Elon Law's Pro Bono Week, held Oct. 26-29, spotlighted students and others who volunteer their time to address legal needs of those who would not otherwise be able to access legal assistance.
Elon Law’s Pro Bono Week events included the following:
- “Protecting the Vulnerable” presentation by Family Justice Center Director Catherine Johnson, co-sponsored by the Women’s Law Association student organization at Elon Law
- “Crossroads – Impacting Students’ Lives” presentation on nonprofit leadership and service by first-year Elon Law student Gerard Truesdale
- “Loan Forgiveness Through Legal Service” presentation by Elon University’s Associate Director of Financial Planning Lynette Lorenzetti
- “International and Immigration Pro Bono” presentation by Elon University student Surya Shahi.
The week was organized by the student-led Pro Bono Board at Elon Law, which includes the following members: Mark Funkhouser, Ashley Hartman, Victoria Hinton, Jessica Richardson, Abigail Seymour and Melissa Stoll.
During Pro Bono Week, several Elon Law students described their Pro Bono work and reflected on its importance:
“Pro Bono work is about providing an important service to the community and those that need it most. I’ve coordinated and led our ‘Ask a Lawyer Day’ multiple times – where lawyers provide free legal advice to individuals in the community. I’ve helped coordinate our Guitars Not Guns event, where local bands play and all money raised goes to providing guitar lessons to underprivileged youth in order to provide a creative outlet for them. I’ve also participated in the Innocence Project, as well as been a Navigator for the Affordable Care Act during an enrollment period, among many other projects. What I find rewarding is helping people and the community, and providing opportunities for others to be involved as well. Pro Bono work is the perfect chance to gain practical skills and to network, all while providing a great service.” – Mark Funkhouser, Class of 2016
“Pro Bono work to me is about being inspired to help others and use our legal skills to serve public justice. Not everyone can afford legal services despite being entitled to it. It is our duty as lawyers to be willing to provide pro bono services and to use our expertise to help lift up all members of the community. What I find rewarding about completing pro bono opportunities is how grateful the clients are for these services and creating relationships with people from all walks of life. In my pro bono experience I have worked with former drug addicts, the homeless, police officers, firefighters, and several others. It’s an amazing feeling to help all these different people and create a healthier, safe community through the conduit of legal services.” – Ashley Hartman, Class of 2017
“I have done a number of projects related to the Pro-Bono Board. I volunteered at an expunction clinic with the Legal Aid of North Carolina – Durham, where I was assisting low-income clients in cleaning up their records to help them get housing, jobs, and in one case, to get their driver’s license returned. Another event I volunteered for was the Ask- a- Lawyer event where students were assisting lawyers who volunteered their time to give legal advice to people who needed a legal question answered. In the Spring Semester, I volunteer with the Tax Law Interest Group with the AARP Tax Clinic (hint: this is where I got most of my hours from if you are looking to collect lots of pro-bono hours), where we were filling out tax returns for people.People from all walks of life come seeking legal help when it is available either free or low-cost. A lot of people have a range of legal or non-legal issues and they just want to talk to someone. An example was that a person came to Ask-a-Lawyer Day with a 10 year old will. It was still valid, but he just wanted to make sure he did not need to make a new one. Just being able to come in and ask a simple legal question with no strings attached is very rewarding. There are thousands of people who have these little questions with huge legal implications. Just being able to give these people some peace of mind is very rewarding.” – Kathleen “Katie” Lynch, Class of 2017
“I believe that Pro Bono work is important because it provides an opportunity to use the law to help others who normally would not have that opportunity. I find satisfaction in doing a good job to help somebody out. The positive impact of the work that was done for an individual and knowing you made a difference can be much greater than a monetary reward, it’s a self fulfilling reward.” – Gerard Truesdale, Class of Dec. 2017
“From a young age I have been volunteering and have completed hundreds of community service hours. Pro Bono work is simply volunteer work in my eyes and being able to do it in a legal context is just as important to me and my future career. It is simply taking the money aspect out and doing work with passion and commitment. It is extremely rewarding to be able to complete Pro Bono work and be able to apply the skills and knowledge that I have learned. Living in a world where almost everything costs, it is truly fulfilling to dedicate time to something important and to show genuine desire to help others.” – Jasmine Young, Class of Dec. 2017
Learn more about Elon Law’s Pro Bono Board here.
Elon Law student Sharon E. Dunmore, Class of 2017, contributed reporting for this article.