Lilah Thompson (LAW '17)'s articles on Voices at Temple

Looking Between Borders to Understand the Refugee Experience

Editor’s note: Lilah Thompson ’17 is a PSJD Pro Bono Publico Merit Distinction Honoree. This post originally appeared at the PSJD blog, available here. A refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence. Of the 65.3 million people displaced worldwide 21.3 million are refugees. Over half of the world’s refugees are children. The number of refugees in the world is currently at the highest level ever recorded in human history. To fully understand the stories behind these staggering numbers, I worked with Professor Jaya Ramji Nogales to create Between Borders: A Refugee Simulation Experience. Between Borders is a participatory workshop that simulates the life of a refugee throughout all stages of the refugee process. This simulation is an awareness-building activity that places participants in the “shoes of a refugee” in order to conceptualize the experiences that they face. The simulation focuses on four important aspects: (1) why refugees flee; (2) how they are deemed refugees; (3) how refugees are screened and vetted; and (4) …

Why Giving Is What Lawyers Were Meant To Do

Published by Lilah Thompson (LAW '17)

The thing about lawyers is that we fight for real human beings. By being advocates, we can alleviate someone’s worries, relieve someone’s stress, we can give. Every lawyer does it in a different way – whether through public interest work, through well-informed advice to a client, or through competence in litigation. We all give.

It’s important to recognize that this is a major part of this field. It is why so many lawyers do pro-bono work – not because they are encouraged or obligated to, but because it is rewarding to give back to the community that we live in.