The Newcomers Resource Project honors William D. de Voe for his pro bono representation of immigrant workers. The Newcomers Resource Project serves immigrants and refugees in our community, helping individuals gain access to legal resources and direct representation.
One component of the Newcomers Resource Project is its Wage Claim Project, a collaboration with CASA Latina, a day laborers’ center, which strives to recoup wages owed to immigrant workers. It is with this project that de Voe has provided his tireless service.
De Voe recently took on his first wage claim — agreeing to work with two brothers who were owed more than a month’s worth of wages. The case originally appeared to be a simple lien case, but evolved into a long and complex process that thus far has involved coordinated action between legal services in multiple counties, negotiation between parties and their representatives, and intensive strategizing — all in the name of recouping less than $4,000 and working retroactively to keep two workers from being treated as slaves.
Although a newcomer to the Newcomers Resource Project, de Voe has been a longtime supporter of KCBA’s pro bono services. He has volunteered at the bilingual Spanish Legal Clinic, even serving as a co-attorney coordinator for the clinic. He also has provided pro bono legal representation for clients with the Volunteer Attorneys for Persons with HIV/AIDS (VAPWA) program.
Originally from Santa Maria, California, de Voe went to college in Minnesota and got his law degree from Gonzaga University. He was drawn to the law by a desire to understand and engage with the dynamic shifts of law as it relates to the functioning of society in the United States.
De Voe specializes in maritime and transportation law, and also does a significant amount of commercial collection work. When not at work, he is involved in a variety of projects — everything from cultivating a love of reading in his son to showing his three Border Collies in sheep dog trials. He lives on Vashon Island and realizes a law school dream every morning as he takes the passenger ferry to his office.
De Voe has made his mark on the Newcomers Wage Claim Project due to his precise and creative work. His commitment to his clients and to recouping the wages owed is evident in his flexibility when accommodating the needs of his clients, his determined collection and utilization of all pertinent and possibly helpful information, and his consistent communication with his clients and the Newcomers Resource Project. He has proven himself to be an able advocate and seemingly tireless champion for the rights of the immigrant worker.
When told that he was to receive recognition for his work as a volunteer, de Voe responded humbly by saying that he had “not got the brothers one penny.” We honor you, Bill, not for the shower of pennies that you have rained upon the heads of your clients, but because you work alongside them, champion their claims and demand that those who have abdicated their responsibility as employers pay for the services that have been rendered. Your dogged pursuit of justice, your work in solidarity with essential yet vulnerable laborers, deserves — and demands — our praise.
Congratulations to Bill de Voe for being selected as the Community Legal Services Volunteer of the Month. The Newcomers Resource Project thanks him for his energy and compassion, and for all the work that he has done.
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