Good In Practice

In this episode, Caroline speaks to Shareholder Jennifer A. Surprenant and Associate Ryan Foreman about how they helped an active member of the U.S. military obtain more access to his child. The group discusses how distance due to station locations can affect parent-child relationships and how the possibility of deployment affects custody decisions. 

In honor of Veterans Day, Caroline speaks with Greenberg Traurig’s Adam Siegler, of counsel in the firm’s Los Angeles office and its co-pro bono coordinator, veteran, and founder of Greenberg Traurig’s Military & Veterans Program. They discuss Siegler’s work with both veterans and active military members as well as his own service and why it is so important to him to continue to give back to those who served our country. Siegler explains the different legal barriers members of the military, both active and retired, may face over time, and Heller discusses how non-veteran attorneys can help.

In this episode, Caroline speaks to Matthew Ladika, CEO of The Children’s Place at HomeSafe, David M. Layman, a shareholder in the firm’s West Palm Beach office and its Real Estate Practice, and Elliot Scherker, a Shareholder in the firm’s Miami office and Co-Chair of its National Appellate Practice. They discuss HomeSafe’s origins and how it developed into an organization that helps young victims of abuse and domestic violence through prevention and intervention programs. Layman discusses his provision of pro bono transactional services to HomeSafe for over 20 years and the legal services he recently provided to help HomeSafe expand their reach in Palm Beach County. Scherker discusses his involvement successfully defending legal challenges to HomeSafe’s expansion. All three share what brought them to Team HomeSafe and tell some their favorite success stories.

In this episode, Caroline continues her conversation with Samantha Kubek, a former Equal Justice Works (EJW) fellow co-sponsored by GT and Greystone & Co. Inc. Kubek discusses some of the challenges that her clients face when they're applying for veterans benefits, how she practices self-care, and long-term efforts in the Senate to pass the Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act, legislation designed to reshape the manner in which the U.S. military prosecutes sexual assault within its ranks.

In this episode, Caroline talks to Samantha Kubek, a former Equal Justice Works (EJW) fellow co-sponsored by GT and Greystone & Co. Inc., and current visiting assistant clinical professor and director of Robert W. Entenmann Veterans Law Clinic at Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University. Kubek discusses the importance of relating to and establishing trust with her veteran clients, and the extraordinary effect an award of benefits can have to a veteran and their family.

In this episode, Caroline talks to Greenberg Traurig Shareholder and Houston Co-Pro Bono Coordinator Jennifer Tomsen and her client, Oscar, an unaccompanied minor from Honduras for whom Jennifer obtained a green card. Oscar discusses his life in Honduras, why he fled to the United States to be with his mother when he was 17 years old, and how he acclimated to his new life. Tomsen discusses the lengthy step-by-step process and barriers along the way of attaining legal residency for young refugees, and the joy of successfully helping a child find safety in the United States.

In this episode, Caroline continues the conversation with Greenberg Traurig Associate and Atlanta Office Pro Bono Chair Andrew Z. Smith and Lauren Duncan, one of Smith’s pro bono clients. They discuss the difference between transgender individuals legally changing their name and changing their gender identification markers, access and barriers to comprehensive medical care, and the importance of transgender visibility in media. Heller, Smith, and Duncan also discuss what people and firms can do to be allies to the LGBTQ+ community.

In this episode, we talk with Greenberg Traurig Associate and Atlanta Office Pro Bono Chair Andrew Z. Smith about his pro bono work assisting transgender individuals legally change their names. They are joined by Lauren Duncan, one of Andrew’s pro bono clients, and discuss Lauren’s decision to legally change her name, as well as the legal process and the practical and emotional aspects of Lauren’s decision.

In this episode, Caroline speaks with Greenberg Traurig Shareholders Iris Escarra and Danielle Gonzalez along with Associate Devon Vickers about how Greenberg Traurig helped the non-profit Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southern Florida relocate its headquarters. GT attorneys assisted with finding, acquiring, rezoning, and developing a new site that will not only house Make-A-Wish offices, but also serve as a place to grant wishes to children. As the three discuss the undertaking, Vickers relays why this was a deeply personal chance for her to give back to an organization that once granted her a wish.