Trial Lawyers Care®

AAJ Past President Mark Mandell and his wife and law partner Yvette Boisclair  are sponsoring anew camp at Roger Williams University School of Law for students to learn about civil and social justice. The inaugural session of camp, held in July, provided programs on freedom of speech, torts and personal injury, voting rights, legislating change, and courtroom experience with judges and clerks.

Mandell collaborated with the law school’s Assistant Dean of Academic Innovation Nicole Dyszlewski and Professor Monica Teixeira de Sousa, who developed the curriculum.

“I’ve been thinking about this for the past couple of years,” said Mandell. “In particular, I want to help open up the pipeline earlier for students of color; to reach kids when they are younger, and interest and inspire them to become lawyers and judges.”

It was an incredible week of experiential learning with sessions in the classroom and in the courtroom. Featured speakers included a U.S. Senator, Superior Court and state Supreme Court justices, law school deans and professors, the executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, Secretary of State Gregg Amore, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley, state lawmakers, and other lawyers and advocates, including Mandell’s son and law partner Zachary Mandell, and Mandell’s brother Howard, now a rabbi, who was the first lawyer hired at the Southern Poverty law Center, and who later created the first racially integrated law firm in Alabama handling civil rights work.

“Our goal is to end racism and promote social justice,” said Mandell who plans to continue the camp for years to come.

Over 25 AAJ members attended our recent joint caucus and Trial Lawyers Care® service project, hosted by Lieff Cabraser at their Nashville offices. Thanks to the generosity of our members, we cleared our Amazon wishlist, and AAJ members were able to assemble 24 move-in kits, 40 toiletry kits, and 15 new baby kits for the Safe Haven Family Shelter. Through its shelter-to-housing program, Safe Haven Family Shelter has driven Middle Tennessee’s efforts to house, support, and advocate for families experiencing homelessness. When families move into new homes, the organization provides them critical necessities to begin their new lives. To all who gave and participated, your support really matters.

Thank you so much to all our participating members — we appreciate your dedication to this worthy cause!

GDH Law is now in its second year of supporting the efforts of the Maryland Association for Justice (MAJ) to serve the local community. The focus of that support is on Progress Place, which offers temporary and transitional housing for the unhoused. Additionally, Progress Place works with MAJ to provide clothing and resume writing services for residents.

“Helping those in urgent need is at the core of this work. At GDH Law, we feel a duty to provide support to those who find themselves in difficult and often devastating situations,” said Gwen-Marie Davis Hicks, Managing Attorney at GDH Law.

An added benefit of working with the MAJ is the opportunity to work with members of MAJ’s Minority Caucus and the Diversity and Inclusion Committee to support their work with other local specialty bar associations.

These associations include the Alliance of Black Women Attorneys, the Asian Pacific American Bar Association, the Haitian American Lawyers Association, the Hispanic Bar Association and the South Asian Bar Association. MAJ and these groups conduct a quarterly legal clinic at Progress Place.

“As well as providing this critical community service, we developed strong relationships with these specialty bars, which has led to increased recruitment of diverse members of AAJ and MAJ,” said Gwen-Marie.

Gwen-Marie has been instrumental in reviving the Minority Caucus of MAJ, along with Petra Aaron, a Senior Attorney at GDH LAW, who was a co-chair of the Minority Caucus, and caucus co-chair Renee Boston. Ms. Aaron is now a co-chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of MAJ alongside co-chair Divya Potdar. Together, these women have prioritized promoting diversity amongst the membership of MAJ and serving the community.

In 2009, Casey Feldman was tragically killed by a distracted driver at the age of 21. After her funeral, many young women said to Casey’s parents, “That was my best friend.” Casey’s father, Joel Feldman, is a trial lawyer and AAJ member. When Casey died, Joel reduced his workload and started an amazing organization to End Distracted Driving (EndDD).

“EndDD has worked with trial lawyers to give presentations at school assemblies on distracted driving. I immediately fell in love with the organization because I knew it would work. Young people today, while indeed the most affected group by distracted driving, are also the most empathetic generation of young people our society has ever seen,” said trial lawyer, Travis Patterson.

Since joining forces with EndDD, Travis has received amazing feedback – after seeing the presentation, 92% of participants said they were less likely to drive distracted and more likely to speak up when others drive distracted.

When asked why, a resounding majority reported that they are mostly concerned with the effect their distracted driving could have on others (i.e. “I don’t want my mom to go through losing me” or “I don’t want to hurt someone”). Their empathy provides a chance to save lives.

“Mr. Feldman and his team did a remarkable job creating these presentations, which are undoubtedly saving lives across the country. I am blessed to be able to work with high school students in Texas and help curb this epidemic of distracted driving,” said Travis.

To learn more about Travis’ firm’s efforts in Texas or request a presentation, visit this webpage.

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