THLA Partners With Casa Cornelia
The Tom Homann LGBTQ+ Law Association of San Diego is excited to announce their partnership with Casa Cornelia Law Center to provide pro bono service opportunities for attorney members of THLA to represent immigrants in the LGBTQ+Q community that need legal representation to be granted asylum here in the United States. Casa Cornelia is committed to upholding the legal rights of individuals fleeing their native countries due to political, social, religious, or ethnic persecution. Casa Cornelia clients are men and women who come to the U.S. from all over the world.
Casa Cornelia Law Center’s Volunteer Attorney Program recruits, trains, and mentors volunteer attorneys from the private bar for pro bono service. Casa Cornelia can only serve the hundreds of clients in need of services because of the support of the private bar. Casa Cornelia has a number of different opportunities available in their Asylum Program. Casa Cornelia also provides other immigration-oriented services for LGBTQ+Q clients outside of asylum, such as visa relief for victims of sex trafficking or domestic violence, and would be willing to discuss its other pro bono opportunities as well.
Before placing a case with a volunteer, attorneys participate in a training session to prepare them on how to represent the case. Each training lasts 2 hours and covers substantive as well procedural law. Aside from preparing attorneys to take on a case, the training is worth 2 hours of free MCLE credit. After the training Casa Cornelia remains 100% available to mentor attorneys along the way to assist attorneys that are given a case.
A list of upcoming trainings can be found on the Volunteer Trainings page.
If you would like to give back to the community in a way that only an attorney can, please consider volunteering with Casa Cornelia. To begin please send an email requesting more information to info@thla.org. A THLA Board member will then contact you and connect you with Casa Cornelia.