Sam Lawrence, JD, MSW

Sam Lawrence, JD, MSW

Equal Justice Works Fellow

Bio

Sam Lawrence is an Equal Justice Works fellow sponsored by The Clorox Company Foundation and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Sam will be working to implement a project that he designed to fill a gap in representation for children in North Carolina’s juvenile legal system. In North Carolina, as well as most states around the country, the right to counsel for children does not include the post-disposition phase of the case. As a result, most children who are sent to juvenile prison, never speak to an attorney while they are incarcerated. Children do not have a legal advocate to make sure they are getting the educational and therapeutic services that they need. Children do not have a lawyer to advocate for them if they have done everything right in prison and have a strong case for release. Children often feel forgotten. Sam will visit children in juvenile prisons across North Carolina, listen to their experiences and assess their legal needs. He will use his social work background to craft holistic reentry plans with his clients and their families, building on their internal strengths and connecting them to additional support in the community. Sam will present these reentry plans as concrete alternatives to incarceration through which these children can return home and thrive in their communities. Sam will also assist the Just Sentencing Project with post-conviction representation for children charged in the adult system.

Sam received his BA in history from Oberlin College, his MSW from UNC at Chapel Hill and his JDfrom Duke Law School. Sam has worked with children and families who are court involved for over a decade. After college, he moved to New Orleans where he worked at a middle school and also as a Youth Advocate at a holistic juvenile defender’s office. He then pursued his social work degree, was trained in the treatment of childhood trauma at Center for Child and Family Health in Durham and went on to provide Intensive In-home therapy for children in Durham and the surrounding counties. He is excited to bring together his experience in education, social work and law to expand representation for children in North Carolina.