By Gwyneth K. Shaw
Berkeley Law 1L Gabrielle Ladun chose the school in large part because of its vaunted pro bono culture. Over spring break, instead of taking a respite from her busy schedule, she leaned into yet another new experience: Working with San Jose State University (SJSU) undergraduates to help expunge criminal records through the Record Clearance Project (RCP).
Ladun signed up through Berkeley Law’s Pro Bono Program because of her interest in criminal justice reform and direct client services. But as a first-generation law student, she was also drawn by the opportunity to mentor SJSU prelaw students. Though just a week, the experience was highly valuable, she says.
“Learning about how to build client rapport was a major highlight, and I enjoyed connecting with my client throughout the week. Additionally, while working on the expungement petition, we had a writing workshop and direct attorney feedback on how to write persuasively,” Ladun says. “I appreciated the opportunity to improve my advocacy skills in a real life context.
“Additionally, I was paired with an SJSU undergrad, who ended up teaching me a wealth of information about the expungement process. Working with such a passionate, driven pre-law student gave me so much hope for the future, an outcome I was not expecting.”
The feeling was mutual.
“Working with my law student was so amazing,” says SJSU student Dianna Esquivias Medina, who partnered with Ladun. “I dream of going to law school, and my partner solidified everything. We were helping each other in so many different ways.”
A unique opportunity
Founded and led by SJSU Lecturer Margaret (Peggy) Stevenson, RCP helps people with criminal records understand their legal rights to expunge them and offers legal assistance throughout the process. Stevenson established the RCP after 12 years of law school clinical teaching as the only clinical legal services program in the country at the undergraduate level.
“Amazing things happen when the teams of law students and undergrads work together to interview clients and draft their court petitions in this intense week,” Stevenson says. “Everyone who is involved leaves the week enriched.”
Since Berkeley Law began partnering with RCP in 2021 — Stanford Law students also participate — it’s been an amazing addition to the program.
“Every Berkeley Law student who has joined this adventure over the years has brought energy, dedication, kindness, intelligence, and diligence to this shared work,” Stevenson says. “Their willingness to step into new situations to further social justice is inspiring. I am grateful for the help they have provided to RCP clients and the generosity they have shown to SJSU undergrads and this program.”
Pro Bono Program Director Deborah Schlosberg says she’s grateful Berkeley Law students have access to the service learning partnership.
“There is beauty in Berkeley Law and Stanford Law students connecting through service while assisting folks with expunging their records and mentoring future law students at SJSU,” she says.
2L Jessica Shannon and LL.M. student Ksheeraja Satish both signed up for the spring break opportunity to get a closer look at the criminal justice system. Like Ladun, they found the week was packed with fulfilling experiences.
“I’ve done a lot of work with direct client services, and I enjoy it,” says Shannon, who is involved with the East Bay Community Law Center’s Housing Clinic. “But I had never done anything related to criminal law, and I wanted to see if it was something that I was interested in. And record clearance is such a beautiful thing to do. Housing court is often very doom and gloom, but when we went to court one day during our week there, the judge was clapping for our clients.
“It was a really amazing project. And I’m glad that I got to see a positive aspect of the whole criminal legal system.”
Branching out
As a lawyer in India, Satish had brief opportunities to engage in pro bono cases, but no experience with the criminal system. When the RCP group went to the Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas, it was the first time she’d ever been in a jail.
Satish has done extensive pro bono work during her time in Berkeley and calls it a highlight of her experience, with spring break a particularly bright spot. She praised the training she and others received from RCP staff and students, and says it was eye-opening to hear from former clients who testified about what expunging their records had done for them.
“It was only through this project that I was able to understand how it’s so important in giving people a second chance in life,” Satish says. “The entire project gave us an understanding of how it is actually coming out in practice. It gives you a way to see that what you’re doing makes sense and it’s meaningful.”
After their training, students visited the Milpitas jail to help present a guide to clearing a criminal record to people in custody. When Stevenson introduced the law students, explaining that they were spending their spring break to work on clients’ expungement cases, the 60 men in custody attending the session burst into applause.
Law students did interviews with clients, worked on their clearance petitions, and joined the introductory RCP course as SJSU students heard from RCP’s Path to Expungement peer mentoring program. In that session, two clients who were recently released from custody spoke about the help they got from mentors who’d had their own records cleared.
During the middle of the week, they went to the Family Justice Center in San Jose to see live hearings where a judge cleared RCP clients’ records. When their clients’ cases are calendared, law students are invited to court to speak on their behalf.
“It’s an overwhelmingly positive experience, and it’s so client-centered and client-driven — the clients have already done all of the work in their personal lives, and this is just like the final little bit, to be able to assist them with whatever is left holding them back,” Shannon says. “They have families, they’ve done everything that they needed to do, and are invaluable members of their communities. It’s so beautiful to be able to do this last little thing because you’re making a real difference.”
Her career focus is intellectual property and privacy law, but Ladun says Berkeley Law gives students many avenues to stretch outside their main field. She’s grateful she seized one.
“I came to Berkeley knowing pro bono work will always be important to me. Participating in the Record Clearance Project certainly reaffirmed that,” Ladun says. “I am a former Peace Corps volunteer, and that spirit of service has stayed with me. This was my first time doing legal work in any capacity, and I left with more confidence that I can be a good advocate and lawyer through establishing rapport with clients.
“I hope to take that confidence into my career going forward and continue my commitment to pro bono work.”
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