Spotlight: Boston attorney goes above and beyond for homeless client
John Baraniak, a partner at Boston law firm Choate Hall & Stewart, first met Asad* at a legal clinic coordinated by Lawyers Clearinghouse at Pine Street Inn.
Asad spent most of his childhood in a Somali refugee camp. As a teenager, he came to America to be reunited with a woman who claimed to be his mother. He had no memory of her from Somalia, but lived with her for a while in Boston. She began demanding his weekly paychecks, ultimately falsely accusing him of assault, filing a restraining order against him and kicking him out of the house when he refused to give her any money.
With nowhere else to go, Asad went to Pine Street Inn. He worked as a dishwasher in two restaurants and hoped to make enough money to afford housing and classes for a union apprenticeship program, but his progress was marred by legal difficulties.
While at Pine Street, Asad applied for housing through the Boston Housing Authority (BHA), but his application could not be processed due to the pending criminal charges against him. Seeking guidance, he attended a legal clinic staffed by lawyers from Choate. When the firm agreed to take Asad’s case, Baraniak volunteered to work with him.
After requesting extensions from the BHA, Baraniak worked closely with Asad’s court-appointed defender, leading to a dismissal of the criminal charges. Following the dismissal, Baraniak ensured that the BHA properly prioritized Asad’s application. Asad moved into a studio apartment two months later.
“After living at Pine Street for over a year, he finally had a place of his own,” Baraniak said. “When I helped him move his few belongings from Pine Street to his new place, he told me, ‘I finally feel like I can breathe, that I’m free, that I have my life ahead of me.’ “
Baraniak is still in touch with Asad, who starts an apprenticeship with an electrical union in September. “I’ve helped him out with a few little things, like filing his tax returns so that he could get his tax refunds and studying for his driver’s license,” he said.
It is difficult for homeless and low-income individuals to navigate legal avenues when their basic needs are not being met. Baraniak said that having legal counsel makes an “enormous difference” when trying to acquire information and assistance from government agencies. “Agencies are much less likely to give counsel the run-around or misinformation than if the homeless person is unrepresented,” he said.
Baraniak hopes to get involved in similar cases when the legal clinics start again in the fall. Currently, he is supervising ongoing pro bono cases at Choate.
When asked if he had any advice for other lawyers interested in pro bono work, Baraniak said, “Get involved . . . if you are a young lawyer starting out, a pro bono case is likely to be your first opportunity to have primary responsibility for a case or client. For all lawyers, it’s incredibly rewarding. It’s an opportunity to make a real difference in someone’s life.”
*Name changed.
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