For Cheshire lawyer Casey Healey, building a career—and a pro bono practice—representing people whose homes are in foreclosure was a natural response to the housing downturn that peaked right after she passed the bar exam.

Healey was attending Quinnipiac University Law School, working as a paralegal and law clerk. Someone told her about an opening for a temporary assistant law clerk in the New Haven Judicial District, working with a judge who handled foreclosures. Healey applied and got the job.