April 24, 2008

Anne Hansen receives MSBA Becker Award for providing legal services in Gulf Region

William Mitchell student Anne M. Hansen has received the 2008 Bernard P. Becker Volunteer Law Student Award from the Minnesota State Bar Association for her efforts in providing legal services to the disadvantaged. The annual award, presented at the MSBA’s April 24 Assembly, honors work that exemplifies the dedication and commitment to helping poor people that marked the career of the late Bernard P. Becker, a renowned legal aid attorney, William Mitchell law professor, and magistrate judge.

Hansen, who will graduate in May, helped Gulf Region residents with legal issues following Hurricane Katrina and organized Mitchell student volunteers. 

Shortly after the hurricane hit, Hansen spent 3 ½ weeks working for the Red Cross public affairs team in the Gulf Region. When she returned, she met with Mitchell students to share her experiences and inspire additional volunteers. Hansen and nine students spent their 2006 spring break in the Gulf Region helping legal providers at Common Ground, the New Orleans Legal Assistance Center (NOLAC), and the Juvenile Justice Project. They assisted residents with voting rights, insurance mediation, community redevelopment, FEMA notifications, interstate child custody issues, housing problems, bankruptcy protection, and more.

Seeing continuing needs for legal services, Hansen organized additional student trips to the Gulf Region. In August 2006, Mitchell students worked at the Pro Bono Project in New Orleans, assisting clients who had “succession” issues and needed to establish clear title to their real estate. Hansen initiated plans for a third student trip during spring break 2007 and then passed the baton on to other organizers. A fourth group of Mitchell students volunteered this year during spring break. To date, Mitchell students have provided nearly 1,000 hours of service to hurricane relief.

Hansen’s passion for helping the underrepresented in New Orleans inspired Mitchell student Jay Stratton to start Law Students for Legal Disaster Relief in 2007 to formally continue her work.

“Anne’s work will live on,” said Mitchell Professor Peter Knapp, who nominated Hansen for the Becker Award. “Her willingness to step forward at a time when there was a desperate need for help, coupled with her willingness to help lay the necessary groundwork to sustain this project will provide opportunities for William Mitchell students to provide a much needed service to underrepresented people and, as a result of doing so, learn much about the law that cannot be learned in classrooms.”

In addition to helping with Hurricane Katrina recovery, Hansen has worked as a law clerk for the Minnesota AIDS Project and for the Attorney General’s Office in the Health/Antitrust, Charities, Medicaid Fraud, and Complex Litigation Divisions. She has volunteered for the Minnesota Justice Foundation, completing projects with the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault, HOME Line MN, and the Hennepin County Self-Help Center.