These lawyers take on immigration, domestic violence and other difficult cases for free

While Lesley Mendoza sat at her desk at the New York law firm of White & Case in Manhattan, she sometimes questioned her career path.

While working on the Enron accounting scandal case in the early 2000s, she would occasionally go to immigration court to do pro-bono legal work, as is customary in large law firms. That’s when the Miami native felt her calling.

“I realized I could be at immigration court, or I could be sitting at my computer, and I definitely wanted to be in immigration court,” she said recently from CABA Pro Bono in Miami, where she is the executive director and leads a team of 19 lawyers and staff.

CABA originated from the Cuban American Bar Association’s need for Spanish-speaking lawyers in the community. Today, the organization stands on its own and helps families and children in Florida who need legal support, but can’t afford it. It recently celebrated its 40th anniversary.

“I wanted to find a purpose behind my law degree, and that’s why I’m here,” she said, pointing to a table covered in gifts she has received over the years from all of the children she has helped.

Mendoza, 48, who is one of nine full-time lawyers at CABA, largely works on immigration cases, but the group works on cases that also have to do with domestic violence, human trafficking, landlord-tenant evictions, foster care and children on the autism spectrum. Through Mendoza’s work, she’s become the unofficial “mom” to many kids from Central and South America and the Caribbean, such as Sasha Dickenson, 22, of North Miami who is originally from Haiti.

Dickenson moved to Miami when she was 14, leaving behind an abusive father and a scared mother. Her mother helped her escape, and she came here to live with an uncle. She connected with Mendoza to solve her immigration status.

“It was really fast. In less than a year she helped me get my green card,” she said. “I feel free. It feels really good. It really pushed me to want to do something with myself. I feel so blessed,” said Dickenson, who graduated from Miami Dade College and West Coast University in Doral. She now works as a trauma nurse at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

While the main order of business may have been the green card, Mendoza and her crew do much more.

“We’ve never said, ‘Our job was to get you a green card and now we’re done,” she said.

“She took me to get my driver’s license, yes, she did,” said Edson Clervil, 24, of Cutler Bay, who is also from Haiti. He left Haiti when he was 13 due to the violence.

He originally came on a student visa and settled in Tampa with some relatives, “but none of them worked out” he said. He worked in plant nurseries and went to school, but often skipped school to work.

“I needed money to survive,” he said. Within a few years he found himself alone and living at a shelter in Miami. He became a ward of the state and met his soon-to-be foster mother, Ms. Joelle Janvier, at church. Eventually, he connected with Mendoza who helped him get a green card.

“She helped me to get my first legal job,” he said. “I didn’t have to get paid under the table anymore,” he added. “Through Lesley [Mendoza] I met a man who used to help me out. He said not to be embarrassed to ask…he could just Uber me some groceries.”

Today, Clervil is a junior in Florida International University’s electrical engineering program.

“Here, you can go somewhere and you don’t have to worry about a gang member walking up to you and asking you questions,” he said. He hasn’t been back to Haiti since he left; his birth mom had to move out of the town because of the gang violence and “a lot of shooting,” he said.

And while his days are much safer and more predictable, Clervil hasn’t forgotten the land and the people he left behind. “I want to go back home to provide electricity for everyone, because it’s a big problem in Haiti. When I was there, we would go months without electricity.”

How to help

CABA Pro Bono is expanding and looking for pro-bono help from lawyers in the community. To volunteer, contact Nicole Mestre at 305-439-9074. To donate, go to https://cabaprobono.com/ and click on the donate button in the top right.

This story was originally published October 23, 2024 at 10:54 AM.