Congratulations to Kimberly Newberry for winning the 2014 Andrew L. Kaufman Pro Bono Service Award! During her time at the Harvard Law School, she completed 2,329 hours of pro bono service, the highest number of pro bono service hours in the 2014 graduating class.
Kimberly is truly dedicated to learning how to be a criminal defense lawyer and to advocating for justice in the capital defense system. She started working her 1L year with the Harvard Defenders and the Prison Legal Assistance Project (PLAP). As a 3L, Kimberly was the Co-Managing Director of PLAP. She also participated in a spring break pro bono trip to the Mississippi Delta where students presented a workshop and drafted a guide on estate planning for small farmers.
Kimberly has done a clinic in every semester possible including the Housing Law Clinic and the Criminal Justice Institute. She was even willing to go to Kentucky in the middle of winter for the Capital Punishment Clinic at the Kentucky Capital Post-Conviction Conflict Unit where she researched a unique 8th Amendment claim and drafted the pleading.
Kimberly has also volunteered at Prisoner’s Legal Services in Boston, representing incarcerated individuals in their suits against the prisons for civil rights violations. She spent her summers at the Capital Appeals Project in New Orleans and the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta.
“My participation in clinics and student practice organizations throughout law school has been the most rewarding part of my legal education. Getting to represent a variety of truly inspiring clients and getting supervision from some phenomenal attorneys who care so much about the work they are doing allowed me to not only learn practical legal skills but also see the power and responsibility of having a law degree,” said Kimberly. “These experiences taught me that change really is possible and gave me the confidence to be a part of it.”
One supervisor said, “Kimberly has been the most enjoyable intern I have ever supervised… Working with her allowed me to look at two cases that I’ve been on for years in a new light.”
The Andrew L. Kaufman Pro Bono Service Award is granted each year in honor of Professor Andrew Kaufman who has been instrumental in creating and supporting the Pro Bono Service Program at HLS.