The Midwest Innocence Project (MIP), based in Kansas City, MO, is committed to freeing the innocent in Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Iowa, and Nebraska, standing with them as they rebuild life after release, and advocating for systemic reforms to prevent wrongful convictions in the future. Matthew Jacober, Partner in Lathrop GPM’s St. Louis office, sat down with me to share more about MIP’s important work and how he balances pro bono work with his practice.
Matthew, can you share more about the Midwest Innocence Project’s work and why it’s so important?
The best way to understand the Midwest Innocence Project is that they take a truly holistic approach to innocence cases. It starts with requests from people who believe they’re wrongfully incarcerated. MIP reviews those requests to determine eligibility, looking at factors like the crime, the sentence, and whether there’s a viable path forward. If someone qualifies, the team opens a file and begins investigating. Proving innocence and identifying a procedural avenue is essential, and it really does take a full team of investigators, in-house attorneys, and pro bono lawyers, who all play critical roles.
Beyond casework, MIP serves three other essential functions. First, they provide counseling support. People who have been wrongfully incarcerated, along with their families, carry significant trauma, and MIP helps them all navigate the experience.
Second, they offer reentry assistance. There’s a cruel irony here: when someone finishes a sentence and is released, the state provides services like transportation, clothing, and help finding work. But when someone is exonerated, the system simply opens the door and sends them on their way. MIP steps in to make sure people aren’t starting from nothing. It’s critically important.
Finally, MIP engages in legislative advocacy. There are countless ways our system can improve, but change doesn’t happen without someone pushing for it. MIP works with state lawmakers to help reform the laws that allowed these injustices to occur in the first place.
How did you get involved with the Midwest Innocence Project?
I first learned about innocence work while working on a big mass tort case with one my partners, Bill Beck, when I was a young partner. Bill practices both tort and insurance recovery work. Bill was working on an insurance recovery matter with another one of our partners, Nicol Fitzhugh, whose spouse was co-counsel with Barry Scheck on the Ellen Reasonover matter, out of St. Louis County, Missouri. Barry’s team successfully overturned Ms. Reasonover’s conviction and was seeking damages for her wrongful conviction. The arresting police department was a small St. Louis County town, who claimed to have limited insurance. Bill and Nicol explored the insurance angle further and ultimately settled the case during mediation, for well in excess of the claimed limits. A working relationship with Barry and the Innocence Project was formed.
At the same time, I was feeling a strong desire to take on work that was more meaningful. Bill encouraged me to get involved on the pro bono side, helping with the actual exoneration cases, rather than just the civil claims. He connected me with Tricia Bushnell, who had recently become the Executive Director at MIP. After confirming our firm would support the work, I reached out to her, and she immediately got us involved.
My first case was representing Faye Jacobs in Arkansas. Faye had been arrested at 16 and sentenced to life without parole for a capital murder she did not commit. We had strong evidence for her innocence, but recent changes in Supreme Court sentencing rules created a chance for her to be resentenced to time served and released immediately, but only if she gave up the strong habeas petition we had worked on. It was an excruciating decision that she had to make in the courthouse holding cell with very little time. Ultimately, she chose to take the resentencing so she could go home, but as a result, she wasn’t formally exonerated.
Once that case was resolved, I was hooked. It had such an impact on me emotionally; I truly made a difference in someone’s life. What’s that saying: “It’s better that one hundred guilty men go free, then one innocent person be confined to jail.” I really took that to heart.
You have a demanding practice at the firm. How do you balance that work with your pro bono work?
I just make it work; I find the time. I’m incredibly fortunate to have a wife who believes in this work as well and sees the value. Pro bono is part of what we’re supposed to do as lawyers; it should be something that every lawyer wants to do, and does willingly and happily.
But in addition to that, and I think it’s okay to be shameless on this, it has impacted the growth of my practice. Lathrop has been really good at publicizing my work, and I routinely have existing clients who follow our press releases and comment on how proud they are that their lawyer is doing this work. I routinely have people call and say, “if you’re going to fight this hard for someone who isn’t paying you, then you’re the lawyer I want because I can’t imagine how hard you’re going to fight for me if I’m paying.” And, it’s nice to have support at the top from firm leaders. It makes a huge difference– I can’t emphasize that enough. It’s one of our pillars, pro bono work, and the firm has gotten behind it 110%. It’s a credit to the firm’s leadership.
What advice do you have for those just starting out with pro bono?
Try different things; don’t lock yourself in. Find something that helps you develop your skills and provides personal satisfaction. Your career is not going to be as fulfilling if you don’t mix in work where you’re impacting someone’s life. You have the skills, and you ought to use them.
For more information on the Midwest Innocence Project, please visit https://themip.org/. A documentary on their work can be found on PBS at Innocence Should Be Enough.
Kristen Sonday
Kristen is the Co-Founder and CEO at Paladin. As a first generation-college Princeton graduate, Kristen first witnessed how complicated our judicial system is to navigate while at the U.S. Department of Justice conducting international criminal work in Mexico and Central America. As one of the few Latinos on the team, she saw the immense value of having an advocate with you throughout the legal process, which inspired her to want to build something to increase access for those in diverse communities. After DOJ, she joined the Founding Team of YC-backed Grouper, where she learned how to build a startup from the ground up. In addition to Paladin, Kristen Co-Chairs the Legal Services Corporation’s Emerging Leaders Council and is a partner at LongJump, investing in overlooked founders in the Chicago area.
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