Empire College recognized for community service

Long before Frank Antonini graduated from Empire College School of Law, he was paying his dues at the Sonoma County Public Defender’s Office, conducting legal research and writing briefs as an unpaid law clerk.

“I’ve been in here countless weekends with other clerks, putting in time to make sure assignments are completed and done competently,” he said Friday as he typed away on a motion.

It’s been a valuable experience for Antonini, who passed the bar this year, but it also is a service to the community.

Combined, Antonini and third- and fourth-year law and paralegal students at Empire donated $191,250 in pro bono work to the Public Defender’s and District Attorney’s offices this year, freeing up full-time lawyers to handle trials and court appearances.

Their efforts - along with contributions made by Empire College accounting, hospitality, medical assistance and information technology students - earned the Santa Rosa school a spot on President Barack Obama’s 2014 Higher Education Community Service honor roll.

The award recognizes colleges and universities that help solve community problems, putting students on paths toward civic engagement. For the third straight year, Empire College received a “with distinction” notation for finishing among the top 128 schools of the more than 900 nationwide that applied. Last year, the school ranked No. 17.

“It is really gratifying to be recognized,” said Roy Hurd, Empire College president. “There are some really big names on that honor roll.”

In addition to assisting in the criminal justice world, law students donated $20,000 in services to Sonoma County Legal Aid and a campus small claims advisory clinic.

Among the other contributions from Empire College students were:

Accounting students helped more than 400 low-income taxpayers obtain $773,534 in refunds through a campus tax clinic for United Way’s “Earn It! Keep It! Save It!” program. Refunds included earned income tax credits, child tax credits and elderly credits.

Medical assistant students gave out 1,100 free flu vaccinations and offered blood pressure checks and glucose screenings at employee health fairs and through the Empire Flu Shot Clinic.

And information technology students raised money for autism awareness.

Public Defender Kathleen Pozzi, a criminal law teacher at Empire College for 27 years, said the emphasis on community service has been a considerable advantage for her office, which is charged with providing legal services to the poor.

She typically has a half-dozen Empire students writing motions and briefs for her overextended staff. Many of her law clerks end up getting hired after they’ve passed the bar.

“It’s because of our partnership that our office is able to keep up with legal research and current law,” Pozzi said. “They educate the attorneys as much as the attorneys educate them.”

Antonini graduated from Sonoma State University in 2009 and started volunteering for Pozzi in his second year at Empire College. He worked without pay for a while before gaining enough experience to write legal papers and interact with clients. He recently sat “second-chair” in a felony trial, getting a chance to see firsthand how the system works.

“It was fantastic,” said Antonini, who grew up in Petaluma. “You could not get better experience in a more nurturing environment. The Public Defender’s Office is full of people who care about helping others.”

There’s friendly competition among fellow students and those in the District Attorney’s Office to do the best work and even argue cases before the bench.

“The great thing about Empire is you have practitioners teaching the students,” said District Attorney Jill Ravitch, who also teaches at the school. “It makes it more real to them.”

Robert Blade, who also recently passed the bar, said he put in about 20 hours of unpaid time a week helping Sonoma County prosecutors in various roles. He said he was eager to participate in the hands-on training in the legal profession.

“It was a phenomenal opportunity,” said Blade, a Sonoma resident who is now a supervising law clerk for the district attorney. “You get to give back to the community and it’s incredibly rewarding.”

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com.