Nebraska State Bar Association Annual Meeting - Pro Bono Summit

Nebraska College of Law Author

11/18/2020 Added

177 Plays

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Nebraska and Creighton law students talk about their involvement in pro bono legal work during the 2020 Pro Bono Summit at the Nebraska State Bar Association's Annual Meeting.

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[00:00:00.128](upbeat music)
[00:00:05.470]Hi, my name is Mellie Lewis,
[00:00:07.900]and I am currently a second-year law student
[00:00:10.940]at Creighton University.
[00:00:12.900]Hi, my name is Amy Sonnenfeld.
[00:00:14.880]I am a third-year law student at the University
[00:00:17.750]of Nebraska College of Law in Lincoln.
[00:00:20.342](upbeat rock music)
[00:00:22.370]My name is Robert Larson.
[00:00:23.690]I'm a 3L at the University of Nebraska College of Law.
[00:00:27.640]From Papillion, a lifelong Nebraskan.
[00:00:30.510]Got my bachelor's at UNL.
[00:00:33.080]Hi, I'm Morgan Dobersek.
[00:00:34.480]I am currently a second-year law student.
[00:00:36.460]I attend Creighton University School of Law.
[00:00:38.680]Hi, my name is Tessa Lengeling.
[00:00:40.120]I'm a 3L at the University of Nebraska College of Law.
[00:00:43.840]My name is Chris McMahon.
[00:00:45.700]I am a 5L student at Creighton University School of Law.
[00:00:51.330]I'm a part-time student. I work full-time.
[00:00:53.490]I've worked at TD Ameritrade for 23 years,
[00:00:57.100]and had a kind of a lifelong goal to go to law school,
[00:01:01.600]and four years ago
[00:01:04.680]took the LSAT, did pretty well,
[00:01:06.610]applied, got accepted to Creighton,
[00:01:08.130]and have been going to Creighton part-time ever since.
[00:01:11.740]I was planning to graduate this May,
[00:01:13.650]but due to COVID, I accelerated things,
[00:01:16.180]and I'll graduate in December
[00:01:18.050]and then take the bar in February.
[00:01:20.670]My name is Sarah O'Neill. I am a 3L.
[00:01:23.340]I attend the University of Nebraska College of Law.
[00:01:27.002](upbeat rock music)
[00:01:30.930]So about three years ago, I spent a year in Asia,
[00:01:35.330]working with human trafficking victims.
[00:01:38.450]So I did a lot of work of going into different brothels
[00:01:41.510]and helping women, men, and children get
[00:01:44.810]out of those situations and into safety,
[00:01:47.820]and what I realized along my journey
[00:01:52.150]is that I really wanted to combine my love
[00:01:55.180]of working with families, women, children,
[00:01:58.210]in underserved communities with a way
[00:02:01.990]to make a difference in a legal capacity.
[00:02:04.930]I went to law school because I really want to help people.
[00:02:08.720]I've always had a passion for helping individuals.
[00:02:11.040]My studies in undergrad were focused in sociology
[00:02:14.850]and human services, and when I thought about going
[00:02:18.720]to law school, I thought about impacting people
[00:02:21.940]for the better.
[00:02:22.773]So a lotta people have this horrible, negative thought
[00:02:25.870]about what it means to work with an attorney,
[00:02:29.350]why you need to get an attorney, anything like that,
[00:02:32.790]and so, I wanted to be different.
[00:02:34.840]I always knew that I wanted to choose a career path
[00:02:37.630]where I was able to help people
[00:02:39.240]and bring about real change in the world.
[00:02:42.270]In undergrad, I studied sociology.
[00:02:44.450]In a lot of my research, I saw how Supreme Court cases
[00:02:46.870]and other legal decisions had such an impact
[00:02:49.010]on our country's laws and values.
[00:02:51.020]I specifically did most of my research on immigration
[00:02:53.590]and immigration law, and I saw how much
[00:02:56.010]of an impact attorneys, judges, and court decisions had
[00:02:58.930]on individuals' lives and livelihoods.
[00:03:01.440]I knew that being an attorney would allow me
[00:03:03.070]to represent those whose voices
[00:03:04.320]are not always heard and make sure
[00:03:06.210]that they were being treated fairly and equitably.
[00:03:08.730]I always wanted to go to law school.
[00:03:10.620]I participated in mock trial in middle school
[00:03:13.240]and high school and really loved the experience,
[00:03:15.920]but the timing was just never right.
[00:03:17.790]After undergrad, I worked in politics
[00:03:19.620]in Iowa for a few years.
[00:03:21.260]Throughout that experience, I saw a lot of injustices
[00:03:23.870]and issues that I felt really passionate about
[00:03:26.210]and wanted to fix those issues in my community
[00:03:28.730]in order to make it a better place.
[00:03:30.990]I soon realized that in order to effect
[00:03:33.040]this long-lasting change and to help those people directly,
[00:03:36.530]I needed to pursue my dream of going to law school
[00:03:39.150]so I could, in turn, help those who need it most.
[00:03:42.880]I chose to attend law school because I wanted
[00:03:45.380]to be in a position to effect positive systemic change
[00:03:49.800]and dismantle oppressive systems
[00:03:52.000]that benefit some while harming others.
[00:03:55.468](cheerful music)
[00:04:01.650]I've always really had an interest and a passion
[00:04:04.020]in communication, family relationships, child development,
[00:04:09.070]which is what I studied in undergrad,
[00:04:11.290]so any way that I can incorporate all of those passions
[00:04:14.990]and interests into my legal career would be awesome.
[00:04:19.950]Have a big drive, I've learned through law school,
[00:04:22.940]to be involved in volunteer and pro bono activities,
[00:04:27.010]and I think working in a transactional law firm,
[00:04:29.570]where I do estate planning and tax planning,
[00:04:31.860]will lend itself very well to the civil side
[00:04:35.450]of pro bono work, where I can take time off
[00:04:39.010]or not have to worry about a unexpected court hearing,
[00:04:43.360]and I can volunteer more than I would be able to
[00:04:46.430]if I were in a litigation type firm is kind of my goal.
[00:04:50.880]I wanna make pro bono activities a big part of what I do.
[00:04:54.840]So if I'm unable to work in the transactional world,
[00:05:00.260]I would like to go into more of a
[00:05:05.130]pro bono-driven field, so possibly working for Legal Aid
[00:05:09.810]or other nonprofit sources who help people in Nebraska.
[00:05:14.910]After law school, I want to practice employment harassment
[00:05:17.620]and discrimination work on the plaintiff side.
[00:05:20.830]I'm hoping to work in public interest,
[00:05:22.440]where I know I will make a direct impact on people's lives.
[00:05:25.840]This will likely involve me working
[00:05:27.420]with organizations such as Legal Aid or in government.
[00:05:31.830]After law school, I plan on
[00:05:35.690]applying for a job
[00:05:36.650]at the Douglas County Prosecutor's Office.
[00:05:39.380]I'm at a point in my life where I'd like
[00:05:42.210]to try to do something to give back,
[00:05:45.040]to contribute to society, to my community,
[00:05:48.040]and that's one of the reasons
[00:05:49.760]why I did the pro bono work at Creighton.
[00:05:55.090]After graduating, I would like to work in solidarity
[00:05:58.390]with those directly impacted by systemic harm.
[00:06:02.350]I am deeply interested in and see the connection
[00:06:05.110]in all social justice issues, so I am open to just
[00:06:08.370]about anything in the realm of public interest law.
[00:06:11.980](cheerful music)
[00:06:18.010]At Creighton, in the clinic,
[00:06:19.810]and that was with the Poverty Law Program,
[00:06:22.090]and so I spent the first semester helping with intake
[00:06:26.900]and doing that kind of work.
[00:06:30.160]My first year, I also worked with the Women's Center
[00:06:32.760]for Advancement here in Omaha.
[00:06:35.660]So I did that and continue to do work with them.
[00:06:39.140]Of course, it's a little bit different right now
[00:06:41.110]with everything being virtual,
[00:06:43.510]but I hope to continue that very soon,
[00:06:48.350]and I am a CASA, so a court-appointed special advocate,
[00:06:51.890]and so I do that with Douglas County,
[00:06:56.850]and then over the summer, I
[00:07:01.440]was granted a PILF Grant,
[00:07:04.870]and so I worked with the Creighton Legal Clinic,
[00:07:07.310]and that was again working with the underserved communities
[00:07:11.790]and doing law with kind of a bunch of different areas,
[00:07:17.580]not just family law.
[00:07:19.260]Tenants who were being evicted and possibly
[00:07:22.010]don't even realize what that means for them,
[00:07:24.310]so I have been volunteering at least once a week for that
[00:07:28.190]since about May, and I have loved that.
[00:07:32.010]I also have done, worked through organizations
[00:07:36.840]such as the Community Legal Education Project.
[00:07:39.550]I have enjoyed teaching middle schoolers
[00:07:43.040]about the Constitution and other outreach involvement
[00:07:47.290]such as that, and
[00:07:51.980]I believe it is Community Legal Education Project
[00:07:55.510]who does the Project Homeless Connect in Lincoln as well,
[00:07:59.100]so we are able to meet in Lincoln and assist
[00:08:03.250]a large population of individuals in a variety of areas.
[00:08:07.240]Whether they needed clothes and a haircut for an interview
[00:08:11.020]or if they needed to get some form of a criminal charge
[00:08:14.790]off of their record, we could help a lot of people,
[00:08:17.470]and I love that.
[00:08:19.060]I'm very people-driven as I, like I've stated,
[00:08:21.920]and I, being with all those people is very helpful,
[00:08:25.500]and then I was also able to do
[00:08:27.460]some pro bono work through, it was organized
[00:08:31.900]by the Undergraduate College for UNL.
[00:08:35.840]It was the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistant Project,
[00:08:39.760]and so this is where volunteers go, and we are trained
[00:08:43.790]to help people file their income taxes
[00:08:46.610]and do everything involved in that area.
[00:08:49.420]So people who might not be able to pay
[00:08:52.370]for either TurboTax or an attorney or an accountant
[00:08:57.480]or anything like that, they come to us,
[00:08:58.690]and we prepare their tax returns,
[00:09:00.380]and that really sparked my interest
[00:09:02.900]in the tax planning field because I thought
[00:09:06.100]that everyone needs to have their taxes done,
[00:09:07.980]and planning accordingly is super-important.
[00:09:12.480]So I've really enjoyed the variety of pro bono work
[00:09:15.990]I have done.
[00:09:16.823]I've done some other things as well,
[00:09:18.210]just different projects here and there.
[00:09:20.190]I try and do at least three
[00:09:21.980]different projects each semester.
[00:09:23.980]I think it's really important to be well-rounded
[00:09:26.460]both in your legal field as well as in the area
[00:09:31.290]of people that you are willing to help.
[00:09:33.430]So I wanna get my feet wet as often as I can
[00:09:36.140]and talk to as many people as possible.
[00:09:39.320]I've gotten a number of pro bono opportunities
[00:09:41.730]as a law student to this day.
[00:09:43.580]That to me include the Community
[00:09:45.591]Legal Education Project, or CLEP.
[00:09:48.540]I've been involved with CLEP since I started law school.
[00:09:50.980]A lot of what that organization does
[00:09:53.330]is programming in local schools,
[00:09:56.150]elementary and middle schools.
[00:09:57.730]There's a Constitution Day program,
[00:09:59.820]where law students get to teach kids
[00:10:02.450]about the Constitution and some of the history behind it
[00:10:05.520]as well as a five-week program that's been run in the spring
[00:10:08.900]that helps educate students more broadly
[00:10:11.270]on sort of the Constitution, US government,
[00:10:14.960]and our legal system.
[00:10:17.300]Another important pro bono opportunity I've gotten to do
[00:10:19.910]multiple times is through Catholic Charities in Omaha
[00:10:23.610]and their Immigrant Legal Services.
[00:10:25.960]Every few months prior to the pandemic,
[00:10:29.030]Catholic Charities hosted a naturalization clinic,
[00:10:32.500]where a number of people in the community
[00:10:35.310]who had already been through several processes already come
[00:10:40.620]and just get assistance from law students
[00:10:43.510]and other community members at filling out
[00:10:45.290]their N-400 forms, which help them become, hopefully,
[00:10:48.730]eventually citizens of the United States.
[00:10:52.660]This has really been personally
[00:10:54.900]my favorite pro bono opportunity I've gotten.
[00:10:57.990]I've gotten to work with a number of people,
[00:11:00.720]kinda learn their stories as we go
[00:11:02.300]through their citizenship documentation,
[00:11:04.860]and it's really a good way to put, you know,
[00:11:07.530]maybe some sense of legal skills you've learned,
[00:11:12.530]a knowledge of the documentation
[00:11:14.820]and how such a document would work, to work
[00:11:18.630]in helping these people fill out that documentation,
[00:11:21.780]and as I become a lawyer in the next year,
[00:11:25.140]I'm looking forward to having more opportunities
[00:11:27.330]that being an actual lawyer will permit me to do
[00:11:30.140]in terms of pro bono.
[00:11:32.140]The pro bono work I've done, though,
[00:11:33.400]has been important to me just in that it demonstrates
[00:11:36.210]that, as law students and future lawyers,
[00:11:39.250]we have a lot of skills that are very desirable,
[00:11:43.190]skills that people, obviously, throughout our careers
[00:11:45.390]are gonna pay us a lot of money for access to,
[00:11:49.060]and doing pro bono work in law school
[00:11:51.910]helps drill down how important it is
[00:11:53.960]to give some of our legal skills or legal knowledge,
[00:11:58.200]the talent that we've developed over the past few years,
[00:12:01.330]and give it back to the community.
[00:12:04.600]It's important for everyone to give back
[00:12:07.420]in the way that they can, and as lawyers,
[00:12:09.670]I think we have an especially great responsibility
[00:12:12.620]an especially useful skill, a way that we
[00:12:15.080]can really help a lotta people,
[00:12:17.120]and I think it's important that, you know,
[00:12:19.240]that sense of dedication to communities start at law school.
[00:12:24.130]Last year, I was incredibly lucky
[00:12:25.830]to have so many wonderful opportunities
[00:12:27.660]to participate in pro bono.
[00:12:29.790]First, I worked in a weekly free legal clinic
[00:12:32.070]with Ross Pesek, helping community members in South Omaha
[00:12:35.100]with their various legal issues.
[00:12:36.730]These legal issues range from immigration
[00:12:38.860]to custody, divorce, med mal, and even personal injury.
[00:12:42.750]I also was able to work on my Spanish-speaking skills
[00:12:45.100]and my skills when working with clients.
[00:12:48.010]Second, I worked at the Law School Clinic.
[00:12:50.730]Here we did intake, mostly via the phone,
[00:12:53.370]and were able to work with clients in a variety
[00:12:55.370]of different legal issues.
[00:12:57.470]Third, I worked at the Women's Center for Advancement Clinic
[00:12:59.860]with our Women's Law Student Association.
[00:13:02.270]This was a monthly walk-in clinic at the WCA
[00:13:04.600]that helped individuals dealing with a variety
[00:13:06.530]of different issues, including domestic violence,
[00:13:09.120]sexual assault, custody, and divorce.
[00:13:12.530]This year, I am so excited to be the pro bono coordinator
[00:13:15.090]for two different organizations on our campus,
[00:13:17.450]one being GSA and the other one being
[00:13:19.600]our Immigration Law Society.
[00:13:21.410]It's been so interesting and challenging
[00:13:23.840]to brainstorm and come up with ideas
[00:13:25.970]for this semester and this year
[00:13:28.070]because it's really hard to do pro bono work
[00:13:30.470]when you're not working directly with clients
[00:13:33.270]and individuals, and so it's definitely been a challenge,
[00:13:36.220]but it's been really fun to come up
[00:13:37.480]with different opportunities
[00:13:38.770]for our students to participate in.
[00:13:40.415](upbeat music)
[00:13:42.840]As a law student, I participate
[00:13:44.210]in the Pro Bono Research Fellowship at UNL.
[00:13:47.060]This program pairs you with an attorney
[00:13:49.010]or a professor in the area who needs help researching
[00:13:51.700]a topic for a client or for a project.
[00:13:54.490]It's a great way to provide pro bono services
[00:13:56.780]to the community and also work
[00:13:58.790]on your legal research skills.
[00:14:00.700]I've also worked with the Tenants Assistance Project
[00:14:03.620]through the UNL Civil Clinic.
[00:14:05.510]This is helping prevent wrongful evictions
[00:14:07.530]in Lancaster County and has been pretty successful
[00:14:10.670]during the summer and fall semesters.
[00:14:13.860]As a law student, I participated
[00:14:16.400]in two different pro bono programs at Creighton Law.
[00:14:20.160]One was the Creighton's own Poverty Law Clinic,
[00:14:24.650]which is on campus, and it's a wonderful institution.
[00:14:29.440]You actually work there on the campus.
[00:14:31.690]You take phone calls.
[00:14:33.090]You do screening.
[00:14:34.870]You do conflict of interest checks, things like that.
[00:14:38.410]And then, I am a United States Army veteran,
[00:14:42.470]Desert Storm veteran, and during law school,
[00:14:45.450]I was on the executive board
[00:14:47.160]of the Creighton Military Law Society,
[00:14:49.720]and we had the opportunity to do pro bono work
[00:14:52.200]for local veterans through vlsn.org.
[00:14:55.730]It's a nonprofit that serves local veterans
[00:15:00.000]in need of legal service that can't afford it,
[00:15:02.600]and so both of those were wonderful institutions
[00:15:05.510]and programs that I was able to participate in.
[00:15:09.570]While at the College of Law,
[00:15:11.000]I have been able to participate
[00:15:12.910]in a variety of pro bono opportunities,
[00:15:15.820]including the Community Legal Education
[00:15:18.080]Project's Constitution Days,
[00:15:21.770]as a poll watcher for the Day of Civic Engagement,
[00:15:25.770]at Project Connect Lincoln, at the Immigration Clinic's
[00:15:29.770]Naturalization Clinic, as a pro bono research fellow,
[00:15:35.500]and most recently, through the Civil Clinic
[00:15:37.670]at the Tenant Assistance Project.
[00:15:39.942](relaxed music)
[00:15:45.897]I have always had a love of, you know,
[00:15:47.820]helping others and serving when I can,
[00:15:50.750]and so coming into law school,
[00:15:52.180]that was definitely something that I wanted
[00:15:53.925]to continue doing, but of course, everyone says,
[00:15:58.360]you know, "You're so busy, especially your first year.
[00:16:01.010]You're getting the hang of things."
[00:16:02.740]You know, "Don't put too many things on your plate,"
[00:16:06.570]and what I found is that it was such a good opportunity
[00:16:10.690]to, like, get out of my own head and realize
[00:16:14.570]that the work that I'm putting into school
[00:16:17.230]will have an impact in the future,
[00:16:19.000]and so on the days that were hard or difficult
[00:16:22.360]or I was frustrated with what we were doing in school,
[00:16:27.400]I found that my pro bono work was really important
[00:16:29.910]because it gave me something to look forward to
[00:16:33.720]and reminded me of the reason that I
[00:16:35.970]was putting in all the work at school.
[00:16:38.767]You get into the community, get to know all the people
[00:16:42.220]that you're gonna be assisting, and realize
[00:16:45.230]that there's more to life than just going to work
[00:16:48.840]and being an attorney.
[00:16:51.540]A lotta people have found attorneys to be shallow
[00:16:54.170]and very self-centered, and I want to break that mold.
[00:16:57.700]I think focus on other people is much more important
[00:17:02.600]than focusing on yourself, and the best way to do that
[00:17:05.730]is to help people who might not realize
[00:17:08.350]that they need your help or who are reaching
[00:17:10.040]out to you and who really want your help.
[00:17:13.080]I can't overstate enough the importance
[00:17:17.070]of just getting involved, whether it is
[00:17:20.370]in a large system thing, like the volunteer income tax
[00:17:26.140]assistance, indeed a program where this happens
[00:17:28.800]at different places all over, people helping each other,
[00:17:31.720]or something like the TAP, where we go down
[00:17:35.220]to the Lancaster County Court and fight evictions,
[00:17:38.840]and the gratitude that comes out of people
[00:17:42.870]who you are helping is so much more fulfilling
[00:17:46.230]than anything else I have done in the legal field thus far
[00:17:52.180]because you're helping somebody who might not realize
[00:17:55.250]that they need your help, but once they have it,
[00:17:57.500]their eyes light up because they know
[00:17:59.650]what you've done for them, and it's not about me,
[00:18:04.660]which I loved.
[00:18:06.410]Take the spotlight off of me and put it
[00:18:09.270]on someone else who needs the help, so.
[00:18:13.053]I also think it's important
[00:18:14.020]because God's given me abilities to help people.
[00:18:18.190]I'm in a, possibly, better financial type situation
[00:18:21.650]or even social situation where I might have connections
[00:18:26.210]or impacts that other people might use
[00:18:28.820]that I'm not using at all, and I should get that out there
[00:18:31.550]and help individuals in the best way that I can.
[00:18:35.000]Pro bono has been so incredibly important to me.
[00:18:38.300]I went to law school knowing that I wanted to help people,
[00:18:41.180]and I was concerned that I might lose some
[00:18:42.827]of the passion when I became overwhelmed
[00:18:46.020]at just how hard law school can be.
[00:18:49.570]Because I was concerned about this,
[00:18:51.280]I decided to get involved maybe the second
[00:18:54.040]or third week of my first semester,
[00:18:56.650]and this was so important to me
[00:18:58.290]because not only was I able to help people
[00:19:00.170]and really be able to work on that passion
[00:19:03.540]that I'm, you know, so interested in,
[00:19:05.880]I also was able to allow pro bono to really ground me,
[00:19:09.870]and it really reminded me why I was in law school
[00:19:13.570]and why I wanted to be an attorney.
[00:19:15.420]You know, it helped me, you know, remind myself
[00:19:18.260]of who I'm working for and who I'll be able to help
[00:19:21.160]when I graduate law school, so it was really able
[00:19:24.210]to push me through law school and motivate me,
[00:19:26.730]and it was just really important to my success
[00:19:30.210]of my first semester.
[00:19:32.060]Pro bono services those who need it most.
[00:19:35.950]It's a great feeling to know that you're helping
[00:19:37.990]making someone's life just a little bit easier
[00:19:41.320]through your legal services and advocacy,
[00:19:43.990]and you're directly serving your community as well.
[00:19:47.020]Pro bono is what the justice system is all about:
[00:19:49.950]providing everyone an equal shot
[00:19:51.880]at receiving adequate legal services
[00:19:53.980]when they would not otherwise be able to receive those.
[00:19:56.960]Well, pro bono is important to me
[00:19:59.140]because not only is it fulfilling
[00:20:04.760]just spiritually and emotionally
[00:20:06.650]to try to help other people, but also,
[00:20:09.480]it gives students hands-on, real-world experience
[00:20:13.310]when it comes to doing, performing some
[00:20:16.510]of the duties that they'll have to do as a lawyer.
[00:20:19.670]I would highly recommend pro bono work to all law students,
[00:20:23.970]and I believe the Nebraska Bar recommends 40 to 50 hours
[00:20:28.350]of pro bono work per year for each attorney to aspire to,
[00:20:32.920]and that is something that I plan to do after I graduate.
[00:20:38.860]I find pro bono work, and volunteering generally,
[00:20:42.040]very fulfilling and extremely necessary.
[00:20:45.320]Unfortunately, we do not live in a world
[00:20:48.000]in which all needs are met without the assistance
[00:20:50.790]of people willing to donate their time.
[00:20:53.490]Until that is a reality, I will continue to use
[00:20:56.240]my experience to give back to my community.
[00:20:59.780]I strongly believe in investing in community and care,
[00:21:04.000]and for me, pro bono engagement is one small way
[00:21:07.760]to achieve these larger goals.
[00:21:10.624](upbeat rock music)
[00:21:16.450]I think that pro bono has taught me a lot,
[00:21:18.970]and I think probably the biggest thing
[00:21:22.320]that it has taught me is really the real-life application
[00:21:27.560]of the things that we're learning in class,
[00:21:29.320]so when a professor's talking about, you know,
[00:21:33.350]some concept or some law,
[00:21:37.489]and you're, like, "Oh, okay, that's great.
[00:21:38.790]Let me memorize this," but then
[00:21:41.040]when you go into a pro bono clinic
[00:21:44.040]or work with an organization and you see
[00:21:46.960]that law really put into action,
[00:21:49.660]I think that it really helps solidify what you're learning,
[00:21:52.930]and that has been a huge benefit to me as a law student.
[00:21:56.270]Judge a book by its cover.
[00:21:58.890]People who are in different situations,
[00:22:01.410]I focus a lot on the TAP project in Lincoln
[00:22:04.790]'cause that's what I'm most involved in at this moment.
[00:22:08.020]The people who are being evicted are not
[00:22:10.810]who you would think they might be.
[00:22:12.790]When COVID hit, we were all impacted in different ways,
[00:22:15.570]and for a lot of people, this meant
[00:22:17.910]that they couldn't pay rent, and they are being evicted
[00:22:21.520]and losing their homes, which has forced them
[00:22:23.360]into horrible situations, and being able to be
[00:22:26.990]at the courthouse and work with those people
[00:22:28.810]has taught me and so many other people how to be empathetic
[00:22:33.320]and calm in situations where maybe the tenant
[00:22:38.020]just can't be calm.
[00:22:39.140]They've had to deal with it for so long, and
[00:22:43.490]you as the volunteer need to realize
[00:22:46.540]that these people are in horrible situations,
[00:22:48.730]and your actions can tremendously impact their,
[00:22:55.200]even just thought process throughout the day,
[00:22:58.090]and so, that also goes into all
[00:23:00.720]of the other pro bono activities
[00:23:02.580]that we have done at the school and that I'm involved with.
[00:23:06.330]You learn that you have a large impact
[00:23:09.470]when you are acting a certain way,
[00:23:11.740]so I want to be a good role model
[00:23:16.500]for individuals that I am helping.
[00:23:19.160]I want to be open-minded and focus on them
[00:23:22.320]and think about what they can teach me,
[00:23:25.280]and I want to come together collaboratively
[00:23:27.690]and expand whatever project that we're doing
[00:23:30.510]in a manner that will best benefit the community.
[00:23:35.040]Doing pro bono work has taught me just
[00:23:37.370]that there's a lot of opportunities.
[00:23:39.700]I know just in my work through the Pro Bono Committee
[00:23:42.870]and trying to gather together local pro bono opportunities,
[00:23:45.730]there's dozens that we've found,
[00:23:48.330]and those are just ones law students are able to do.
[00:23:50.520]Obviously, as an actual attorney,
[00:23:52.070]there's even more doors open, even more
[00:23:54.930]that you're capable of, and I think doing pro bono work
[00:23:59.210]teaches you how many needs are out there.
[00:24:02.380]I know even before I started law school,
[00:24:05.520]I was doing some volunteer work
[00:24:07.160]through Creighton's Educational Opportunity Center,
[00:24:09.860]helping with some ESL courses,
[00:24:12.380]English as a Second Language courses, over there,
[00:24:15.810]and after class one day, one of my students,
[00:24:19.120]who is an immigrant from, I believe, Nigeria,
[00:24:22.980]needed help filling out this document
[00:24:26.100]to try to get child support money
[00:24:29.580]from the father of her child, who I believe
[00:24:31.650]might've still been back in Nigeria,
[00:24:33.780]and I really enjoyed helping her
[00:24:36.630]in the way that I could at that time,
[00:24:39.610]and I think it demonstrates that all the people
[00:24:43.310]that you're interacting with on a daily basis
[00:24:45.330]do have a lot going on in their lives
[00:24:48.230]and often are going to need legal assistance
[00:24:50.160]and that in a lotta those cases,
[00:24:51.490]that's just not financially something
[00:24:54.670]they can really obtain very well,
[00:24:58.340]especially in terms of quality work,
[00:25:01.190]so it is important for attorneys,
[00:25:03.060]people who have mastery of a certain area of law,
[00:25:06.460]to really give back, you know, in their field
[00:25:08.810]or in a way that they're especially qualified.
[00:25:12.550]Pro bono has taught me so much.
[00:25:14.950]I think one of the most important things
[00:25:15.963]that it taught me is that I really know
[00:25:19.170]what I am talking about, and I really
[00:25:21.790]am understanding some legal concepts.
[00:25:24.660]So for me, I was really nervous going
[00:25:27.260]into my first couple pro bono opportunities
[00:25:29.420]because I only had a couple weeks of law school
[00:25:32.040]under my belt, and I was really nervous
[00:25:34.230]because law school seemed to be moving so fast
[00:25:37.200]that I really thought I was struggling more than I was,
[00:25:40.980]and pro bono opportunities really helped me apply
[00:25:44.010]what I knew and what I'd learned in school
[00:25:46.700]to real-life clients and situations,
[00:25:49.537]and so it really helped me realize
[00:25:51.150]that I knew what I was talking about,
[00:25:52.500]and I was doing good, and I was on the right track,
[00:25:54.780]and it taught me to be more confident in my skills.
[00:25:58.600]Pro bono work has taught me
[00:25:59.750]that there's a lot of work to be done
[00:26:01.450]in our communities and our country
[00:26:03.150]regarding the policies and laws
[00:26:04.750]that directly impact people's daily lives.
[00:26:08.250]Pro bono work in the courtroom is wonderful
[00:26:10.430]and then helps someone that day,
[00:26:12.260]but the laws that are still working
[00:26:13.760]against certain groups of people
[00:26:15.230]are still on the books and in effect,
[00:26:17.870]and those need to be addressed
[00:26:19.220]in order to make the system more equitable for all.
[00:26:23.500]It's taught me some of the skills: conflict
[00:26:26.700]of interest checks, confidentiality requirements,
[00:26:29.690]things like that.
[00:26:31.350]Also, it's good for legal writing
[00:26:33.626]through the Veterans Legal Support Network
[00:26:35.810]because you are actually working on some
[00:26:38.370]of the packets, some of the letters
[00:26:39.780]to the Department of Defense to support some
[00:26:43.720]of these veterans, and in a way, they're demand letters,
[00:26:46.880]so you're getting legal writing experience,
[00:26:48.800]and you're helping other people at the same time.
[00:26:53.460]Engaging in pro bono opportunities,
[00:26:56.130]and as a student attorney in the Civil Clinic,
[00:26:58.990]and as a law clerk at the Lancaster County
[00:27:01.130]Public Defender's Office have all further entrenched
[00:27:05.180]my commitment to public interest law.
[00:27:08.030]They have taught me that though I may not be
[00:27:09.730]an expert in a particular area,
[00:27:11.920]I can still use what I have learned
[00:27:13.830]to be a valuable resource to others.
[00:27:16.429](cheerful music)
[00:27:25.770]Probably in my head, there's two main ways
[00:27:29.840]that it will impact my legal career.
[00:27:32.920]The first is that I've had the ability
[00:27:35.010]to work with amazing attorneys in the Omaha community
[00:27:38.780]who have really shown that you can have a very successful
[00:27:42.650]legal career while also continuing to serve
[00:27:46.260]in the areas that you love, so you don't
[00:27:48.810]have to give up one or the other,
[00:27:52.390]and I think the second way that it will impact
[00:27:54.730]my legal career is kind of what I touched on earlier,
[00:27:57.840]but giving you real-life experience
[00:28:00.670]into, you know, how the things I'm learning, how that works.
[00:28:05.360]In reality, what does that look like?
[00:28:07.830]And so I think and I hope that that will help me
[00:28:11.890]and, in turn, help my future clients
[00:28:13.690]when I do become an attorney.
[00:28:16.450]We are not here to just make money and die, (laughs)
[00:28:22.520]which is morbid, but a lotta people want
[00:28:25.607]the attorney salary, and I think that that overshadows
[00:28:29.840]the impact that attorneys play in other people's lives,
[00:28:33.931]the heavy hand that we can play.
[00:28:37.770]Whether you are a litigator, a transactional attorney,
[00:28:41.210]or somebody who's down volunteering,
[00:28:43.870]you impact everyone's life that you come in contact with
[00:28:47.150]in some way, and I think that intentionally driving
[00:28:50.900]your actions as an attorney in your legal career
[00:28:55.240]to do the best and the most good that you can
[00:28:57.760]for other people is so important,
[00:29:00.410]and it shouldn't be overlooked by anyone.
[00:29:02.810]I think that everyone should take the time
[00:29:05.940]to go above and beyond the 50 hours
[00:29:08.970]that are recommended for pro bono activities.
[00:29:12.130](cheerful music)
[00:29:14.990]In terms of how pro bono will impact
[00:29:16.850]my legal career, I think it's difficult
[00:29:20.310]because, (sniffs) I mean, we're at the point now
[00:29:24.650]as 3L and soon-to-be young lawyers,
[00:29:27.540]we're really trying to get our own career
[00:29:29.700]off the ground, trying to get ourselves established,
[00:29:33.310]and I know people have different priorities
[00:29:36.290]in terms of what they want to do with their legal education.
[00:29:39.040]For me, for a lot of people, there's a desire
[00:29:41.420]to give back every day through what we do.
[00:29:45.460]With that said, obviously, we have to sustain ourselves.
[00:29:47.890]We're still doing work that is, at the end of the day,
[00:29:50.510]paying us, and I think it's important, no matter what we do,
[00:29:54.170]whether we're doing work that's impacting low-income people
[00:29:57.520]on a daily basis, whether we're working
[00:30:00.352](alarm beeping)
[00:30:01.185]behind a desk somewhere, working for a business,
[00:30:03.580]doing something else, it's important
[00:30:07.280]that we find that time, be it 50 hours a year or more,
[00:30:13.020]to give back, give our own time,
[00:30:15.720]give that for free, and that's difficult.
[00:30:19.430]I can already tell it's going to be difficult,
[00:30:21.540]in a sense, to prioritize just because, you know,
[00:30:25.110]sometimes when I have time that I don't have
[00:30:28.730]to be doing my work right now, my law school homework
[00:30:33.020]right now, I wanna be doing anything but law,
[00:30:36.290]but there's so many people in need,
[00:30:38.920]people who we can really benefit,
[00:30:42.190]and we have that skillset to help them out,
[00:30:45.120]and often, it's not even that complex of a case
[00:30:48.800]or situation that we can really provide some benefits.
[00:30:53.560]So going forward, as I figure out what I want to do
[00:30:57.220]for my career in the coming months and years,
[00:31:01.550]I know, especially through the pro bono work I've done,
[00:31:06.970]and, you know, just through people I've heard speak
[00:31:10.810]about the importance of pro bono,
[00:31:12.363]that pro bono work will be an important part,
[00:31:15.690]my career is something I'll make sure
[00:31:17.250]to, again, set aside time for
[00:31:22.530]as my career begins and as it goes on,
[00:31:26.170]and I just wanted to thank everyone else
[00:31:30.020]for the pro bono work that they've already put in,
[00:31:33.330]and I look forward to pro bono work becoming
[00:31:36.680]even more important and a part
[00:31:38.420]of all my classmates' practice and
[00:31:40.530]of all lawyers in Nebraska's practice in the coming years,
[00:31:44.820]and I wouldn't have come to law school
[00:31:46.290]if I didn't wanna give back to my community,
[00:31:48.550]and I'm glad that there are so many opportunities to do so,
[00:31:51.337]and I'm looking forward to finding out more
[00:31:53.650]in the coming year as I become
[00:31:55.680]an actual attorney, hopefully,
[00:31:57.940]and start my career, thank you.
[00:32:00.470]Pro bono has already greatly impacted my legal career.
[00:32:03.430]Not only has it helped me decide what I wanna do
[00:32:05.910]in the future, it's also helped me continue
[00:32:07.910]to grow a lot of different skills that I know I'll need
[00:32:10.930]in the profession that I choose when I graduate.
[00:32:14.020]It's helped me with my communication skills
[00:32:16.220]when working with clients.
[00:32:17.330]It's helped me with my interviewing of clients,
[00:32:21.370]those different skills, but I think most importantly,
[00:32:23.960]it's really helped me foster a sense of how to help clients.
[00:32:29.150]When they're struggling, I'm immediately able
[00:32:31.160]to take on that extra role of maybe therapist
[00:32:33.410]or listening ear or something like that
[00:32:35.730]because a lotta times when clients come
[00:32:37.710]for pro bono opportunities, they're really at their lowest,
[00:32:40.920]and they're struggling, and they don't need an attorney
[00:32:43.540]or a pro bono student to be there
[00:32:47.440]and to just take down the notes,
[00:32:48.970]interview them, and call it good.
[00:32:51.770]They really need someone to help them get
[00:32:53.620]through maybe these difficult stories
[00:32:55.390]that they're telling you, or be able to sit with them
[00:32:57.900]and just be compassionate and empathetic,
[00:32:59.700]and I think that's something that pro bono
[00:33:03.110]has really taught me and helped me foster
[00:33:05.170]and something that will exponentially help me
[00:33:07.890]in my future career.
[00:33:09.386](cheerful music)
[00:33:10.940]Pro bono was always going to be a big part of my career.
[00:33:13.760]No matter where I end up, I always hope to participate
[00:33:16.230]in pro bono efforts as much as possible
[00:33:18.630]because those efforts are so vital to the justice system
[00:33:21.610]and to those who need those services.
[00:33:24.010]I plan to continue pro bono work after I graduate,
[00:33:29.340]and in fact, Douglas County has a Douglas County
[00:33:32.310]Veterans Court, and I plan to do volunteer work
[00:33:36.400]for the Douglas County Veterans Court
[00:33:37.990]as a veteran mentor after graduation.
[00:33:42.330]I will certain continue to engage
[00:33:44.380]in pro bono work once I begin my legal career.
[00:33:48.560]I want to be able to use my degree
[00:33:50.930]and privilege to share the knowledge I have learned
[00:33:54.430]at law school and to use that knowledge to fight
[00:33:58.130]for a better world.
[00:33:59.826](cheerful music)

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Nebraska State Bar Association Annual Meeting - Pro Bono Summit

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