We have officially changed our name to Legal Hope! Over the last few years, our legal programs have grown so significantly that we felt it time to rebrand and change our name to reflect the focus of our work: pro bono legal services to survivors. These free legal services have become even more essential due to the pandemic, and we are so thankful to the founders of the The WAVE Foundation, Sharon Anderson and Nancy Belur, and to all our longstanding and new supporters who have allowed our legal programs to grow. Thank you to our rebrand committee and rebrand team: Microsoft volunteer Chris Mills and our Graphic Designer Dustin Mara! Check out the new Legal Hope website here.

The Virtual Help Program was recently honored with the 2021 Washington State Bar Association APEX (Acknowledging Professional Excellence) Pro Bono and Public Service Award for outstanding cumulative efforts in providing pro bono services. The award honors Legal Hope, Perkins Coie, and Microsoft in recognition of the group’s work in creating the Virtual Help Program.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office asked Legal Hope, Microsoft, and Perkins Coie to launch the Virtual Help Program to help survivors obtain domestic violence protection orders. The COVID-19 stay-at-home order put many survivors of domestic violence in greater danger than ever before. Domestic violence deaths in King County quadrupled in 2020 from 2019. The physical closure of courthouses and the inaccessibility of legal assistance exacerbated the dangers to those stuck at home with abusers. We partnered with Microsoft and Perkins Coie to create the Virtual Help program in order to connect clients virtually to pro bono attorneys and the courts. The first training session took place on April 6, 2020, with over 40 pro bono attorneys and support staff from Microsoft in attendance. Since April 2020, over 30 attorneys and staff have dedicated over 1,000 hours to build the Virtual Help program and help domestic violence survivors obtain protection orders, keeping them safe from their abusers.

Legal Hope is partnering with K&L Gates and Amazon to run a special clinic at Mary’s Place to clear criminal records for survivors of domestic violence and sex trafficking. After doing initial intakes at the clinic, Legal Hope will pair attorneys from Amazon and K&L Gates together to take the cases for full representation. We held an initial training for this clinic on June 25, 2021 and plan to launch the clinic in 2022. Thank you to Cat Connell, Pete Talevich, and Rob Mitchell from K&L Gates and Kristy Madden from Amazon for helping implement this special clinic.

Legal Hope was recently named an official Amazon Pro Bono Partner, and we are excited to announce our new partner liaison, Alan Khedairy of Amazon legal. Thanks to Alan, we will be participating in Amazon’s Pro Bono Week October 25 – 29. Thank you, Alan, for leading this partnership!

Legal Hope’s Protecting Privacy & Survivor Rights program began in 2019 in partnership with Perkins Coie and the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Led by Legal Hope’s Ariana Orford and Perkins Coie partner Ryan Mrazik, the program advocates for the privacy rights of victims in felony domestic violence and sexual assault cases in King County. Ryan takes an innovative approach: he applies the skills and knowledge of his Privacy & Security practice for technology companies to protecting the privacy of victims. Invasions of privacy include requests by defense attorneys for a victim’s medical records, phone records, immigration records, school records, and other records that are outside the scope of the criminal case.

Although laws exist to protect victim privacy in criminal cases, few victims are aware of their rights or have access to legal assistance to assert those rights. Perkins Coie pro bono attorneys stop the release of victim information and protect victim privacy and rights in the criminal case. This advocacy prevents survivors from further harm, including harassment and embarrassment at work and in the community and re-traumatization. This program has a systemic impact in the local criminal justice system, as prosecutors see a decline in invasions of privacy and greater respect for survivor rights since the project’s inception. A huge thank you to Ryan and his team for leading this effort and donating over 800 hours of pro bono attorney time from Perkins Coie!

Rachel Brown, Senior Pro Bono Manager at Davis Wright Tremaine, has joined the Legal Hope Board of Directors. Before joining the Board, Rachel was already very involved with Legal Hope. Rachel leads our bench book project, a judge's guide to educate judges nationwide on sex trafficking, and has recruited over 60 attorneys and legal staff from DWT, Uber, Bloomberg, and other corporations to help. Welcome, Rachel, and thank you!