and resettlement services.”

Advocating for Racial Justice

Systemic racism permeates every level of the American legal system, and We The Action’s lawyers work every day to bridge the access to justice gap for underrepresented communities, including communities of color. In all, more than 200 lawyers signed up for Racial Justice projects this year.

For instance, since partnering with the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition in 2020, more than 500 We The Action volunteers have researched more than 20,000 cases for Floridians with previous felony convictions to help them restore their voting rights. WTA even hosted a research-a-thon that recruited 50 lawyers from 17 states to complete research for more than 150 returning citizens in a single day!

Spotlight on: Jeff Nesvet

A retired lawyer from Maryland, Jeff has donated hundreds of hours since 2019 to Tzedek DC, a DC-based nonprofit safeguarding the legal rights of low-income DC residents dealing with often unjust, abusive, and illegal debt collection practices. Namely, Jeff has helped challenge the “Clean Hands Law,” a DC policy that exacerbates racial inequalities by automatically suspending the driver's license of people with unpaid traffic tickets without considering the person’s ability to pay and bars them from renewing their license until all fines are paid. In a city where the median income for a white household is more than 300% higher than Black households, this law deeply impacted DC’s communities of color.

Jeff’s work has led to the upcoming repeal of the Clean Hands Law, which will take place in October 2023. Jeff also worked with Tzedek DC to contribute to a lawsuit against the District arguing that continued enforcement of the Clean Hands Law in the months before the repeal takes effect violates the Constitution's Equal Protection and Due Process principles.

Fighting for Reproductive Freedom and Gender Equity

Following the devastating Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, lawyers from across the nation were looking for opportunities to help defend abortion access. In all, 220 We The Action lawyers volunteered with 10 nonprofits on 12 projects to help abortion providers expand or modify services, track abortion-related bills, serve as legal observers at protests, and more. 

For instance:

  • In the first 72 hours following the ruling, more than 40 lawyers volunteered with Regulatory Assistance for Abortion Providers (RAAP) to help abortion providers comply with restrictions, expand or modify services, and respond to state inspections.

  • We The Action lawyers worked with Nurses for Sexual and Reproductive Health to answer legal questions related to increasing patient and clinic capacity and risk assessment.

Meanwhile, volunteer lawyers also flocked to sign up for other projects to advance gender equity more broadly. For instance, 12 lawyers helped End Rape on Campus prepare to launch their Campus Accountability Map – an interactive tool that allows users to view in-depth information on sexual assault investigation policies, prevention efforts, and available survivor support resources on colleges campuses.

Spotlight On: Rachel Spitz

A “staunchly pro-choice” lawyer of 22 years licensed in Georgia, Rachel volunteered with Regulatory Assistance for Abortion Providers (RAAP), working in partnership with RAAP attorneys to help an abortion provider understand the available options to keep their doors open during a time of unparalleled uncertainty for patients and providers.

“It was something constructive I could do in a time that felt bleak,” Rachel says. “The ability for patients to find care kept me going. It gave me a real sense that I could help while things were going to hell.”

For two months, Rachel worked with the staff attorneys at RAAP to analyze Georgia state law and offer guidance to the provider to help them continue providing care to their clients. Staff Attorneys for RAAP say Rachel’s work is the reason the provider is still open and providing abortion care in compliance with state law.

“Rachel’s work had a direct impact on an abortion provider’s ability to stay open and continue providing abortion care in Georgia,” a RAAP attorney said.

Read more about Rachel

Amicus Mundi: The Lawyer Protecting an Election Official in Iowa

The 2022 midterms are behind us, and we want to take a moment to thank all of the 3,500 volunteer lawyers who donated more than 45,000 hours to 36 organizations working to make the midterm elections safe, secure, and accessible for every voter.

That’s why we’re giving the next Amicus Mundi Award — a monthly award we present to an outstanding lawyer in our community — to a lawyer who donated his time to represent an election official facing legal challenges stemming from her work administering the 2020 elections.

Congratulations, Frank Feilmeyer!

The big picture: A lawyer from Iowa with more than 30 years of legal experience, Frank’s experience as a poll watcher led him to respond to a call from the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law through We The Action’s network to volunteer to represent Roxanna “Roxy” Moritz, a local election official facing harassment and specious legal challenges stemming from her work in the 2020 elections.

  • “When this opportunity came up, I felt like it was so important to help a local official who was having a hard time,” Frank said. “Because of election denialism and the difficulties in that election, I felt it was time to step up and help out.”

“Election officials were - and remain - under attack”: Across the country, election officials faced harassment, threats, and frivolous legal challenges during and after the 2020 election— many aimed at impeding officials’ ability to do their jobs and ensure the election was safe, secure, and accessible for everyone.

  • “Election officials were — and remain — under attack,” says Liz Howard, senior counsel for the Brennan Center's Democracy Program. “Helping to ensure they have committed legal counsel was an important piece of the Brennan Center’s efforts to support election officials.”

“Bullied and targeted”: This was happening to Roxy Moritz, who was serving as the chief election officer in Scott County, Iowa, the third most populous county in Iowa. The state announced an investigation into her decision to offer hazard pay to poll workers who staffed polling locations amid the COVID pandemic.

  • “She wanted to make sure that the people she was sending out to count votes were appropriately compensated for the risk they were taking,” Frank says. “Many people didn’t want to take that risk and she wanted to compensate the people willing to do the work.”

  • After resigning from her position due to the threats and harassment she faced, Roxy no longer had access to government representation — and that’s where Frank came in to represent her for free.

  • “People don’t understand the passion that election officials feel about our jobs, our constituency, and the services we’re delivering,” Roxy says. “To be bullied and targeted for doing our jobs was very emotional. Knowing that I had someone to protect my legal rights was extremely important to me.”

A trusted voice in a difficult time: Roxy says Frank helped decipher the complicated legal processes surrounding the investigation, which only officially concluded several months ago. Roxy says Frank also helped her maintain her mental health as the agonizingly slow process moved forward.

  • Frank says he had to navigate two competing factors: handling the media fallout of the investigation, and handling the day-to-day legal steps of the investigation itself.

  • “The news cycle is one thing, but the legal process for resolving these things tends to be a lot longer and less in the spotlight,” Frank says. “I was focused on making sure she knew that we were going to get this sorted out. It was a little bit of legal advice, a little bit of practical advice.”

You can help too!: Unfortunately, election officials across the nation still face harassment and threats every day. There are still opportunities for lawyers like you to help like Frank helped Roxy!

  • Along with our work with The Brennan Center, WTA has partnered with the Election Official Legal Defense Network to match lawyers with election officials facing harassment and threats.

  • Click here to sign up with the Election Official Legal Defense Network. Election officials need help with a variety of issues, such as harassment, defamation, and employment problems, so you don’t need election law experience to volunteer.”

On behalf of 45,000+ volunteer lawyers: Thank you, Frank!

And thank you again to the 3,500 volunteer lawyers who donated more than 45,000 hours to 36 organizations working to make the midterm elections safe, secure, and accessible for every voter. Your work made an enormous difference in the 2022 midterms, and we’re so grateful to have you in our community.