Freedom to flourish

• Author: Jill Werner
• Pages: 60-61

60 || ABA JOURNAL MAY 2018

SHUTTERSTOCK

your Aba

EDITED BY LEE RAWLES

LEE.RAWLES@AMERICANBAR.ORG

FREEDOM TO FLOURISH

SAN DIEGO ATTORNEY ESTABLISHES LEGAL CLINIC TO HELP VICTIMS

OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING REBUILD THEIR LIVES BY JILL WERNER

Like most lawyers, Jamie Quient has heard how

building a network is key to getting business referrals,

learning the quirks of opposing counsel, or hearing

insightful tidbits about courtroom conduct.

But for Quient, networking holds the key to a more

basic need: survival. As founder and president of the

Free to Thrive legal clinic in San Diego, she helps human

trafficking victims who are struggling to break from

their traffickers and rebuild their lives.

Quient uses her networking skills to get her clients

access to safe housing, drug treatment programs and

job training.

“My clients are the strongest, most resilient and

determined women that I have ever met in my entire life,”

says Quient, an ABA member since 2012. “They have

complex needs that extend far beyond their legal needs.”

Quient’s typical day is spent traveling through San

Diego County in her mobile office: a Prius equipped

with her laptop, a Wi-Fi hot spot, a briefcase filled with

legal forms, and a blanket and pillow.

Her clients often are traumatized, she says, so “the

blanket and pillow can make a client feel safe and

comfortable.”

Safety, housing and therapy are the first needs that

have to be filled, she says. “We look at all their needs and

basically triage and prioritize them,” she says. “We can’t

work on their legal needs if they’re not safe.”

This is particularly an issue with Quient’s clients who

are serving jail terms. They often have no place to go

when they are released.

“If they get out and their situation is unstable, they’re

likely to go back to their trafficker,” she says.

That’s where her networking pays off. Quient is in

constant contact with community partners who run

residential treatment programs because she knows

space is in tight demand.

“I want my clients to be first in line to get those

spots when they open up,” she says. “If I can bring

them from jail to a safe environment, it gives them

a greater likelihood for success when they get out.”

RESTORING RECORDS

Quient’s passion for her work began when she was

a board member of the Lawyers Club of San Diego

and served as president for the 2016-2017 term. The

association founded the Human Trafficking Collaborative

with the aim of bringing together the legal profession

and the broader community to address trafficking and

support survivors.

Quient, who was a civil litigator with Procopio, Cory,

Hargreaves & Savitch based in San Diego, immersed her-

self in training and began representing clients on a pro

bono basis. She started advocating for legal reform when

she learned of the setbacks experienced by one client who

was sexually exploited for six years beginning at age 16.

Like many victims of human trafficking, Quient’s client

had amassed a criminal record that included drug charges

and citations for failed court appearances. Her criminal