Fresh out of law school, I was fortunate to work for a commercial litigation firm that encouraged pro bono services. As an associate attorney, I volunteered for several programs offered by our community’s various pro bono organizations.
My pro bono experience has ranged from being a volunteer judge at UNLV’s Boyd School of Law competitions to helping prevent a recently widowed mother from losing her family home. However, I never found a pro bono program that spoke to my personal passion: animal rights advocacy and rescue. I was an avid volunteer with Best Friends Animal Society, a well-known animal sanctuary and advocacy group, but I did not get to employ my legal skills when volunteering with Best Friends Animal Society.
Fast forward several years, after spending a year as a stay-at-home mom, and I found myself opening a law firm with a former colleague. One of my goals in forming my own firm was to find a way to incorporate animal rights advocacy and rescue into my legal practice.
Shortly after forming our firm, I co-founded Women’s Business Council, an association of local business women. One of the focuses of Women’s Business Council was to partner with a local non-profit organization to apply the business members’ professional skills to a community group. Transitioning from being a stay-at-home mom to a business owner and co-founder of professional women’s association left little time to incorporate additional volunteer or pro bono work. Nevertheless, I was determined to meet my goals. Ultimately, that meant incorporating pro bono work into what I was already doing in both my legal practice and the women’s business group. Within the first six months of opening my law firm, I was presented with a case in which a woman’s dog was falsely accused of biting a child. In representing this client, I used my litigation experience to successfully achieve the release of her dog. That one pro bono experience was more fulfilling and personally satisfying for me than any of my prior pro bono work because it was in an area that I was passionate about.
Through Women’s Business Council, I met the President of Hearts Alive Village of Las Vegas, a local animal rescue and advocacy organization. Women’s Business Council partnered with Hearts Alive Village and I joined Hearts Alive Village’s board of directors. As part of Women’s Business Council and a volunteer board member of Hearts Alive Village, I used my legal skills and experience to assist Hearts Alive Village in its endeavors. As a newly-created non-profit organization, Hearts Alive Village could not afford to hire an attorney when it needed legal advice.
In the last year, my work with Hearts Alive Village has spanned from reviewing various contracts to offering legal advice when issues have arisen with rescued or adopted animals. Women’s Business Council also held its first annual fundraiser for Hearts Alive Village and raised $2,500 for the organization.
Regardless of the amount of hours you work or your family obligations, it is nearly always possible to find time to provide pro bono services. For me, it meant figuring out a way to incorporate pro bono services into my existing practice and community activities. This pro bono work has become part of my practice, part of Women’s Business Council, and part of my work as a board member on Hearts Alive Village…instead of another matter or responsibility. Incorporating this work into my existing practice, enabled me to perform pro bono services that speak to my heart: animal rights advocacy and rescue.
I encourage all attorneys to find a way to incorporate their volunteer work into their legal practice and apply their legal knowledge and experience in areas where their own passion lies.
To view the full story in the February 2016 issue of Communique (Clark County Bar Association publication) click here “Find Pro Bono Service That Fits Your Practice and Passion”