Expanding Client Intake and Community Outreach Staff

Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Expands Client Intake and Community Outreach Staff 

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice (“Lawyers’ Committee”) fosters equal opportunity and fights discrimination on behalf of people of color and immigrants. We engage in creative and courageous legal action, education and advocacy in collaboration with law firms and community partners.

Over the past year, we have seen staggering rates of hate-related incidents. The Lawyers’ Committee has experienced a dramatic increase in requests for legal assistance with intakes rising from 4 to 20 per day. We have also seen a growing demand for free legal support from grassroots groups tackling injustice at the local level.

We are excited to announce two new staff roles that will help us meet community demand for our life-changing and law-changing work. Jennifer Navas Portillo, our current paralegal, will now serve as our Community Outreach and Engagement Paralegal. In this role, she will be a liaison between our attorneys and our allies, including grassroots organizations and community-based partners. Ms. Navas Portillo will help identify emerging trends and community needs. She will also conduct bilingual workshops, trainings, and “know-your-rights” presentations in the heart of minority and immigrant communities. “As a first-generation American who grew up in East Boston, I feel blessed to be giving back to my community,” said Ms. Navas Portillo. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, before joining the Lawyers’ Committee, Ms. Navas Portillo served as a paralegal at Goddard, Scuteri & Delaney, and as an AmeriCorps legal advocate at Northeast Legal Aid.

We are also excited to announce that Megan Kim has joined the organization as a Paralegal. Ms. Kim is a recent graduate of Amherst College. Before joining the Lawyers’ Committee, she lived in rural Spain for eight months teaching English. She also served as an intern at the Legal Aid Society in New York, and at Asian Americans Advancing Justice in California. “I am thrilled to help advance social justice on behalf of low-income communities,” said Ms. Kim. An avid soccer player, Ms. Kim speaks fluent Spanish and French.

“In the current climate, the Lawyers’ Committee has become a hub for litigation, advocacy, and resistance on behalf of communities of color and immigrant communities,” said Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal, the Lawyers’ Committee’s Executive Director. Just days after the Trump Administration’s Executive Order targeting sanctuary cities, we filed a federal lawsuit with Chelsea Collaborative challenging the constitutionality of the federal government’s effort to defund sanctuary cities. Just days ago, in partnership with Centro Presente, we filed a new federal lawsuit against the Trump Administration to save humanitarian immigration protections for Black and Latino immigrants. Ms. Navas Portillo and Ms. Kim will deepen and expand the Lawyers’ Committee’s visibility across diverse communities and social justice movements.