Volunteer Spotlight: Amanda Asaro and Elizabeth (Liz) Platonova

Current Position: Amanda is a member (partner), and Liz is a fourth-year associate

Current Firm: Mintz

Amanda and Liz have partnered on two separate asylum cases with the Immigrant Justice Project since getting started with the City Bar Justice Center. Since they often work as a team, we are thrilled to have the chance to speak to them about their experience volunteering with us.

How did you get started volunteering with us, and how did you get started working together as a team? 

Amanda: I took over my first City Bar Justice Center case from a departing Mintz attorney while it was pending at the Board of Immigration Appeals. At that time, we weren’t sure what would happen with the case. However, after some time waiting, the Board upheld the appeal and remanded the case to an immigration judge, and there was suddenly a ton of movement.

Since that movement started in the two or three weeks before I was scheduled to go out on maternity leave, Liz and our project analyst Isabel came on board and started to work on the case with me, which turned into the two of them working on it more exclusively.

As soon as I got back from leave, the City Bar Justice Center reached out to Liz to ask if she’d take on another case. Liz came to me and asked whether I wanted to work on the case with her. So, we took the case as a team and just continued this train, and that is how we got involved with both cases and the Justice Center.

Elizabeth: For the record, Isabel and I did not work on it alone and could not have achieved success for our client without Amanda. Amanda, while on parental leave, was very much guiding, helping, writing and providing key strategic oversight throughout.

What inspires or motivates you both about doing pro bono work? 

Elizabeth: When I was joining Mintz, one of the things that attracted me to the firm was its pro bono program and the ability to take on pro bono work whenever and however much we want. For me personally, I always try to think about the issues people are facing. Having the chance to work on those issues directly and contribute – even in a small way – to meaningful change is something I’ve consistently wanted to make part of my work.

The reason I went to law school was to gain skills to help people. So, helping people with these life-critical issues feels different and significant. Being able to do small things like client management, or to help someone through a special day, or to do bigger things like seeing a merits hearing through is very meaningful. That’s why I’ve always wanted to do this work.

Can you describe an experience with a client in which you felt that you were able to make a significant or memorable impact through your pro bono work? 

Amanda: In the case we worked on together last summer, our client fled El Salvador because gangs had targeted her due to her proximity to law enforcement. She was effectively in limbo for almost a decade, because her case was initially denied despite it seeming like such a clear-cut case for asylum.

Our client went in and appealed and then appealed again. And while all of this was happening, she was trying to set down roots for her and her child to make a better life here, to avoid going back home to a situation in which she was almost killed.

At the end, I remember I had dialed into the Zoom hearing with my four-month-old daughter on my lap because I was on parental leave but still wanted to be present during our client’s hearing while the team was in the office with our client. The team had prepared a 180-page filing for the client in record time, which we hoped would make the decision straightforward for the judge.

The hearing ended up lasting, I think, all of 2 minutes because the judge sided with us right away. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) didn’t object to it.

I ended up touching base with Liz and our team in our New York office afterwards. They told me that they had been holding our client’s hand, and she had just become a different person in the span of those two minutes because she was finally able to say, “this is over, I’m not going to have to fight this anymore.” Hearing from the team who was actually with our client in person at that point and the sense of relief that she felt both for herself and her child was overwhelming for me, even though I wasn’t in the room with her. It was a really special moment.

Elizabeth: With our current client, he faced extreme homophobia in his country of origin. He had been brutally attacked by coworkers; he could never find a safe place of employment; his priest would tell him that he had to cleanse himself. After these experiences, he now has significant OCD based on what he’s heard and reheard from his family and religious leaders.

When we first met our client, we were sitting at a table with him, and he didn’t want to share these things. Understandably, it was so hard for him to talk about his experiences, especially with lawyers he didn’t know. But over time, he began to open up, share, become emotional, and trust us. You see progression as you sit with a client and learn their story, as you support them and tell them it’s going to be okay. It has given me a new perspective in terms of how those conversations can have an impact. It is significant for both the lawyers and the client to develop that relationship.

It all came to a head on the last hearing date. We came into the office and were getting ready while the client was on his way over. We got a call from the judge’s clerk who informed us that the hearing was not going to go forward. That is, of course, always frustrating for clients who want a resolution to their case. Still, our client came to our office, already knowing that the hearing wasn’t happening, and brought us cake just to say “thank you” for the work we were doing. It was so unnecessary, so beyond anything that anyone would need to do in that situation. But again, it shows the impact of these relationships.

The experience with this client has been particularly eye-opening. For me, I’m sending an email about a small thing. But for our client, he’s always thanking us and sharing his gratitude for the fact that he has lawyers answering and assisting him.

Why do you find this work to be important in our current world? 

Elizabeth: My parents are immigrants. They immigrated here the year I was born. So, for me, immigration and opportunity are what the United States has always been about. It gave my parents and I a great life. So, helping clients seek out and build a better life or escape the terrifying and horrible things happening to them is really important to me and something I have to be a part of.

Amanda: It allows us to help the people who need it most, and it also allows us to experience a system that gives us credibility when we’re talking to others who don’t necessarily understand what it involves. Immigration is a polarizing issue. But until you’re in it yourself or trying to help someone navigate it, I don’t know that you have an appreciation for all of the challenges that come with it – like how long the wait list is for immigration proceedings, or what the process is to claim asylum.

The perspective I’ve gained through these experiences helps me try to find common ground with people who don’t do this work or otherwise know what goes into an immigration proceeding. The context that we get from doing this work allows us to inform and educate people who don’t know otherwise have the benefit of our experience that has come with filing asylum applications, visa applications, and applications for work authorization. For anyone who has done it, we know they’re not easy, straightforward things, especially if your first language isn’t English. This knowledge makes me even more compassionate for people’s plights, and I hope that when I tell others about the process, they can appreciate the challenges and perhaps become more compassionate too.

How has doing this work affected you and/or your legal practice? 

Amanda: In a world that often feels crazy, you look at the news sometimes and feel helpless. You ask yourself: “where can I possibly help people?” and “where do I start?”

This kind of work lets us use our degrees and experiences in a way that can make someone’s life better. We may not be able to fix the entire problem, but if we can make one person’s pathway here easier, it’s something. Being able to do that has affected me, and I think Liz too, on a personal level.

In terms of legal practice, it’s a great task in client management and it reminds you that there’s a human element to the work we do. Working on these cases gives you that perspective.

Elizabeth: I echo all of that. Another thing, for me personally, is being able to do things for clients directly in a way that I may not have the opportunity to do on the private pay side of my practice. Significant trust is placed in me by more senior attorneys, and my pro bono clients. As a more junior attorney, I might be nervous at times, but giving advice and making sure that the client understands that we’re here for them has taught me a lot. Even when faced with the news or the stories we hear, pro bono work provides an opportunity to actively work on something and feel as though I’m doing a small part to try and make our world just a little bit better for our clients.

What would you tell someone who hasn’t volunteered with the City Bar Justice Center but is thinking about starting? 

Amanda: I think you have to jump in with both feet. We have the unique ability to help other people given our positions. So, you should do it, even though it may seem very daunting. As Liz said before, you figure it out, you develop confidence, and you learn how to argue issues you haven’t argued before, because you need to. You are your client’s best hope. As daunting as that may sound, they’re better off with you than they are alone. I wish people remembered that and volunteered more.

Elizabeth: Also, the City Bar Justice Center has so many resources, and the folks that you work with are so knowledgeable. I’ve learned a lot from Jennifer Kim just on immigration and how to approach certain questions. The way the team thinks about issues and the way they are always there when you have questions makes it a little bit less daunting when you’re jumping in. Anyone interested should know that they will have the support of folks who are experts. Having that support makes the City Bar Justice Center a wonderful organization to work with.

What song do you currently have on repeat? 

Elizabeth: I just looked on my phone – I’ve been listening to a lot of Kendrick [Lamar]. Specifically, To Pimp a Butterfly. I’ve gone to 2015 for some reason; I guess I’m feeling a lot of nostalgia.

Amanda: Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance was awesome and really highlighted the connectedness we all have. How can you not listen to his music and just be happy and want to dance? After the show, his music has been on repeat for me.

Interested in volunteering? Visit our “Do Pro Bono” page for more information.