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September 21, 2009
Guest Blogger - A Day in the Life of Legal Aid Lawyer
Periodically throughout the year the CSO posts blog entries from guest bloggers about various topics. Please note that the views expressed by our guest bloggers are the personal opinion of each blogger and are not necessarily the views and opinions of the CSO. The CSO guest blogger entires are intended as an opportunity for attorneys currently practicing in the legal field to share their insight and advice with law students.
To kick off Public Service Theme Week, our guest blogger for the month of September is Dawn Spriggs, Esq. (class of 2003). Ms. Spriggs is a staff attorney with Community Legal Aid Services in Canton, Ohio. In her blog, Ms. Spriggs offers a glance at what it's like to practice in a day in the life of a legal aid lawyer.
"A day in the life of a legal aid lawyer might start off with a client in eviction court. Your client is disabled, mentally ill, and has virtually no support network. She lives in public housing with her two small children. If she is evicted, she will have no where to live, and may lose her children. She's being evicted because her boyfriend, the father of her children, was arrested for trafficking in marijuana and used her address when he was arrested. He doesn't officially live with her in her public housing apartment. He has an extensive criminal record and was denied admission to public housing. He is homeless and uses your client’s address. Your client knows he uses her address sometimes, but doesn’t think it is a big deal. It does violate her lease. Now she's about to lose her housing and her children over it.
You are her last line of defense between just getting by, and losing everything. When you win cases like that, an immense feeling of relief washes over you. But you have to have a difficult conversation with your client afterward, about following every single rule, no matter how silly or small they might seem to her.
When you lose cases like that, you're scrambling to decide if there is merit to file objections, or what you can do, in working with your client's case manager or social worker, to figure out where she's going to move to. Where can your client move to quickly and not lose her children? There isn't an easy solution.
Working at legal aid, you learn to think outside the box. You learn that what your client needs isn't just your legal assistance; it's your overall help.
Your day may also include petitioning to get your client, a victim of domestic violence, a civil protection order. You might go with her to the ex parte hearing where her abuser isn't present, and then later go with her to the full hearing where her abuser is present and is representing himself. In appearing pro se, her abuser is allowed to cross-examine his victim. You not only have to prepare her to answer questions, but to face her abuser and stand up to him for the first time in her life.
Working at legal aid, you have the opportunity to work with great legal minds who have had the opportunity to specialize in areas that private attorneys don't generally specialize in (eviction defense, foreclosure defense, CPO petitions, etc.). There is a great sense of camaraderie at legal aid and newer attorneys have the opportunity to be mentored by experienced attorneys. There are people in my organization who have been working in legal aid for 10, 15, 20, and even 30 years.
It's a different mind-set you'll find at legal aid. We do not have to worry about billable hours; we get to just concentrate on doing the best for our clients. The obvious downside to working at legal aid is the pay. However, there are sources for law school loan repayment assistance, and federal loans are forgiven after working in public service for ten years.
You will never be bored at legal aid. I can guarantee it. Another reason I love my job can be relayed through a confrontation I once had with an angry landlord. He asked me how I could possibly sleep at night. I informed him that I slept excellently, for I work at legal aid. I hope some of you will consider doing so also."
Posted by cld30 at September 21, 2009 01:40 PM