Patricia Stottlemeyer
“The most valuable lesson I took away from my pro bono experience was that in order to be an effective advocate for your client, you need to view her as a whole person with a complex life, not simply as someone presenting a discrete legal matter.”
Most rewarding pro bono experience
”The most valuable lesson I took away from my pro bono experience was that in order to be an effective advocate for your client, you need to view her as a whole person with a complex life, not simply as someone presenting a discrete legal matter. This expanded my understanding of what it means to be a lawyer—you’re not just a litigator, you’re an advocate who cannot be effective without understanding the complexities of your client’s life experience. And being a lawyer is about constantly learning, reflecting, and striving to improve. The International Refugee Assistance Project and the Transnational Legal clinic were safe spaces in which to explore my personal approaches to advocacy and to incorporate the skills and varying approaches of my student partners as well as my attorney supervisors.”