Laura K.Tuell

Partner

Washington + 1.202.879.7648

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Laura Tuell is the Global Partner-in-Charge of Pro Bono. Laura has long been one of the Firm's most active pro bono practitioners. She has represented numerous immigrants seeking asylum, particularly women seeking protection against gender persecution. Laura also has experience in housing discrimination, landlord-tenant law, death penalty issues, police reform, human trafficking, hate crimes, and general poverty law issues. Laura has served on the board of directors of numerous nonprofit organizations and is currently on the board of the Public International Law Network and Bread for the City. Among many awards for her efforts, she was named D.C. Bar Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year.

As the Global Partner-in-Charge of Pro Bono, Laura is working to build a global pro bono program that provides opportunities for Jones Day lawyers around the world to serve the diverse communities in which the Firm has a presence. She has been instrumental in leading the Firm's Border Project, which began in 2014 focusing on unaccompanied minors and mothers with children and has expanded to include two offices serving migrants on the border in Texas in Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley. Laura also has leadership roles in the Firm's various initiatives including the Firm's Constitutional Policing and Civil Justice Reform Initiative and the Human Trafficking Task Force.

Prior to assuming her current position, Laura was an up-from-the-ranks partner in the Firm's Business & Tort Litigation Practice and has broad experience in complex domestic and international commercial litigation and arbitration.

Experience

  • Pro bono client, a first-time offender, serving a thirty-two year sentence obtains compassionate releaseOn November 22, 2021, Jones Day attorneys secured the compassionate release of Daniel Alan Gregory.
  • Survivor of human trafficking obtains termination of probationAs part of the Firm's Post-Conviction Relief Initiative for Survivors of Human Trafficking, a Jones Day team obtained an order terminating the probation of a client whose criminal convictions directly resulted from her human-trafficking experience.
  • Couple wins asylum after fleeing persecution for opposing Venezuela's totalitarian regimeOn April 15, Jones Day won asylum for clients F and A, a Venezuelan couple persecuted for their political opposition to the dictatorial regime of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
  • Incarcerated pro bono client secures monetary settlement in civil rights action against law enforcement officersJones Day secured a monetary settlement for an incarcerated pro bono client who brought claims against law enforcement officers for excessive force under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and related state law.
  • Student activist from Venezuela obtains asylumJones Day obtained asylum on behalf of K.P, who, at the age of 20, was forced to flee Venezuela because he opposed the Venezuelan government and its president, Nicolás Maduro.
  • Venezuelan woman and her children obtain asylumOn February 6, 2020, Jones Day successfully persuaded an immigration judge to grant asylum for client A and her son and daughter based on their persecution at the hands of the Venezuelan government for client A's political opinions.
  • Salvadoran woman and son obtain asylum due to persecution by MS-13 gangJones Day has secured asylum for client G and her minor son, who were threatened by gang members due to their relationship to a police officer.
  • Prisoner successfully resolves dispute against national health insurerAs a part of the Western District of Pennsylvania's Pro Se Pro Bono ADR Program, Jones Day successfully represented Kamaiyo Bullins against a national health insurer.
  • Honduran woman obtains asylum in contested immigration caseJones Day represented pro bono a woman from Honduras in connection with the Firm’s Laredo Project.
  • Jones Day secures asylum for LGBTQ JamaicanJones Day secured asylum for DG, a Jamaican native, based on her membership of the LGBTQ community.
  • Jones Day wins asylum for Guatemalan woman and her three young childrenOn January 25, 2018 a Jones Day team secured a final, non-appealable order granting asylum for client M and her three young children.
  • Asylum granted to unaccompanied minors from GuatemalaJones Day successfully represented sisters K.C. and K.S., two unaccompanied minors from Guatemala, in obtaining asylum utilizing a novel "Cinderella" theory.
  • Client receives full social security disability benefitsJones Day Washington, in association with the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, helped a single man obtain social security disability benefits in a hearing before the Social Security Administration’s Office of Disability Adjudication and Review.
  • Scholars file amicus brief in Ninth Circuit related to executive order on immigrationJones Day filed an amicus brief on behalf of a group of constitutional law scholars to assist the Ninth Circuit as it considered whether to grant an emergency stay of a temporary injunction entered by the District Court for the Western District of Washington.
  • Honduran clients granted asylumJones Day Houston prevailed after a four-hour evidentiary hearing and obtained an asylum grant on behalf of our clients, H.C., a Honduran woman who had suffered extreme domestic violence in Honduras, and A.C., her young daughter.
  • Special Immigrant Juvenile Status granted to El Salvadoran childJones Day successfully represented a juvenile client in his petition for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, which is available for children who have been abused, abandoned or neglected in their home country and it is not in their best interest to be returned there.
  • Jamaican national secures deferral of removalOn May 10, 2016, an Immigration Judge granted Jones Day’s client, R.D., deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture.
  • Victim of domestic violence and her children obtain lawful permanent statusJones Day assisted client M.S. and her three children in obtaining lawful permanent resident status in the United States.
  • Jones Day secures asylum for mother and son from SenegalIn April 2015, Jones Day secured a grant of asylum for K.D., a client from Senegal, and her son following an affirmative application.
  • Mother obtains Orders of Protection for herself and her children, full custody of her children, and child support order above state standardsA Jones Day team assisted a mother with filing a Family Offense Petition and obtained final Orders of Protection against her abusive husband in favor of the mother and her four, young children.
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    January 2023 Video

    Access to Justice at the Border: The Laredo Project

    October 2022 White Paper

    Global Spotlight on Labor Trafficking in Health Care and Corporate Supply Chains

    January 2020 Jones Day Publications

    Jones Day's Anti-Human Trafficking Initiatives 2020-2021

    July/August 2014 External Publications

    Making A Difference: Pro Bono At Jones Day, The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel®

    2013 Jones Day Publications

    Pro Bono Report 2013

    2012 Jones Day Publications

    Pro Bono Report 2012

    July/August 2013 External Publications

    Making A Difference: Pro Bono At Jones Day, The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel

    April 2013 Jones Day Publications

    Pro Bono Press

    January 2013 Jones Day Publications

    Pro Bono Press

    July/August 2012 External Publications

    Jones Day: Pro Bono Without Borders, The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel
    View All

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