LEGAL VOLUNTEER GROUPS

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: 412

Yes, there are many things going wrong today in our society, but there are also lots of things that are really going quite well.  And many of those good efforts are sponsored by our legal profession.  Obviously legal professionals often deal in disputes, and those certainly can get messy and be misunderstood, but we also play a large part in helping people avoid disputes as well.  In addition, and this is not widely known, most bar associations and many legal professionals around our country are involved with legal assistance for low-income people, as well as in mentoring our young people.  So I thought I would devote this week’s column to the volunteer efforts of our local Orange County legal professionals so you could join me in being proud of what they do.  Here are just some examples:

• Public Law Center: Provides free volunteer legal services for low-income people including counseling, individual representation, community education, and strategic litigation and advocacy to challenge societal injustices;
• Veterans Legal Institute: Provides free debt assistance and legal representation in civil and Veteran’s Administration matters to low-income Veterans;
• Elder Law and Disability Rights Center: Provides free legal assistance to low-income seniors and people with disabilities and their families;
• Community Legal Aid SoCal: Provides legal assistance to low-income people, including those facing evictions from their homes and apartments;
• The Orange County Bar Association’s Project Youth: Counsels about 1,500 at-risk youth ages 12 to 18 per year, as well as a similar number of parents, plus it has a 91 percent non-recidivism rate for youth who have gone through their “Shortstop” and “Stop Short of Addiction” programs;
• The Orange County Bar Association: Facilitates volunteer legal services such as Legal Fee Dispute Arbitrators; Mentoring of Youth; Bankruptcy, Domestic Violence and Guardianship Clinics; and volunteer opportunities to work with the displaced children at the Orangewood Children’s Home.

And these are just some examples of these good works.  So I remain proud of our legal profession, and wanted to pass along this information so you would join me in being proud of it as well.

Comment for the week frequently used in our Orange County Peer Court sessions: “You show me your friends and I will show you your future.”