The RWU Pro Bono Collaborative
Last Thursday I attended a reception for the Pro Bono Collaborative (PBC). Before I tell you about the reception, I should give you a little background
about PBC. PBC is an RWU public interest initiative. There are several different projects within PBC. The one in which I am involved is called the Legal Rights Education Project. It consists of five students, a number of attorneys and one Social Service organization called Children’s Friend and Service. What do we do? Well, we do exactly what the name implies, we collaborate. The students and attorneys work as a team to create Legal Rights Education Workshops for families who are currently serviced by Children’s Friend and Service. And the staff at Children’s Friend and Service provide us with meaningful feedback after the presentations are created to facilitate communication with the families who attend the workshops.
I was asked to give a few remarks at the reception highlighting the student perspective of the PBC. I took a little time to reflect on my experience with
PBC beforehand. And I thought about some of the factors that led me to the PBC experience in the first place and to the law school experience generally. Well this period of reflection was just what I needed in more ways than one. At a time when I am beginning to feel that mid-semester drag, it helped me to
remember why I’m here and why this experience continues to be important to me.
I’ve always felt that the law is the Swiss army knife of careers. I’m sure you all know what a Swiss army knife is. A Swiss Army knife is just one tool, but when a person has a Swiss Army knife that person is as equipped as if she had several tools. Of course there’s the actual knife, but there’s also the little pair of mini-scissors, the nail file, the corkscrew, a bottle opener … I won’t belabor the point. I think you know what I mean. It is one tool, the possession of which makes the holder equally equipped as if she had the whole toolbox, in some cases even more so. And so is the law.
A person studying the law is not just learning one subject. That person is essentially equipping herself with one tool that puts her on par with someone
who has the whole toolbox, so to speak. With it comes the ability to explore so many divergent interests, to advance such widely varying and equally noble
causes, to help so many different populations, or to ensure that all manner of “bad guy” get their comeuppance. That’s actually why I wanted to study it. I
figured if a person wants to save the world, a firm understanding of the legal structure is a very good place to start. So I came to law school.
But then I thought about the individuals who have no tools at all. I thought about the individuals, communities of them, who lack access to something as
fundamental as information. I’m sure you’ve heard the old cliché ‘knowledge is power.’ At no time is that more important than when a person must come into contact with the legal system. With all due respect to the great American legal system, this maze of rules, statutes, deadlines and formalities is not
for the faint of heart. The very prospect of having to confront it is overwhelming for some.
That’s essentially why I joined the PBC Legal Rights Education Project. I get the opportunity to work with some great people, to develop enough of a mastery of one particular topic to present it coherently to someone else, to develop all the skills inherent in collaboration. But not only that, I get the chance to do what I have come to believe is my ultimate purpose in life, educate my community. What more can I ask for?
