University of Utah : S.J. Quinney College of Law

Pro Bono Initiative Honored by Utah State Bar

Posted: 10 Apr 2007 by Barry Scholl
Updated on: 8 Jun 2007

Tags: pro bono lcs honor 

The S.J. Quinney College of Law's Pro Bono Initiative recently received the Utah State Bar's Distinguished Service Award, recognizing seven years of service.

According to Kristin Erickson, Associate Dean for Legal Career Services at the Quinney College and director of the Pro Bono Initiative, the Initiative was developed with a set of ambitious goals in mind. These included instilling in students a public service ethic, providing mentoring within a context, introducing students to a variety of areas of legal practice, encouraging closer ties between alumni and current students, and serving the disadvantaged by assuring that all citizens receive quality legal assistance.                                         

The voluntary program enjoys widespread support. "In a typical year, more than half of our law students will take at least one placement. Many students are aware of what we do and become involved," Erickson explains. "Also, we have heard from a number of sources that many lawyers are more willing to take on pro bono cases because they know that students are available and willing to help," she adds.

                                        

The Pro Bono Initiative offers placements in a variety of environments, and provides participants the opportunity to gain experience in various practice areas, from bankruptcy to civil rights, disability to education. "Through the program, law students get an introduction to a broad variety of substantive law areas and methods of practice," according to Erickson.

                                        

Louise Knauer, an attorney in Salt Lake City, estimates that she has been involved in the family law component of the program for five years and deems the services provided by the Initiative "invaluable." "I got involved when someone from the Women's Resource Center at the U asked me to speak, and then asked if I would work with the Law School and law students to help people. The first year, we ran it once a month at the law school. For about the past year and a half, it has been at the Matheson Courthouse, and Legal Aid Society of Salt Lake and Utah Legal Services have been extremely supportive. Legal Aid provides a paralegal and keeps their office open two evenings a month, and we use their paralegal, their forms and their computers." Knauer believes that the move to the downtown courthouse, in conjunction with the program's collaborative efforts with other agencies, have only served to make the Initiative more effective — an assertion with which Erickson agrees.

                                        

"I've always thought the key to the success of a program like this is the involvement of many constituencies," Erickson affirms. "Not just the law school, but local service providers and the private Bar." As the program grows, she envisions its influence reaching beyond the law school to include other academic disciplines at the U. "Our language banks are a good example; we've put together 50 students with expertise in 18 languages to be used for pro bono legal services" where a communications barrier might otherwise make representation difficult or impossible, she explains. Erickson also believes the resource could be beneficial for future public service collaborations with other university departments, including health sciences and business, among others.

                                         

Aaron Tarin, a second-year student at the Quinney College, has been involved with the Initiative since his second semester of law school. He describes the experience as nothing but positive. "I came into law school with a vision and passion about what I wanted to do with my law degree. After the first semester of 1L stress and burnout, those visions and dreams became a bit blurred. The first time I helped an indigent client at the Guadalupe clinic it was as if that perspective had restored. Seemingly theoretical concepts I had studied in civil procedure and contracts suddenly came to life as I was given an opportunity to apply them in real life. Seemingly complex concepts of property law suddenly became quite clear as I confronted opportunities to use them to help clients. My first year doing Pro Bono gave me the opportunity to write up contracts, negotiate with other attorneys and draft a settlement agreement. My hands-on interaction with clients and attorneys helped remove some of the mystique from the law in general and greatly improved my confidence and outlook as I realized that the law's challenges were manageable. My second semester in law school I made it a point to take time from studying to do Pro Bono and surprisingly my grades improved drastically despite studying and worrying less about them. I attribute this directly to the ‘extra-curricular' perspective the Pro Bono involvement provided me."

                                        

Serena Serassio is a third-year student law student at the Quinney College and another proponent of the Pro Bono Initiative. She has volunteered with the Housing Division of Utah Legal Services and on the Rocky Mountain Innocence Project. After feeling "detached from the real world," during her first semester of law school, she says that participating in the program helped to revive her interest. "Both of the projects I have worked with have gotten me excited about law again. They reminded me why I came to law school.  I was not only researching and writing memos, but also interacting with people. I was able to really make a difference in people's lives."

                                        

Not surprisingly, the program's supporters, practitioners and students alike, hope that the Distinguished Service Award will raise the program's profile and lead to even greater support and involvement. Tarin says,  "I hope the award will encourage the administration to create more incentives for law students to participate in Pro Bono. It's no secret that time is a scarcity in law school, and many students find it difficult to make time for Pro Bono. Though some students realize that Pro Bono involvement is a great resume builder and an effective way to network, my sense is that many still do not appreciate the benefits in store for them if they make the time sacrifice to participate."

                                        

Knauer adds, "I think that publicizing the program should be helpful. We need to do a better job recruiting attorneys to become involved, at least in the family law program. I always feel that we can't do enough [for the community]."

                                        

Serassio emphasizes the firsthand benefits of participating in the program. "After getting involved, I realized that my law school experience was going to be better and more valuable. I liked having hands-on experience because it made me understand how to use the tools I was being taught in law school." She also believes that students who become involved are more skilled at representing their clients, which, she concludes, "produces more just results."