Pro Bono Spotlight: Attorney Christopher Collins

In December of 2017, a medical provider from UMass Memorial Health Care referred a patient who had been denied Supplement Security Income (SSI) to Community Legal Aid’s Medical-Legal Partnership pro bono project. The client was a 29 year old man who suffered from numerous medical conditions and as a result was unable to work. The client was denied SSI benefits in 2017, was struggling financially and had nowhere to turn.

In February of 2018, Community Legal Aid contacted Attorney J. Christopher Collins, an attorney at the law firm of Mirick O’Connell, to see if he would be willing to take on the case pro bono and file an appeal with the Social Security Administration. Without hesitation Attorney Collins took on the case.

Attorney Collins, an experienced litigator, immersed himself in the case and spent countless hours meeting with the client, reviewing the facts and performing legal research. In one meeting, the client expressed to Attorney Collins that for health reasons he needed to start exercising but he couldn’t afford a gym membership. Attorney Collins exerted a great deal of effort to help the client obtain a free membership to the local Worcester YMCA so he could swim and do other aerobic activities.

Attorney Collins continued to work diligently on this case and advocated for the client at an appeals hearing in October of 2019. In January of 2020, Attorney Collins received the decision awarding the client full benefits and retroactive benefits dating back to 2017. Attorney Collins reflected, “this was one of the most rewarding experiences of my professional career.” The client was overwhelmingly grateful and couldn’t believe the lengths that Attorney Collins went to assist him.

On behalf of Community Legal Aid, we would like to thank Attorney J. Christopher Collins and Mirick O’Connell for their dedication to pro bono work and to the Worcester community.