I’ve been spending my summer working at Community Legal Services. Since starting law school, I’ve been on a quest to determine what sort of practice embodies who I am and what I believe I’ve been called to do. While at CLS, I’ve had first-hand experience working with clients who subsist on $200/month and/or some other menial amount that is just barely enough to cover their monthly mortgage payment. I’ve also had an opportunity to see other units at CLS working with clients trying to get welfare, trying to prevent their utilities from being shut off, trying to hold off mortgage companies from foreclosing their homes, and also trying to keep families together that are being torn apart by domestic violence. It’s unbelievable that that is only just a piece of what public interest attorneys/paralegals do for people who simply cannot afford to lose anything more in their lives but are completely powerless to help and save themselves in such impossible predicaments. The more difficult reality that I’ve had to cope with is the fact that, there are many clients that we cannot help because we lack the resources, or, we can only provide them legal services when what they really need is friends, family, and community to be there for them from day to day. Yesterday I was told that 1 in 4 women have experienced domestic violence in their lives. How ridiculous and sad is that statistic. I don’t know exactly what I’m gonna do with my legal career, but I sure know now that there are plenty of people out there that are in serious need of help and I wouldn’t mind spending my life helping the world out one client at a time.
On another note, life has been really good, much better than I know I ever deserve it to be. She’s heaven sent.
My first time at the Free Library.
1 Comment
August 8, 2008 at 9:13 am
you do realize that i work at the FLP building, right?! you could’ve come for a visit…well, if you were here on a weekday. did you know that those steps are where they filmed part of the new transformers movie?