Seyfarth Shaw Pro Bono and Philanthropy Department Chair Allegra Rich and e-discovery senior counsel Jason Lichter were quoted in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin on October 26. The article discussed the firm's two-pronged approach to providing pro bono legal services through Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), a nonprofit organization serving immigrant children facing deportation, many of whom have fled wars, human rights abuses, economic problems or natural disasters.

"Helping one child is extremely rewarding, but helping improve the system was what we really wanted to accomplish," Allegra said, referring to the work done by the firm over the course of a year, both assisting the children on a one-on-one basis, as well as taking a big picture approach and streamlining KIND's operations, utilizing the firm's SeyfarthLean methodology to increase organizational efficiency.

Allegra commented on the far-ranging benefits for KIND, "Not only will they be able to serve more children because they're operating more efficiently, we believe it will make them more attractive to donors because it's important to donors to feel that they are making a good investment in a well-run organization."

According to Wendy Young, KIND's executive director, "SeyfarthLean was almost revolutionary for us," adding that the SeyfarthLean project involved a year "of really unpacking how we do things."

Since many of the attorneys who volunteer their services to KIND do not practice immigration law, training is needed. Jason Lichter, an e-discovery and information governance attorney at Seyfarth Shaw who helped an El Salvadorian minor said, "In many cases, these removal decisions are life-or-death decisions," and he was pleased for the opportunity "to really make a difference."

"Pro bono is something I've always made time for, and I think pro bono is something every lawyer should make time for," Jason said.

Allegra remarked, "What we love so much about this project was the ability to help KIND at the systemic level. We take individual children's cases from KIND and we enjoy doing that, but SeyfarthLean allowed us to help KIND as a whole and, we hope, to be able to help children as a whole."