Advice from Champions, the Leaders in Closing the Justice Gap
The White House’s Champions of Change program honoring legal leaders in closing the justice gap was inspiring and I got some wonderful advice about public service and pro bono work, and learned a great deal about issues I was unfamiliar with.
Here are a few of my notes/thoughts/questions/tips from the program:
1. Get some perspective. Evaluate the difference in value between what you’ll give and receive from participating in pro bono opportunities and forgoing these opps to get an A instead of a B+ in Torts.
2. Reaching unreachable clients. Is video conferencing an option for your organization to reach clients who live in rural areas and would otherwise not have legal representation?
3. Experience. During your first year in law school — visit a court! This is critical. You need to see firsthand what goes on in the courts.
4. Changing our structure. Legal services professionals need to think about ways we can change the legal services delivery structure to be more efficient and effective.
5. Recognize, reward and support. This is how law schools can best encourage pro bono work among students.
Were you at the Champions of Change program at the White House? Did you catch the webcast? What did you take away from the Champions?