Team Member Spotlight Lauren Barker Hachad
It’s no secret that immigration law
Man’s Smartest Friend Lulu the Pot-Bellied Pig’s Cunning Plan to Save Her Owner According to animal experts, pigs are smarter than any other domestic animal, including cats and dogs. That may seem hard to believe, as you probably associate pigs with a pink, smelly animal that oinks and rolls around in the muck. However, the story of how Lulu the pot-bellied pig saved her owner’s life might persuade you to reconsider. Back in 1998 (otherwise this story would have certainly gone viral), Lulu the pig was a permanent fixture at Jo Ann and Jack Altsman’s property in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. They had initially only taken Lulu from her original owner, the Altsmans’ daughter, for a temporary stay, but they ended up bonding with Lulu, and she was with them for much longer than expected. On Aug. 4, Jo Ann suffered from a heart attack. Jack was out of town on a fishing trip, and even though Jo Ann cried for help and even threw an alarm clock out the window, no one heard her cries from their somewhat secluded home. The family’s dog, Bear, barked and barked to no avail. Lulu, however, knew Jo Ann needed help quickly and waddled into action. Lulu made her way to the nearest road, scraping her skin in the process and leaving it torn and bleeding. Once she reached the road, she laid down as if to play dead. Not long after that, a passing driver saw Lulu and stopped to check on her. Once Lulu was sure she had the driver’s attention, she got up and waddled back toward her home, leading the driver to where Jo Ann lay on the floor. When the driver found Jo Ann, he immediately called 911, and emergency services took her to a medical center for open-heart surgery. Had just 15 more minutes passed without help, Jo Ann would have died. For her heroism, Lulu received the Tiffany gold hero’s medal from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and made multiple television appearances as her fame spread. Hopefully, she was smart enough to know just how much she was appreciated.
draws a certain kind of person — someone who doesn’t give up, who loves their clients, and who believes in the American promise of a new beginning. New Frontier Attorney Lauren Barker Hachad is one of those people, and when she decided to come back to practicing law after raising her family, we were quick to snatch
her up. “After my past work, I knew I needed time to bring up my kids,” Lauren says. “My family is my only hobby — and I know that the same is true for many of my clients.” By “past work,” Lauren is referring to an impressive legal career, including time as the children’s staff attorney at the Florence Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people being held at the Florence Detention Center. As her title implies, many of those “people” are, in fact, children. Lauren did this work for years, despite the high toll it takes on those who walk that path. “There is high turnover,” Lauren admits. “When I left, I had to spend some time away.” New Frontier has been Lauren’s new home in the field, and we were pleased to hear what she had to say. “The staff at this firm is wonderful and dedicated,” Lauren says. “And as always, our clients have been through so much — yet they still have so much hope.” She laughs as she recalls the way New Frontier approaches those people. “Hillary calls us ‘The Freedom Team,’ and as funny as it is, it’s true. We help people stop living in fear. It’s a wonderful team to be part of.” As someone who has been intimately familiar with freedom, and its opposite, Lauren brings experience, wisdom, and a canny legal mind to our firm. We’re so grateful for her hard work, and we hope that we can continue to provide a home for such dedicated attorneys and such inspiring clients.
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