SPOTLIGHT
eNews edition
shines
SPOTLIGHT
on an individual (or a team) who has (have) a positive and significant impact on the lives of New England residents.
This month we are shining the
SPOTLIGHT
on
Manisha Bhatt
, Senior Attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services.
IAGB
:
IAGB: Welcome to SPOTLIGHT. Most of us in the New England community came to know of you when you were recognized by India New England as the Woman of Year-2017. Where was your schooling and currently where do you work?
Manisha Bhatt
:
I am an out and out New Englander. I did my schooling here in Massachusetts, then went to Boston College for my undergrad and Suffolk University for my Law School. I have most of my family here in close proximity to me and I have my extended family back in Gujrat, India. Currently I am working as a Senior Attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS). GBLS is a nonprofit Law Firm that that provides gratuitous legal assistance to the poor, under privileged people of greater Boston area. Our firm assists people in the area of immigration, consumer protection, employment issues, housing, public benefits, disability issues and family law. These are the general issues we focus on. My area of expertise is Family Law.
IAGB
:
Since you said your clientele is primarily poor and under privileged people, then how does GBLS earn its money and in turn how do they pay you for your services?
Manisha Bhatt
:
GBLS gets funding from State and Federal government, from private foundations, from other law firms and individual donations. Organizations like the United Way give us some money. I get a salary from GBLS and I do not charge any of my clients absolutely anything.
IAGB
:
So it is safe to summarize that your professional service too is kind of a public service?
Manisha Bhatt
:
I guess so, but then it is true of all my coworkers who all have a similar sense of purpose in this line of duty. The main priority for all of us is how we can serve the poor. How we can use our education and our skills as lawyers to make the lives of people, who are marginalized by the society, and who come into really tough times, a little better. How are we able to use our knowledge, our education and our skills to make a difference in someone’s life. I think that is the core driving principle of the people who come to work there. It is certainly important for me to be able to serve people that way. For me this is the path I believe in, not that I am against anyone making money off the trade, but just speaking for myself, the ability to just serve a client unconditionally without regard to any compensation has been a great source of satisfaction for me and that satisfaction is very rewarding.
IAGB
:
Why did you chose to pursue a law degree and now a career in the field of Law?
Manisha Bhatt
:
When I 14 years old, I participated in a mock trial assignment. Our teacher assigned various roles to students and I was randomly assigned to be the prosecuting attorney in a (fake) murder trial. When working on this assignment I fell in love with this line of work and right then I knew this is what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.
IAGB
:
Outside of work what are the organizations you are associated with?
Manisha Bhatt
:
I regularly contribute my services to Islamic Society of Boston, Wayland; Indian Circle of Caring (ICC), Gurjar, Saheli and a program that I started - Know your Rights. My contribution to these various organization is related to my professional expertise. For example, in partnership with Saheli I have been working with domestic violence survivors, providing guidance and access to resources, sometimes it has been representing people in divorce cases. With ICC, it is very similar but since most of the services there are outside the area of my expertise, I recommend other lawyers that I trust to help to bring about solutions that would be able to be helpful to ICC clients.
IAGB
:
What is 'Know Your Rights' program?
Manisha Bhatt
:
I started this program almost eight years ago. Know Your Rights (KYR) is a lecture series. I have about twelve lectures that are split between two semesters to ease the burden on students. The topics we cover are broad based such as immigration law, criminal law, health and disability law, employment law, family law, bankruptcy law, overview of court system, hate crimes, civic engagement, family law, civil rights and hate crime to name a few. I have guest lecturers – experts in their respective fields, giving lectures on those topics.
IAGB
:
Who do you serve through this Program?
Manisha Bhatt
:
We cover broad variety of topics and the reason is because the people I invite to participate in these classes are people who are serving the community in various capacities of different nonprofit organizations or religious leaders. My experience has been that most first generation immigrants tend to associate their leaders with a know-all attitude. The community leaders tend to know all aspects of the society and members expect that they know or have answers to complex and variety issues. My idea was to take those people who are already held in high esteem and leadership within their community – and empower them with some general information and knowledge so that in case someone approaches them with any issue that needs legal assistance, then the leaders have some pointers to give and direct them towards some trusted resources. Too often people don’t know what they don’t know and then they tend to make certain (incorrect) assumptions about what your rights are and how the legal system works and my hope is to try and stop all that by trying to provide free of charge a know-how about legal issues.
IAGB
:
How do you recruit students for these lectures? Where and when do you conduct these lectures?
Manisha Bhatt
:
The way I recruit the class participants is mostly by word of mouth with very little promotion outside of it. These classes are conducted on six Monday nights in a row each term, Fall and Spring from 6:30 – 8:30 PM at Waltham Public Library. On average I have eight to ten students per class. This year I had more people wanting to join the program and had to defer some for the next year. I serve dinner because people who come to these classes are active volunteers at various organizations and are already donating their time to their causes, so I feel this is the least I can do for them.
IAGB
:
How do you measure the success of this program?
Manisha Bhatt
:
The medical community has done an outstanding job by posting information on subways and many other public places like – “these are the signs of heart attack, “these are the signs of stroke” etc. By making such knowledge widely available, people are quick to recognize the signs if they are inflicted by it and hence will make a quick trip to an emergency room and the issue is dealt with promptly. I asked myself how can I extend this same learning in regards to the area of law. How are people to know what they have to do for example if they feel they are wrongfully terminated or if they are wrongfully evicted by the landlord, etc. If one does not know what their rights are then how will they know what resources to use. This class is one of my way to bring about the solution. Many times people are apprehensive to approach private law firms for the fear of price tag and trust issues. It is important to me that individuals are not taken advantage of by anyone especially in financial terms.
IAGB
:
What do you see in your future. Specifically, do you see yourself having extending your public service through a political office?
Manisha Bhatt
:
I will continue to be in public service. As for entry into politics, I really do not think so.
IAGB
:
What do you do with your down time?
Manisha Bhatt
:
I have learned dance from Neena Gulati. I have learnt Kuchupudi, Oddissi and Bharatanatyam and I perform from time to time.
IAGB
:
Do you follow any of the notorious media stories about any of the court cases?
Manisha Bhatt
:
I have such an active case load, so I mostly tune off from the media circus around many of well publicized cases.
IAGB
:
Do you watch courtroom drams on TV?
Manisha Bhatt
:
As a child growing up I use to watch Perry Mason shows but after I enrolled in law school and learnt how actually the law works, I had to force myself to avoid watching court room based TV shows because I invariably find myself screaming “Objection”, “Objection” at the TV screen. I understand that these shows have to dramatize to make the story appealing but so much of it is just plain wrong, it is not how the real court works, it’s not the way the real the lawyers are supposed to work without getting disbarred. It is precisely these shows that are based on some fantasy and some drama, unfortunately inform the public’s perspective of how the law is supposed to work and how the court is supposed to work and it is because of that then I have to come up with classes like – Know Your Rights, to demystify or to debunk these myths that these shows tend to create. There are times when clients come and ask me if can I do certain things because they watched a TV lawyer doing it on one of the shows.
IAGB
:
What are your interests, hobbies outside of dancing?
Manisha Bhatt
:
I love to cook, exercise, yoga, meditation and of course occasional movies including Bollywood.
IAGB
:
What do you cook best and what do you struggle with?
Manisha Bhatt
:
I get good number of compliments on my pasta dishes and appetizers but when it comes to Indian cooking I manage some sabzis but I still need my mom’s help. My mom does everything by approximation while I need to add every ingredient by measuring. I mostly learnt all my cooking from reading cook books so I am good at following a recipe, but my mom’s cooking is a pinch of this and a scoop of that and every dish she cooks comes out just perfect every time. My mom is a great cook.
IAGB
:
I wish I could wake up as ….
Manisha Bhatt
:
Myself, I am very content with who I am.
IAGB
:
A person you who are inspired by.
Manisha Bhatt
:
My spiritual guru – Sadguru Rajayogi Narendraji. I follow his teachings and try to live up to the ideals he has inculcated in me.
IAGB
:
I wish I could meet...
Manisha Bhatt
:
Former President, Barack Obama – I have lot of respect for him.
IAGB interviewing team:
Sanjay Kudrimoti
