BOSTON, April 19, 2006 — Goodwin Procter LLP, one of the nation’s leading law firms with offices in Boston, New York and Washington, DC, today announced that Joseph Theis and Terence Shields have been awarded the 2006 PAIR (Political Asylum/Immigration Representation) Pro Bono Attorney Award. Theis and Shields will be honored at PAIR’s annual benefit and awards dinner on Thursday, June 1.
PAIR is a legal services organization that provides pro bono representation to asylum-seekers who are fleeing persecution in their homeland and could not otherwise afford this critical legal assistance.
The PAIR award recognizes Theis and Shields for their extraordinary pro bono legal assistance on behalf of two women from Uganda who suffered imprisonment and torture due to their political beliefs. Together, Theis and Shields dedicated hundreds of hours of pro bono assistance and successfully represented each client, one before the Asylum Office and the other in Immigration Court. One of their clients is currently pursuing a job in hotel management and the other provides counsel to women on affordable housing alternatives.
Both Theis and Shields are associates in Goodwin Procter’s Business Law Department and joined the firm in 2005. Goodwin Procter has a well-developed pro bono program which, in fiscal year 2005, provided more than 47,700 hours of pro bono legal assistance to charitable organizations and individuals who could not otherwise afford legal assistance.