Human Trafficking Legal Center

Referrals of trafficking cases to pro bono counsel and direct legal services: in 2024, htlc referred 41 matters to pro bono partners. Pro bono referrals included criminal victim-witness, civil, vacatur/expungement, tax, immigration, and family law matters. These pro bono referrals connected clients with highly skilled pro bono advocates, leveraging millions of dollars in free legal services for trafficking victims who otherwise would not have had legal representation. In addition to these referrals, htlc continued to grow its in-house representation for trafficking survivors in immigration and criminal victim-witness cases, providing pro bono legal services for more than thirty clients in 2024.

Technical assistance to pro bono attorneys: htlc provided extensive technical assistance and mentoring to attorneys handling trafficking cases pro bono in 2024. In addition to a general resource library, htlc continued to provide pro bono counsel access to databases with case materials collected from federal courts. As of december 2024, the database included more than 920 federal civil trafficking cases, with more than 400 pro bono attorneys and advocates nationwide enjoying free access to the database. The organization held monthly civil litigation calls to share case updates and build a community of anti-trafficking civil litigators.in 2024, htlc's attorneys provided approximately 900 hours of expert technical assistance to victims' rights attorneys, pro bono lawyers, civil litigators, and immigration practitioners. Pro bono counsel, with technical support from htlc attorneys, won significant damages and criminal restitution for trafficking survivors.

Database management: the database management effort supports the human trafficking legal center's work on criminal restitution for trafficking survivors and technical assistance to pro bono attorneys on civil and criminal cases.

Training of pro bono attorneys: htlc has trained more than 5,500 pro bono attorneys at law firms and non-governmental organizations across the united states. Htlc provides these training sessions free of charge. The curriculum includes instruction for pro bono attorneys on criminal restitution for trafficking victims, remission for trafficking victims, civil litigation on behalf of trafficking victims, strategic litigation, and immigration relief for victims. Htlc has reached thousands more attorneys through online training sessions, national webinars, and national conferences.

Advocacy: in 2024, htlc conducted extensive appellate advocacy for trafficking survivors, filing three amicus briefs in human trafficking cases pending in the appellate courts: one in the supreme court, one in the ninth circuit court of appeals, and one pending before the inter-american commission for human rights (iachr). In each case, htlc filed these amicus briefs with the assistance of pro bono counsel. The organization spearheaded efforts to combat forced labor in global supply chains, leading the coalition against forced labour in trade and the tariff act advocates group. These coalitions pressed for the universal adoption and enforcement of import bans to block goods tainted by forced labor from entering markets around the globe. In addition to advocating for enforcement of the forced labor prohibitions under section 307 of the tariff act and the uyghur forced labor prevention act, the organization fought for justice for all trafficking survivors. Htlc continued to fight for policies to protect domestic workers trafficked by diplomats.

Trafficking survivor leadership program: in 2024, htlc launched the harriet tubman fellowship to support labor trafficking survivors leading their communities. In may, htlc announced the inaugural class of harriet tubman fellows, seven remarkable leaders selected from a competitive field of eighty-four candidates. Each successful fellow in the harriet tubman fellowship received a two-year scholarship, mentoring, and a stipend to pursue educational opportunities. The harriet tubman fellows traveled to washington, dc to participate in training and conduct advocacy with federal agencies. Htlc continued to have survivor-leaders at all levels of the organization: on the staff, on the organization's leadership team, on the board of directors, as consultants, and on the advisory board.