William (Bill) Christy is an outstanding volunteer attorney who has done extensive pro bono and community service to improve the lives of Western North Carolinians since moving back to the region in 1995 to practice law. Bill founded the firm Stone & Christy, PA in Black Mountain in that year and immediately began doing pro bono service through Pisgah Legal Services’ Mountain Area Volunteer Lawyer Program (MAVL). Through MAVL, Bill has handled at least 488 pro bono cases, contributing more than 1,500 hours of pro bono legal services. Bill has assisted low-income clients with consumer protection and debtor issues, housing problems, tax matters, end-of-life planning and probate, and immigration and family preparedness issues.
Law Students Against Sexual and Domestic Violence (LSASDV) is a university-recognized student organization at the UNC School of Law. In addition to sponsoring speakers and programs to educate law students and the university community about sexual and domestic violence, LSASDV provides pro bono opportunities for UNC law students to advocate for survivors through connections with local domestic violence service providers, rape crisis centers, and legal nonprofits. In light of growing awareness and concern about sexual violence, the UNC School of Law student leaders of LSASDV hope to ensure that students have the opportunity to advocate for sexual assault survivors. The organization’s goal is also to express to the entire community that UNC law students believe survivors and are dedicated to providing support to victims. The organization also works to educate the community on the disproportionate impact that sexual and domestic violence has on poor and minority women.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00Karsin Williardhttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngKarsin Williard2021-10-18 10:58:372021-10-18 11:02:39Pro Bono Spotlight: UNC Law Students Against Sexual and Domestic Violence
Sarah Beth Withers is dedicated to bridging the justice gap in Eastern North Carolina. In 2017, She founded Inner Banks Legal Services, a non-profit law firm based in Historic Downtown Washington. Her goal was – and still is – to provide quality legal services for low-income and modest-means individuals and families who earn too much to qualify for Legal Aid of North Carolina’s services but may not earn enough to afford traditional legal fees. In just four years, she has helped over 400 families in Eastern North Carolina. Last year, Withers tracked over 225 pro bono hours locally. She is a committed servant leader, serving her team, her community, and her clients with compassion, professionalism, openness, and grace.
Over the last four years, Withers has worked diligently to connect with attorneys, agencies, churches, and businesses in the community; she understands the critical partnerships needed to care for her neighbors. These relationships, coupled with Withers’ financial savvy and business acumen, have led to consistent, steady growth ensuring Inner Banks Legal Services longevity in Eastern North Carolina. In 2018, Withers recognized a need for family law services, hired the team to address that need, and expanded the office footprint. In 2020, the firm was granted funding to expand its legal specialties once again in order to offer pro bono legal services to domestic violence survivors – 20 individuals and families fleeing domestic violence received pro bono family law and bankruptcy services in the program’s first quarter alone. Thank you, Sarah Beth Withers, for your continued dedication to serving North Carolinians through Pro Bono!
Karen Fisher Moskowitz is the Director of the Consumer Protection Program at Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy and has dedicated her legal career to serving the most vulnerable members of her community. Moskowitz uses her expertise as an attorney to help her clients know safety and stability and has practiced for more than 25 years. She has said of her work that she is “proud to be a part of the Legal Services tradition and in the trenches day after day, fighting the good fight for the most vulnerable people in our society.”
Moskowitz and her team worked with the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy’s Pro Bono program coordinator to establish a monthly consumer relief clinic, in which attorneys from McGuireWoods meet with clients and take on their cases relating to automobile fraud along with other unfair and deceptive practices. Thanks to Moskowitz’s initiative to find a way instead of turning people in crisis away, Advocacy Center now serves an additional 50 to 60 clients each year in consumer protection cases.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00Pro Bonohttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngPro Bono2021-06-22 17:03:572022-10-25 13:22:362021 Pro Bono Award Winners Recognized
It’s no secret that the ability to form a trusting relationship with clients is one of the most important skills a lawyer can have. As a rule, “when a client’s capacity to make adequately considered decisions in connection with a representation is diminished because of minority . . . the lawyer shall as far as reasonably possible, maintain a normal client-lawyer relationship with the client.”[1] However, additional considerations should be made when the client is a minor child.
Social isolation creates an increased risk for elder abuse.[1] Thus, with the emergence of the pandemic and with the number of elderly individuals in our society, lawyers may experience an influx of elderly clients. It’s important to note at the onset that not every elderly client will have diminished capacity. You should always assume that adults, regardless of their age, have capacity. The purpose of this blog post is to help lawyers navigate a client relationship with elderly clients who experience a decrease in cognitive abilities.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00Pro Bonohttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngPro Bono2021-05-26 16:36:512022-10-25 13:23:08Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) Series: A Note on Working with Older Adults and Clients with Diminished Capacity
Part I: What to Consider When Working with Interpreters
By Larissa Mañón Mervin, with the assistance of Aaron Jacobson and Jennifer Robinson [1]
When ensuring access to justice, an attorney should consider a variety of factors. One of the most important factors is access to foreign language services when a client speaks limited English. According to Charlotte Stories, over 40 million Americans speak Spanish at home. [2] In N.C., the most common foreign languages spoken after English are Spanish and French.[3] Therefore, it is imperative that we consider “language justice” when ensuring our clients are represented as best as possible. The term language justice means the fundamental right to have one’s voice heard in their native language.[4] Groundswell: Oral History for Social Change defines the term further, by the following three characteristics:
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00NCBARBLOGhttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngNCBARBLOG2021-04-16 17:16:272024-05-07 10:32:52Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) Series: Tools to Consider When Working With Interpreters
Recent studies indicate that more than 1.4 million transgender adults live in America. That’s around 0.5% of adults. If you’ve encountered 200 clients in your practice, odds are at least one of them is transgender, even if you didn’t know it.
Transgender people are those whose gender identity is different than the gender assigned at birth. Gender identity is one’s innermost concept of self and gender. For example, a person may identify as transgender if they were assigned female at birth, but identify as a man or non-binary (or something else like genderqueer or gender fluid). This article provides four tips for working with transgender clients, regardless of whether you know they are transgender when they first walk in (or videoconference in) your office. Read more
“A provider should ensure that its staff has the skills, knowledge and resources necessary to provide assistance in a culturally competent manner.” – ABA Standard 2.4 For the Provision of Civil Legal Aid
By Nisel Desai Diversity and Inclusion trainings seem to have surged since the tragic killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. The Black Lives Matter movement has seen an outpouring of solidarity and support, but we, as attorneys and officers of the court, must grapple with the difficult question: Why Now?
Perhaps it is the dual disasters of police brutality amidst a raging pandemic that have forced us all to participate in difficult conversations with each other, with our families, and within our communities. Whatever the root of this self-reflection may be, it is absolutely overdue, and such trainings and conversations are not intended to advance a particular political agenda, but rather to reframe these issues in the name of preserving human dignity and the equitable provision of justice. Two ends, that most attorneys can agree are the pillars of our profession.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00Pro Bonohttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngPro Bono2021-03-10 12:26:262024-05-07 10:34:18Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) Series: Microaggressions, Building Rapport and Recovering from Blunders – Resources for Harmonious Pro Bono Client Interactions
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By Nisel Desai