The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) honored CFS alumna, Diane Chappell-Daly, with the 2014 Michael Maggio Memorial Pro Bono Award for outstanding efforts in providing pro bono representation in the immigration field during AILA’s Annual Conference in Boston, MA in June.
In addition to volunteering her time and expertise as an attorney, she organizes others to successfully offer an immigration clinic with the recently formed Volunteer Lawyers Project (VLP). Recognizing a great unmet legal need, Ms. Chappell-Daly proposed to create a clinic for immigration law practitioners to provide pro bono legal services to the community and volunteered to take the lead on the project. She hosted Research Colloquiums with the local immigration bar to recruit volunteers, helped design a clinic that would be easy for local solo practitioners to join, and helped design an intake, which is conducted by volunteer law students at the clinic to gather the most pertinent information so that the attorney can provide a truly in-depth consultation at the clinic.
The first immigration clinic was held last year and was a tremendous success: seven pro bono immigration attorneys assisted 25 clients over the course of four hours. Since then, there have been three more clinics and her leadership in this program continues; she has been unwavering in her commitment to helping expand pro bono representation to deserving non-citizens in the immigration field.
She is described as going the extra mile by doing all of her pro bono work and organizing in her free time while keeping her small law firm running. She cannot delegate pro bono work to an associate or large staff but is fueled solely by her own initiative. As one fellow AILA member put it, “Diane’s career has been a true embodiment of AILA’s mission statement to promote justice in the immigration field. Though she has never been one to seek recognition, the depth of her commitment to pro bono services and the value of her contributions is well-recognized in our local legal community.”
She holds a B.S. from Bucknell University, an M.A. in Child and Family Studies from Syracuse University’s Falk College, and a J.D. (cum laude) from Syracuse University College of Law.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association is the national association of immigration lawyers established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, advance the quality of immigration and nationality law and practice, and enhance the professional development of its members.