One of the projects I'm working on this summer is an annual pro bono event organized by the Anti Defamation League(ADL). Every summer the ADL organizes summer associates in law firms around the country to research and report back on current civil rights issues. Our memo, for instance, is a survey of hate crimes legislation in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. We have been working on the project independently for a number of weeks, and soon we will get together with students at other law firms and all present our findings. Here is the press release from 2007 (I couldn't find one for 2008). So far it’s been a good chance to see how pro bono efforts are handled at the firm, an occasion to brush up on my legislative research skills, and a long overdue education on hate crimes laws in the New England area.

In other news, here are some of the interesting, law-related items I've read this week:

Another interesting article from the Washington Post, written by a law professor at Georgetown.

A bizarre story from the New York Times on a man who pretended to be a federal agent...for months.

A more local legal dispute/(over Legal Sea Food advertisements on the MBTA).

Have a great week!