Jennifer A. Archer has been awarded Maine Equal Justice Partners’ prestigious Equal Justice Hero Award, which honors legal professionals who have made a significant contribution to strengthening access to justice in Maine during the past year.
Archer was honored for her work with MEJP and the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine Foundation on a federal class action case seeking to guarantee access to critical health care services for legal immigrants living in Maine and to ensure that they are treated equally under the law.
“Jennifer dedicates hundreds of hours of volunteer legal work on behalf of Maine’s immigrant community. Her recent work with Maine Equal Justice Partners on behalf of legal immigrants denied equal access to medical care has given a voice to hundreds of people who are suffering without appropriate medical care,” said Sara Gagné-Holmes, executive director of Maine Equal Justice Partners. “It’s a privilege to work with Jennifer, to recognize all that she has done and to honor her with the Equal Justice Hero Award.”
A partner at Kelly, Remmel& Zimmerman, Archer was honored during the Pro Bono Award Luncheon at the winter meeting of the Maine State Bar Association, which was held today in South Portland.
Archer is the lead attorney on a suit filed in April 2012 in U.S. District Court against the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to restore health insurance coverage for a man with a life-threatening illness.
The suit was brought on behalf of Hans Bruns, a resident of Fort Fairfield who lost health care coverage through MaineCare in October 2011, and other residents of Maine in similar circumstances. Without MaineCare, Bruns and the other members of the class are unable to pay for the cost of necessary health care, including the treatment for serious illnesses. The suit is ongoing.
Archer joined Kelly, Remmel& Zimmerman in 2002 and became a shareholder in 2009. She graduated from the University of Maine School of Law cum laude and served as a law clerk to the Hon. Justice Donald G. Alexander of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court and as a clerk for the Maine Superior Court with the Hon. Justices Nancy Mills, Robert E. Crowley, Thomas E. Humphrey and Stephen L. Perkins.
Maine Equal Justice Partners is a non-profit legal aid organization that represents individuals with low income in the courts, legislature and administration. Its mission is to find solutions to poverty and improve lives. It is the leading organization in Maine for independent research and analysis of Maine’s safety net programs, and a trusted source for nonpartisan information on TANF, MaineCare, General Assistance and other aid programs.
The following is engraved on the Equal Justice Hero Award:
Pro Bono Equal Justice Hero Award
Maine Equal Justice recognizes the individual lawyers, law firms, and other institutions in the legal profession, who have made a significant contribution to strengthening access to justice in Maine. This Equal Justice Hero award is reserved for those whose efforts seek to bring equal treatment before the law to Maine’s most vulnerable. MEJP Board and Staff extend our deepest appreciation to these award recipients for their commitment and conviction in the pursuit of equal justice for all Maine people.