Bloomberg Law Profiles Wiley Rein’s Pro Bono Practice and Its Work on Behalf of Immigrants Detained in Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center

January 16, 2018

Washington, DC— Wiley Rein’s pro bono practice was featured in Bloomberg Law’s Class Action Litigation Report on January 11, with a special focus on the firm’s work on behalf of the young immigrants detained at the Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center in Staunton, Virginia.

Wiley Rein’s pro bono team was initially contacted regarding the case by the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs (WLC) due to its familiarity with immigration cases and previous involvement in pro bono litigation over juvenile confinement. A heart-wrenching interview with one of the teenagers being detained “galvanized our commitment to bring this case, as quickly as we could,” Wiley Rein Pro Bono Partner Theodore A. Howard told Bloomberg Law.

On October 4, 2017, a complaint was filed by Wiley Rein and the WLC on behalf of the unaccompanied immigrant minor (using the pseudonym John Doe) and other detained immigrant children, challenging the conditions in the Juvenile Center.

In addition to Mr. Howard, numerous Wiley Rein employees are assisting in the case including special counsel Megan L. Olsen; associates Sara M. Baxenberg, J. Ryan Frazee, Vesna K. Harasic-Yaksic, Usha Neelakantan, and Derrick A. Petit; and staff attorney Bradley C. Tobias.

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