Washington Lawyer - November/December 2022 - 30

CELEBRATING
YEARS
Young Lawyers Bring Their
By Stacy Julien
I
t takes a special kind of passion to work in public
interest law. As D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center Executive
Director Kelli Neptune puts it, this area of law is not
just a career but a calling.
" It's a perfect blend of passion and legal skills that can be used to uplift
communities, increase public awareness, advocate for policy changes,
and impact lives, " she says. " What is most exciting about public interest
law is the variety of practice areas such as education, health care,
criminal, environmental, immigration, veterans, employment, housing,
and voting rights law. "
Since its formation in 1972, the D.C. Bar has valued public interest law
as an integral part of its mission to promote access to justice and foster
high ideals regarding competence in service. Here, Washington Lawyer
highlights a handful of young crusaders who are changing lives in the
communities they serve.
VOICE FOR THE POWERLESS
Quiana Harris, trial attorney at
the Public Defender Service for
the District of Columbia, grew up
in Rich Square, North Carolina,
a town of about 950 residents,
mostly low-income African
Americans. " It was always overpoliced, "
Harris says. " Everyone
I know had some type of run-in
with the criminal justice system.
I saw people who were close to
me [being] arrested and put in jail
or prison or harassed and abused
by the police. All of the clients
I represent are like family and
friends from back home. "
QUIANA HARRIS
It makes perfect sense that Harris,
a 2019 graduate of Howard University
School of Law, chose a path
in criminal justice to help right the wrongs she witnessed during her
upbringing.
Harris, like many others, gravitated to public interest law to deepen a
passion she already had. " One of the most satisfying and rewarding jobs
is to stand beside someone, speak up for them, and articulate what their
30 WASHINGTON LAWYER * NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2022
CARLOS ANDINO
experiences are. I tell my clients'
stories every day, " Harris says.
Much like Harris, Carlos Andino
recognized cracks in the legal
system that disproportionately
hurt people of color. When gentrification
changed the Tampa,
Florida, community where he grew
up, he watched his father and
other family members being
harassed too often by the police.
Andino went to law school to do
something about it.
Designing his own Equal Justice
Works Fellowship at the Washington
Lawyers' Committee for Civil
Rights and Urban Affairs, Andino
has focused on tackling systemic
discrimination in police interactions and ongoing gentrification of historically
marginalized communities.
" [Now] I have the flexibility to use every tool in the attorney's toolbox, "
says Andino, who earned his JD from Emory University School of Law in
2020. " That means being on the ground, talking to people, getting the
direct perspective. I'm not sitting on a perch as a lawyer. I'm there listening
to the community. I'm performing the community's work. "
Over the past two years, Andino has worked to bring more transparency
to police and government functions and to make sure clients who need
the court system have access to it. " I've been doing that through direct
representation of individuals, " Andino says. " I've been a part of classaction
lawsuits protecting the First Amendment rights of protesters.
I continue to work in group settings with housing [and] stop and frisk . . .
which has transcended into policy advocacy. I've worked on drafting
legislation and given testimony to the D.C. Council. "
Andino says he appreciates the grassroots element to his work and how
it has trained him to be nimble and ready for changes at any moment.
" It forces you to be on your feet, engaged, and flexible, " he says. " If you're
looking for a challenge, if you're looking for a human connection, this
kind of law is going to keep you interested and surprised on a daily basis. "
A TANGIBLE IMPACT
Kelly Hii, a supervising attorney at Ayuda, says that a curiosity about
other cultures and countries led her to pursue an undergraduate degree
in international studies. By the time she graduated from Miami University
in 2013, she'd studied abroad in Uganda and Guatemala. Shortly after, the
Cincinnati, Ohio, native spent two years in the Peace Corps and was
Washington Lawyer - November/December 2022

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