Client Testimonial

Teresa Gomez and Luz Hernandez - The Work of Practitioner Meehan

Teresa Gomez and Luz Hernandez do not know each other, but they have a lot in common. They are both immigrant women from El Salvador, they are both divorced with children, and they both seem to have the same guardian angel.

What is unusual is that their guardian angel is a lawyer. Lawyers are rarely referred to as guardian angels, but these two women call Michael Meehan, the Long Island solo practitioner who handled their legal cases, just that. 

Gomez was in desperate need of a guardian angel. A mother of three, she was going through a divorce in 1996 and, at the same time, the INS was starting deportation proceedings against her. 

Not working at the time, she looked into hiring a lawyer to fight the deportation order. After discovering how much a few lawyers charged, she found the price prohibitive. But for the sake of her children, all of who are U.S. citizens, Gomez was determined to beat the deportation and remain in the United States. Gomez was facing an uphill legal battle, but she had no choice: she was going to represent herself.

After hearing her plight, a Brooklyn priest, who is also a lawyer, recommended she speak with Meehan, an attorney participating in the City University of New York School of Law practitioner network.

The practitioner networks, which were created at CUNY Law School, University of Maryland Law School, and Northeastern University Law School, are part of the Law School Consortium Project. The Project aims to increase access to justice by supporting law schools to expand their educational and institutional mission beyond graduation to include support and service to solo and small-firm practitioners who are committed to serving low and moderate-income individuals and communities.

Determined to do good while doing well, Meehan takes on many of the immigration cases for the working poor, Central American, immigrant community. After they have been turned away by legal services organizations and other lawyers, Meehan is often their last resort. He will work with the clients to find a mutually acceptable solution, whether it is putting them on a payment plan or lowering his up-front fee.

Meehan took Gomez's case, but charged her what she could afford. Gomez's case has been complex and her status is currently pending.

"He is my angel," says Gomez affectionately. "If I didn't find him I would have went against the INS without a lawyer. I just couldn't afford it," she adds.

Gomez explains that Meehan was very patient. For instance, for one year she was unable to pay him. "He was so considerate. He did not push me. He just said, 'send me what ever you can," she says. Now that she is working, Gomez sends small amounts of money to Meehan on a regular basis.

Not only is Gomez grateful that Meehan offered her a legal fee she could afford, but she praises his legal style. "I know talking to a lawyer can be very hard sometimes, but not with Mr. Meehan. He listens, lets me finish everything I want to express and answers all of my questions," she says.

For Gomez, Meehan is one of a kind. "He is not like other lawyers. He is unique." 

Hernandez, who is equally as grateful to have stumbled on Meehan, agrees that he is unique. "Other lawyers I have gone to, they don't care about the people. They just care about the money," she says. "Michael will do work for the community no matter how much money they have. He has a lot of compassion for the people," she stresses.

When Hernandez met Meehan, her husband had left her, moved to Florida without leaving a trace or any money to take care of their daughter. Hernandez was just scraping by financially and was caring for her child alone. She needed to find a lawyer so she could get a divorce, in order to get child support for her daughter.

She went to three different lawyers but they all refused to take her case because she did not have a large retainer to offer them. If she was not referred to Meehan, Hernandez says she would have officially remained married, without child support, struggling to support her family.

Meehan helped Hernandez locate her husband and won her child support. Because of her positive experience, Hernandez has since referred many people from her church to Meehan. "He helps a lot of people in my community," she explains.

"I feel blessed that I met Michael," says Hernandez. "He is a good man."

Written by Victoria Rivkin,a freelance writer in New York City