Stoel Rives litigators Wendy Olson and Elijah Watkins were featured in an Idaho Volunteer Lawyers Program (IVLP) “Volunteer Spotlight,” published February 14, 2020. Olson and Watkins provided pro bono counsel to Vickie Smith, who was separated from her son’s father and involved in custody proceedings that were complicated by the need to sort through international law governing the country where her son would reside after the separation.
The IVLP was founded to help low-income individuals and families in Idaho in need of legal assistance but unable to pay for it. IVLP attorneys are recruited from local communities and volunteer their time and expertise at free community legal clinics or when there are cases available that match their areas of interest.
Olson, former U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho, is a partner in Stoel Rives’ Litigation group, where she focuses her practice on government investigations, white-collar criminal defense and civil litigation. Olson has more than two decades’ experience prosecuting white-collar crime cases along with criminal civil rights violations, child sexual exploitation cases and Idaho’s only federal death penalty case.
Watkins is a partner of the firm and a trial attorney who handles complex business litigation in both state and federal courts. He regularly represents companies in consumer and unlawful trade practices actions, intellectual property disputes, products liability matters (with an emphasis on drug and medical device litigation), commercial contract disputes, and real property issues.
Stoel Rives is committed to providing pro bono legal services in the firm’s communities. Each attorney is expected to work toward a goal of providing 50 hours of pro bono service per year, the majority of which should be on behalf of people of limited means or organizations designed to address the needs of such persons. More on the firm’s pro bono policy can be found here.