Colorado's Pro Bono Success
| Publication year | 1995 |
| Pages | 2319 |
1995, October, Pg. 2319. Colorado's Pro Bono Success
CBA Director of Public & Legal Services
The success of any volunteer program is usually measured by the numbers. How many people approached the program for help? Of those, how many were served? Were services provided to a large number of people at a economical rate? Those are important considerations, but today those commanding the purse strings do not appear to believe legal services to be valuable. As a result, there is a legal services funding crisis, which will seriously affect all of Colorado's legal services programs and many of the local bar associations' pro bono programs.
It is important when considering the true success of these programs to look at more than a showing of numbers. Measures of success have much to do with the people involved---the volunteers and the clients. Benefits to clients encompass so much more than legal representation. To represent those who would otherwise have no voice in the legal system is to validate them in a manner many have never experienced. Lives change when a client is able to triumph over barriers.
During the next year, the Colorado Pro Bono Project, including the directors of local bar projects, will examine just how volunteer legal services programs have succeeded in Colorado communities. Articles such as this one will tell of some of these successes. This is just one client's story.
Sean (not her real name) went to her local legal services office four years ago with a desperate custody issue. Her children were in a seriously undesirable situation, and she knew she needed help. Sean was assigned a volunteer attorney who successfully resolved her case, helping her win custody of her children.
Sean won more than a custody case; she won a new life. She was inspired by her attorney to get involved with her community. She wanted to help other women who were in situations similar to the one she had overcome.
Sean decided to return to college. As a part of her course work, she served an internship with the same legal services office which had assisted her with her previous legal problems. At the completion of that internship, Sean continued to volunteer at the office, assisting staff members with computer training. She now serves as the citizen...
To continue reading
Request your trial