Reed Smith pro bono counsel Jayne Fleming had just returned from a community service trip to Guatemala when she heard the news of the 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12. She spent the following days contacting human rights colleagues, asking if they would accompany her to Haiti to provide legal assistance to the earthquake’s survivors.
Initially, Fleming didn’t know what her mission to Haiti would entail. Then, on Jan. 18, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced she would grant humanitarian parole to individuals with compelling need and to orphans who’d been in the process of getting adopted before the quake.
