Pursuing Justice Podcast Episode 53: Local journalism is in crisis — and among its challenges is the urgent need for lawyers to enforce open records laws and assess stories for legal vulnerabilities. In Part One, hear how lawyers from Microsoft and Davis Wright Tremaine joined forces with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the Knight Foundation to build ProJourn, an initiative to protect journalists by equipping them with the pro bono legal support they need to tell impactful, truthful stories.
This podcast provides a behind-the-scenes exploration of pro bono and public interest legal work. These heartening stories are told from both clients’ and lawyers’ perspectives to showcase intimate portraits of lawyers helping those with limited access to justice.
Please note: CLE is not offered for listening to this podcast, and the views and opinions expressed within represent those of the speakers and not necessarily those of PLI.
FEATURED IN THIS EPISODE
Joanna Plichta Boisen
Joanna Boisen joined Davis Wright Tremaine in 2019 as its first Pro Bono Counsel, and today serves as its first Chief Pro Bono & Social Impact Officer. In this role, she leads, oversees, and provides vision for the firm’s acclaimed nationwide pro bono department; creates entrepreneurial and novel flagship initiatives that positively impact underrepresented constituencies nationwide; and procures cutting-edge, high-impact matters that change the world for the better. She maintains her own pro bono practice focusing on BIPOC communities, Holocaust survivor reparation litigation, domestic violence advocacy, and income-eligible nonprofits. Joanna also serves as outside counsel to in-house legal departments interested in building out and developing sophisticated pro bono core priorities and social impact flagship initiatives. Prior to joining DWT, Joanna was a partner and chair of the tax-exempt organizations group at one of Seattle’s leading law firms, where she founded and developed an award-winning, nationally recognized pro bono program and served as that firm’s first pro bono counsel (and then first pro bono partner) for 12 years.
Flavie Fuentes
Flavie Fuentes is the pro bono director for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. She works closely with Microsoft, Davis Wright Tremaine, and the Reporters Committee to lead and further develop the Protecting Journalists Pro Bono Program. Flavie comes from the Thomson Reuters Foundation, where she oversaw the global pro bono service TrustLaw, in North America and the Caribbean, for three years. There, in addition to managing the brokerage service’s core activities, she focused on the Foundation’s media freedom-related activities and collaborated with key players such as CPJ, Media Defence, and UNESCO.
Prior to joining the Thomson Reuters Foundation, Flavie worked in London for Advocates for International Development (“A4ID”), a UK charity that empowers lawyers to eradicate poverty, as the Deputy Head of Partnerships and Legal Services. In this role, Flavie managed the network of nonprofits and social enterprises and assisted them in better understanding and prioritizing their legal needs. Flavie worked extensively in collaboration with several UN agencies, especially through the lens of the Sustainable Development Goals. Flavie also gained experience in Geneva where she worked for International Social Service, a nonprofit dedicated to the promotion of children’s rights in the context of international adoption. She co-authored and published a study on child trafficking in the realm of international adoption. Before that, she worked as an immigration and family lawyer in France.
Flavie is a dual-qualified lawyer in France and England & Wales with an academic background in international human rights. She speaks French, English and Spanish.
Beth Henderson
Beth Henderson is Assistant General Counsel – Pro Bono Director at Microsoft in Redmond, Washington. In this role, she manages the strategy, budget, and operations of Microsoft’s pro bono program on a full-time basis. Her work includes developing and promoting diverse pro bono opportunities globally, overseeing the program’s internal and external communications, and leading projects to facilitate and optimize the practice of pro bono. She also serves on the board of Kids in Need of Defense (KIND). Before joining Microsoft, Beth practiced immigration law in Philadelphia.
Sima Sarrafan
Sima Sarrafan is Assistant General Counsel at Microsoft’s Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs, where she has worked in a variety of capacities, including supporting commercial marketing and consumer businesses and conducting internal investigations. She co-founded ProJourn along with colleagues at Microsoft and DWT and currently co-chairs the ProJourn Advisory Committee. Sarrafan has been active in pro bono legal support and has been twice named Pro Bono Volunteer of the year by Microsoft.
Prior to joining Microsoft, Sarrafan was a Partner at Yarmuth Wilsdon Calfo LLP, where her practice focused on intellectual property and general litigation; served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia and Trial Attorney at the Office of International Affairs at the Department of Justice; and was an associate attorney at Davis Wright Tremaine in communications and media law practice. In addition to her work at Microsoft and with ProJourn, Sarrafan served for approximately six years on the Board of Directors of the Bellevue School District, where she served as President for two years before completing her term. She graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in Economics and earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School, and has taught at Harvard College, Roger Williams School of Law, and Seattle University School of Law.
