{"id":3121,"date":"2022-01-06T09:19:03","date_gmt":"2022-01-06T14:19:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wilkinsonstekloff.com\/?p=3121"},"modified":"2022-01-06T09:19:06","modified_gmt":"2022-01-06T14:19:06","slug":"wilkinson-stekloff-secures-asylum-for-client-in-pro-bono-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wilkinsonstekloff.com\/wilkinson-stekloff-secures-asylum-for-client-in-pro-bono-victory\/","title":{"rendered":"Wilkinson Stekloff Secures Asylum for Client in Pro Bono Victory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Working pro bono on behalf of an immigrant seeking asylum from the ongoing armed conflict in Cameroon, Wilkinson Stekloff associates Sarah Neuman<\/a> and Alison Zoschak<\/a> delivered a victory for their client in Arlington Immigration Court in Virginia just before the Christmas holiday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team \u2014 which also included partner James Rosenthal<\/a>, legal assistant Jack Satti, and case manager Patrick O\u2019Keefe \u2014 represented an English-speaking teacher from Cameroon who was repeatedly detained and tortured by the Cameroonian government and also received a death threat from the separatist fighters who oppose that same government. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur client is passionate about education,\u201d Sarah explained. He was a youth activist, and starting in 2013, he took on a leadership role in an organization focused on youth empowerment. The government mistook the organization\u2019s meetings, which took place in the Anglophone regions of the country, as opposition party meetings. From that time forward, the client was on the government\u2019s blacklist and was repeatedly targeted for detention and torture. He was later detained and tortured for refusing to give the government names of separatist fighters. At the same time, separatist fighters threatened to kill the client based on their mistaken belief that he was a government collaborator. \u201cWe knew from the outset that our client had a compelling asylum claim based on the treatment he endured in Cameroon, and we just needed to assemble the evidence to support his story,\u201d Sarah noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team engaged two expert witnesses and obtained several fact-witness affidavits in support of their client\u2019s asylum claim. They filed a brief and hundreds of pages of supporting materials ahead of the October 22, 2021, hearing where the case was argued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On December 21, 2021, the Immigration Judge granted the client\u2019s asylum application. The government waived its right to appeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis ruling enables our client to remain safely and free of fear in the United States,\u201d said Alison. \u201cWe\u2019re so proud to have been able to advocate on his behalf and thrilled to have achieved this successful outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since its founding, Wilkinson Stekloff has demonstrated its commitment to pro bono work across practice areas including immigration, family law, civil rights, post-conviction representation, and appellate matters. The firm has been honored with Chambers\u2019 \u201cHighly Commended Pro Bono Program\u201d award and, in 2020, recognized by the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice (LACLJ) as its Pro Bono Partner of the Year, noting that the firm\u2019s pro bono advocacy on behalf of low-income women experiencing domestic violence \u201chas been vital to these individual clients and has brought safety and security to them and their children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other significant pro bono victories include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n