Participatory Defense and Holistic Representation

CHRCL hosted a public webinar on participatory defense and how attorneys can better work with the family and loved ones of their clients in civil & impact litigation, removal, and criminal cases. The participatory defense model is guided by stakeholders, including plaintiffs or the individuals facing charges, their families, and their communities. Non-attorneys come together to share knowledge, build strategy, and support the person or case in ways an attorney may not have capacity or may not know to do - from gathering letters of support to helping the person find housing and transportation so they can appear for hearings, to suggesting legal strategies to the attorney that have worked for other community members. Often, attorneys don't know about these types of resources or don't include families and communities in their representation, but doing so can change the outcome of a case.

The webinar was led by Jacob Reisberg, Senior Policy Counsel at ACLU SoCal,  and Laura Hernandez, Executive Director of Freedom for Immigrants. Together, they discussed where the use of participatory defense can be particularly impactful and how it can strengthen and support a case, define legal strategy, and improve outcomes.