Elon Law students Whitney Butcher, Daniel Joyce, and Benjamin Snyder were featured in the August newsletter of the Legal Aid of North Carolina-Winston Salem Office, for contributions as law clerks at LANC serving individuals in the region who are unable to afford private legal representation.
Liza Baron, managing attorney of the Housing, Education, Employment, Consumer (HEEC) Unit in the LANC-Winston-Salem Office, spoke highly of the contributions made by Butcher, Joyce, and Snyder, along with four other law students who served through clerkships.
“(O)ur law clerks made us sharper by contributing more in-depth legal research, additional investigation, better evidentiary exhibits for our hearings and extra man-hours of prep time to our cases than we could have otherwise gathered on our own,” Baron said. “And they returned their assignments with such speed (and accuracy) that we barely had time to keep up with them.”
The LANC newsletter features reflections by each law clerk serving in the Winston-Salem office. Butcher, a member of the Class of 2012, said the experience was motivating and humbling.
“Many of our clients faced crises involving some of their most basic living needs: housing, property ownership, health benefits, employment and even their own safety,” Butcher said. “Watching attorneys and staff members who have so clearly dedicated themselves to helping and empowering others has left an indelible impression on me.”
After working for LANC last summer, Joyce, a member of the Class of 2011, decided to return in order to gain more practical experience working with clients.
“Being able to assist LANC clients who are unable to afford private representation has been extremely rewarding.,” Joyce said. “Not only was I able to work on fascinating cases, but I also really felt that I made a tangible impact on our clients’ lives.”
One of the main reasons Snyder, a member of the Class of 2012, decided to attend law school was to work for an organization such as LANC. Snyder rotated through the HEEC, Benefits, and Family Law Units at LANC, where he got a real-life look at his goal.
“After several weeks, and hundreds of hours spent helping dozens of clients, I now have a very real sense of the commitment that working for Legal Aid can demand and of the profound rewards that such work can offer,” said Snyder. “My time at LANC has been eye-opening, and I am thankful for it.”
Click on the E-Cast link to the right of this article to read each student’s reflection on summer employment in full.
By Parker Moore, L’11