PRO BONO WORK
having been sexually assaulted while volunteering abroad with the Peace Corps. “T at’s when I fi rst became aware of the breadth of the problem,” says Brown, a former Peace Corps volunteer who served in Micronesia in the early 1990s. “But these women also received shabby treatment from the organization and the government after return- ing to the United States.” Not long after the story aired, Brown was
asked to represent one of the victims as well as First Response Action, an organization that was dedicated to addressing the issue, as pro bono clients. He agreed and internally put together a fi ve-person legal team led by second-year associ- ate Natalie Hirt Adams. As head of Wilmer’s congressional investigation practice, Brown could
28
PRESIDENT OBAMA SIGNING THE KATE PUZEY PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER PROTECTION ACT INTO LAW ON NOVEMBER 12, 2011.
instruct the clients on how to navigate the halls of Congress. And while he prepared to litigate and name names and shame people in government, Brown correctly believed that once lawm ak- ers and current Peace Corps Director Aaron Williams knew all the facts, decency would drive the outcome. “From the start, our most powerful tool was
the women’s stories,” says Brown. “By relaying their experiences captured in dozens and doz- ens of affi davits, we were able to drive home to Congress that the assaults were far from isolated experiences. T e violence was systematic, similar in size and scale. In fact, research indicates that incidents of assault in the Peace Corps were pro- portionally higher than what you’d fi nd at public
DIVERSITY & THE BAR® MARCH/APRIL 2012
MCCA.COM
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