Every year the Voluntary Legal Services Program of Northern California recognizes a volunteer who has gone above and beyond the call of duty in donating his or her time and efforts to assist the clients of our program. The June Black Pro Bono Award is named in honor of VLSP’s founding Pro Bono Program Coordinator who spent 17 years developing the provision of free legal services to indigent clients at VLSP. During her years of service at VLSP, many members of the Sacramento legal community came to know and admire June for her commitment to seeking justice for indigent individuals. VLSP is proud to name Jim Ward as the recipient of the June Black Pro Bono Award for 2004.

Ward attended Colorado State University at Pueblo, majoring in political science and Russian Studies. His interest in the law and international relations led him to McGeorge School of Law, from which he graduated in 1984. With a family to provide for, he had to place his interest in the international scene on the back burner, taking a position with an insurance defense firm straight out of law school. Ward now works for Duncan, Ball, and Evans, where he has enjoyed representing public entities for the past eight years. Being on the cutting edge of many political issues makes his work diverse and interesting, with cases involving subjects ranging from the use of the phrase “God Bless America” in public schools to the distribution of anti-abortion leaflet on school campuses.

In 1992, while reading an article about VLSP in the Sacramento Lawyer, Ward decided to join VLSP with the intent of giving something back to his community. He said that we have Medicare and Medicaid for those who can’t afford medical services, but we have nothing for those who can’t afford legal help. He realized that, unless lawyers provided legal help to low income persons, no one else would. With this concern in mind and with his lingering interest in international affairs, Ward signed up for the training on immigration issues offered through VLSP. After the training, Ward accepted a referral case from VLSP on a pro bono basis. Unbeknownst to him, his very first case as a VLSP volunteer would last over 10 years and lead to the forging of a life-long friendship with an immigrant family.

Ward agreed to represent a client from Guatemala who was seeking political amnesty in the United States. However, when the client came to Ward’s office for the initial interview, he brought his wife and two children, all seeking amnesty. Rather than returning the case to VLSP, as the facts and time required for the case had just quadrupled, Ward took on representation of the entire family. The father, Ward’s original client, had fled Guatemala following police threats and his son’s kidnaping resulting from the father’s union organization efforts in the factory where he was employed. After working several jobs in the United States and sending money back to his family in Guatemala, his wife and two children attempted to cross the border into the United States. Initially, the son was caught and returned to Guatemala, but eventually, the family was reunited in the United States and found themselves in Ward’s office, hoping he could help them.

The first year or so on the case was spent trying to get all the facts in order to present a compelling case to the INS. When he first arrived in the U.S. the father had filed with the United States government under a United States Supreme Court Case, American Baptist Church, which allowed for political amnesty for Guatemalan refugees. Ward assisted the family in adding the wife and children to the petition for amnesty. The father’s deportation was stayed pending review of his case. In 1995, Mr. Ward obtained a stay against the remaining family members’ deportation. For the next several years, the wife carried her notice of stay with her everywhere to prevent deportation and every year the family had to reapply for work permits.

Eight years later, in 2003, the clients’ case was set for a hearing. After the hearing, the father and son still had to pass an FBI background check. Shortly thereafter, Ward received a message from the father stating the whole family had picked up their passports; a message which Ward has kept on his answering machine to this day. Over ten years of hard work and dedication had paid off, all four family members had received political amnesty and will be able to apply for United States citizenship in six or seven years. For the first time since their ordeal began, the family was able to return to Guatemala and visit other family members thanks to their recently acquired documents.

Through this experience, Ward was able to save a family from persecution and at the same time develop a lasting friendship. The family works near Ward’s office and he regularly checks up on all of them, encouraging the children to continue their education. When asked why he stuck it out with this case for so long, Ward simply said: “If I were in a similar situation in another country where I did not know the language or legal process, I could only hope that there would be someone there to help me.”

VLSP is grateful to Ward for his tremendous dedication to VLSP’s mission of enhancing justice for people of limited means and to serving those who can least help themselves. VLSP is honored to present him with the 2004 June Black Pro Bono Award.