CBA Record September-October 2025

THE YOUNG LAWYERS SECTION

Real Work, Real Impact: Building Skills Through Pro Bono Service By Bernadette Coyle

I f you had asked me what I expected from my first year as a lawyer, I would have said legal research, memo writing, docu ment review, maybe even a deposition outline if I got lucky. I did not expect that my first six months as a lawyer would include a federal court trial representing a survivor of gender-based vio lence in a case that would shape her family’s future. But that is exactly what happened. I joined a team of law yers working on a pro bono case brought under the Hague Con vention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The case was urgent, complex, and emotionally charged. It also became one of the most formative professional experiences of my first year and transformed my understanding of the role of a lawyer. I walked away with real practical litigation skills that I will use throughout my career and a much deeper sense of what it means to be an advocate. A Fast Track into Practice Our client, a United States citizen, previously lived abroad with her children. They returned to the U.S. after facing escalating violence and fears concerning the children’s safety. Not long

after, she was served with a petition brought under the Hague Convention. The petition demanded she return her children to the foreign country from which they fled. At stake were not just complicated issues of international law, but the future of a family who had already endured significant trauma. I joined the case in its early stages, and within weeks it was set for trial–just four and a half months out. This was an extremely expedited timeline, especially considering the intricacy of the issues, the high emotional stakes, and the fact that this would be my first trial experience. From that point forward, every phase of litigation moved quickly. During discovery, the parties exchanged tens of thousands of pages of documents. Pretrial motions came rapidly. We built our case from the ground up, prepared fact wit nesses, and worked with our expert witness to develop a clear, credible, and compelling narrative. Skills, Mentorship, and Perspective In those four and a half months, I learned more than I ever thought possible. I built foundational litigation skills that I will continue to refine and develop throughout my career. I gained insight into

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