Brittaney Barnett was a successful accountant for an international firm. She switched to law and became a rising star in the corporate legal world, but something along the way moved her into a very different path.
She threw herself into pro bono work to free those serving life behind bars for non-violent offenses. Along with her colleague, MiAngel Cody, she has freed dozens of people. Seven of her clients received clemency from President Obama. Kim Kardashian West learned about her work and lobbied President Trump to free another client: a 63 year-old grandma (an ordained minister) who had already served 21 years behind bars for a drug offense.
But those are just the higher-profile moments of the years she spent in grueling labor to get people free. The American Bar Association has named Brittaney as one of America’s outstanding young lawyers. Her story is shared in her forthcoming book, “A Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom.” It’s part spell-binding legal drama and part emotional coming-of-age story. Van Jones has called it “an essential book of our time.”
Learn more about Brittaney’s important work in this episode of the Filevine Fireside. Watch out for her new book releasing this September, and consider donating to the Buried Alive Project to help Brittaney drive meaningful reform in the criminal justice system.
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