“I think no one thought it would last as long as it has or be as demanding as it’s been,” says Robert Kirsch, a partner in Wilmer’s Boston office. Kirsch is part of a team that since 2004 has been representing six Bosnians of Algerian descent who have been held at Guantánamo, five of whom have been released.
Some human rights groups initially had doubts about bringing in lawyers from large firms to work on such politically charged cases. But those fears have long since been put to rest, says Shayana Kadidal, the senior managing attorney of the Guantánamo project at the Center for Constitutional Rights. The center has coordinated the efforts of more than 500 pro bono lawyers on the Guantánamo matters. Kadidal says the fact that the Guantánamo prisoner population is down to 171 (as of mid-June) from a high of more than 600 is a “credit to the individuals and the firms who took on these cases. . . . There was an awareness in this group [of lawyers] that political advocacy outside of litigation would be vital to success.”
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
