From the DeKalb Bar President: Count Your Blessings and Consider Pro Bono

by Denise Warner

Thanksgiving means many different things to many people. First and foremost, it is a time to reflect on the many blessings of life. It is also a time to travel to visit family and friends (remember catching up on laundry when you were a student?). Let’s not forget turkey, cranberry dressing, and football (Go, Patriots!).

Thanksgiving is also a time for lawyers to reflect on their practice. How many times have you complained that a client did not pay for your services – once, twice, 50 times? Regardless of the number, after years of practicing law, you are still practicing law. I bet you the turkey drumstick that you are still practicing law because you love the pride in advocating for your client and upholding the U.S. Constitution. We have a moral and legal responsibility to make sure that people who are less fortunate can benefit from our passion for the practice of law.

Pro bono (Latin pro bono publico “for the public good”) – being or involving uncompensated legal services performed especially for the public good.

– Black’s Law Dictionary
 

Rule 6.1 of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct states, “A Lawyer should aspire to tender at least 50 hours of pro bono publico legal services per year . . . In addition, a lawyer should voluntarily contribute financial support to organizations that provide legal services to persons of limited means.”

There are several ways to perform pro bono services in the metro Atlanta area. In 1982, the Decatur-DeKalb Bar Association and the Atlanta Legal Aid Society created the DeKalb Volunteer Lawyers Foundation (DVLF) to assist parties with their civil legal problems, including family/domestic violence, housing, consumer, Social Security and end-of-life issues. The DVLF’s special projects include the Temporary Protective Order Project, the Guardian Ad Litem Project and the Probate Information Center. The GAL project is invaluable to the DeKalb County court system. The volunteer attorneys protect DeKalb County children by considering their best interests in custody cases. Please visit www.dekalbprobono.org to learn more about volunteering your time and talents through the DVLF.

When I was in private practice, I performed pro bono work through the Truancy Intervention Project (TIP). The TIP was developed in 1991 by former Fulton County Juvenile Court Chief Judge Glenda Hatchett and Terry Walsh, then president of the Atlanta Bar Association. Its objective is to provide an early, positive intervention with children reported as truants.

As attorneys, after successfully completing at least seven years of post-secondary education and passing the bar, we know the importance of education. Being able to comprehend what you read is powerful – you can communicate, invent, heal, and temporarily leave life’s demands in a great book. While working with TIP, I learned that there are many reasons why students do not attend school: they are embarrassed by their aptitude level; taking care of family responsibilities; bullying, and the list goes on. Students need the guidance and benefit of our experience. Let’s empower our future generation by teaching them the significance of staying in school. Education is the great equalizer in our society. Please volunteer with TIP today. www.truancyproject.org.

“Out of our beliefs are born deeds; out of our deeds we form habits; out of our habits grows our character; and on our character we build our destiny.”

– Henry Hancock
 

I encourage you to help shape the destiny of our DeKalb County citizens.

Have a safe Thanksgiving holiday.