The University of Michigan Law School Chapter of the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) recently honored two Michigan attorneys with its annual “Outstanding Pro Bono Attorney” and “Outstanding Pro Bono Volunteer” awards. This year’s recipients are James Boufides and Mahabad Ahmed, who were selected for their exceptional level of engagement in IRAP casework and support for student learning.
James Boufides is an associate at international law firm Miller Canfield in its Kalamazoo office, focusing in civil litigation and labor arbitrations. William Quinn, a law student on his legal team, remarked that James’ “trust and confidence, along with careful supervision, has made the IRAP experience especially rewarding.” Linda Song, another student on his team, added that “it was extremely gratifying to see the progression of our client's application with James' guiding hand.”
Mahabad Ahmed, who works as an Arabic-to-English and Kurdish-to-English translator and resides in Ann Arbor, has been working with the Michigan Chapter of IRAP since 2013. Her own family was assisted by IRAP and resettled in Michigan. Adrienne Darrow Boyd, who has worked closely with Maha with one of her clients, commented, “I am so grateful for Maha’s reliability, integrity, and the effort she put into gaining our client’s trust. Our client faced an especially difficult crisis this year, and Maha helped our team respond as swiftly as possible. Her work was simply an invaluable complement to my role as student attorney.”
IRAP co-director Mary Soo Anderson said, “The supervising attorneys and translators who work on our cases enable law students to obtain real legal experience while serving a particularly vulnerable community. Our attorneys help mentor our students and encourage them to engage in public interest law, while our translators help students develop strong, trusting relationships with our clients. Both James and Maha have provided invaluable services to our chapter at Michigan, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to recognize their phenomenal work.”
IRAP provides comprehensive legal representation to individual refugees seeking resettlement. The Michigan Law IRAP Chapter, one of 25 law school chapters nationwide, partners teams of law students with local and alumni pro bono attorneys. Attorneys supervise law students as they help refugee clients successfully navigate the rules and processes for safe resettlement in the United States.
Since its founding in 2011, the Michigan Law Chapter has successfully represented dozens of refugees in life-threatening situations, including Iraqis at risk for their work as interpreters with the U.S. military, women who are survivors of domestic and sexual violence, survivors of torture, and LGBT refugees.
The Michigan Law Chapter is continuously looking to recruit pro bono attorneys and volunteer translators for the fall, with work beginning in mid to late September. Expertise in the area of immigration law is not required. All interested attorneys may contact IRAP co-director Adrienne Darrow Boyd at adarboyd@umich.edu.
-Benjamin Ensroth, Robert Mathis, and Lynn Ingram contributed to this story.