Volunteer Legal Service Program (VLSP)
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June Spotlight:
Eric Casher, Howrey LLP
By Jennifer Greengold Healey, Supervising Attorney, VLSP Federal Pro Bono Project
 Eric Casher, a fourth-year associate at Howrey in San Francisco, has earned this month’s volunteer spotlight for his outstanding efforts with VLSP’s Federal Pro Bono Project. The Federal Pro Bono Project secures pro bono legal representation for litigants with civil lawsuits in federal court who cannot afford counsel. The court refers a wide range of cases to the Federal Pro Bono Project, many of which involve civil rights or employment law.
Eric, with Howrey partner Leigh Kirmssé, represented an indigent plaintiff in a civil rights suit for injuries he sustained while in custody at Santa Rita jail. The client alleged that medical staff at the jail failed to provide adequate care when he suffered a stroke, thereby causing permanent disabilities. At the time Casher took on the case, the client was in pro se and in danger of having his case dismissed for failure to prosecute; his disabilities compounded the challenges many pro se litigants face trying to represent themselves in federal court.
To serve the needs of his client, Casher, whose regular practice focuses on Construction Law, delved into the complicated world of Medical Malpractice and Civil Rights Law. He took eight depositions of jail staff and experts, learned medical terminology and theories, and ultimately represented his client on his own at a settlement conference, where he secured a highly favorable result. His thrilled client told VLSP, “I know you said you’d find me a lawyer, but I didn’t know that you were going to find me such a GREAT lawyer!”
Eric says that he enjoys taking on pro bono work because it “rounds [him] out professionally,” and because he has a “passion for wanting to do things that will help people at the fringes, those who are disenfranchised, and those who need the help.” He is committed to supporting other causes as well, serving on Barack Obama’s National
Finance committee in 2006 and chairing Kamala Harris’ current campaign for California Attorney General. He enjoys spending time at home in Berkeley with his wife and newborn son.
For information about volunteering with the Federal Pro Bono Project, contact supervising attorney Jennifer Greengold Healey at jhealey@sfbar.org.
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