NSBHF Behind the Scenes
An occasional series documenting the behind-the-scenes work of our civil rights attorneys, social workers, and staff, who work together as a team to ensure that our clients receive the maximum compensation for wrongful conviction, police abuse, and other civil and human rights violations.
A Paralegal Gains Unique Insights on the Law
As an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins University majoring in Public Health and Political Science, a legal career wasn’t on the horizon for Baltimore native Samiha Abd-Elazem. But her interest developed when she began tutoring incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people through a college program. “I wanted to look at the harm caused by the legal system and help tell the stories of those facing injustice,” she recalls. Her two years as a paralegal at NSBHF, and in particular her work with clients who were wrongfully convicted, confirmed Samiha’s professional path. Samiha is currently a Public Service Scholar at Boston College Law School and started law school in Fall 2024 with more experience than most aspiring attorneys. “You can get so much experience here, probably more than other places, and be exposed to unique insights on the law,” says Samiha. Samiha directly experienced all aspects of complex federal litigation during her tenure at NSBHF. This included working directly with partners on deposition preparation, providing paralegal support during a damages trial, and facilitating numerous case filings. Samiha recalls sitting with a client during a deposition in which NSBHF attorneys questioned a notorious former detective responsible for the client spending over two decades incarcerated.
From Jeopardy! Contender to an Advocate for the Wrongfully Convicted
NSBHF paralegal Lucia Geng developed a taste for trivia after joining her high school’s Quiz Bowl team, so much that she earned herself a place on the Jeopardy! Teen Tournament in 2016. While she didn’t achieve champion status, she held her own up to the semi-final, won $10,000, and got to meet the legendary Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek – a highlight of her experience. Lucia’s work on wrongful conviction cases at NSBHF is anything but trivial, but the skills she developed as a Jeopardy! contender – a strong recall for facts, an ability to focus under stress and an affinity for research – have served her well in working on behalf of clients whose lives, quite literally, have been placed in jeopardy due to wrongful convictions. Lucia graduated from the University of Chicago in 2022 with a major in Political Science and minors in Human Rights and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.
“You’re Going to Be A Better Lawyer”
As an associate at a Big Law firm in 2019, Tony Joe was thrilled to join a pro bono case team working on the exoneration of a client wrongfully convicted for murder. It was akin to the criminal justice work he’d done as a law student – interning at the Equal Justice Initiative’s Capital Defense Clinic in Montgomery, AL – where he witnessed the effects of systemic racism and inequality on both individuals and society. These were issues he took seriously as a young Black man growing up in northern New Jersey. Tony knew that working on this high-stakes case would be meaningful but had no idea that it would also change the course of his career – because it served as his introduction to Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger, LLP. After the client was exonerated, his firm brought in NSBHF as co-counsel on the civil wrongful conviction case,
Why is a social worker on a Civil Rights team?
When people who have been wronged by the police and the justice system come to NSBHF, the social worker’s job is to support them through their journey for justice. Christina says she’s had the privilege to work with some of the most resilient people she’s ever met. When Christina Paige set out to earn a degree in social work, a job at a law firm was not what she had in mind. But when she learned what kinds of clients she’d be working with at Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger– people seeking justice in civil court for abuse by police, jail and prison injuries, and wrongful convictions – she jumped at the chance. Take wrongful convictions, for example. People who have spent years behind bars for crimes they did not commit have been irreparably harmed. They’ve missed out on so many of life’s major milestones – kids’ birthdays, the
“Litigation Boot Camp:” The Life of a Cochran Fellow
Vishal Agraharkar recounts what led him to become a Cochran Fellow and reflects on his experiences at the firm. What got you interested in constitutional law? After law school I got a fellowship and then a staff position at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, working on voting rights and also felony disenfranchisement. I kind of knew at that point I wanted both civil rights and criminal justice to be part of my career. I also wanted to gain litigation experience from the best lawyers out there, so it made sense to apply for the Cochran fellowship. What kind of litigation experience did you acquire? What’s exciting is that from the beginning you become the point person, responsible for the day-to-day movement of your case, which really gives you the best understanding of all the facts. As an integral part of the trial team, you get to