South Texas College of Law Annotations (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 4, Ed. 1, February, 2008 Page: 3 of 8
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February 2008
Page 3
Day of Giving: Great Success
By Dorothy Meindok- Arajuo
Staff Writer
Bright and early Saturday
morning, January 12th of this
year, Houston's legal commu-
nity started the New Year off
right: In pro bono service to our
community members in need.
The event, A Day of Giving,
was a multi-location event,
sponsored by the Houston Vol-
unteer Lawyers Program
(HVLP) and its purpose was to
reach as many people with le-
gal needs as possible. This was
approached by going to them in
their neighborhoods and key
locations around the Houston
metro area making valuable re-
sources, referrals, and informa-
tion available to them on the
spot.
In some cases, when cir-
cumstances allowed, clients
had their cases conditionally
accepted by the HVLP and left
with homework to do but
smiles on their faces; and al-
though not all cases were ac-
cepted, everyone left with an al-
ternative to help provide a so-
lution to their legal question.
Referrals were made to varied
agencies around the local area
and within Texas from Lone
Star Legal Aid to the Texas At-
torney General's Office.
All types of practitioners
turned out to serve: judges, law
professors, law deans, public
lawyers, family lawyers, corpo-
rate lawyers, general practice
and solos, immigration attor-
neys, law students, and parale-
gals. The caring of our legal
community was self-evident in
numbers alone.
The "Magnolia" District of
Houston, at Ripley House on
Navigation, was a very success-
ful location. This was due, in
large part, to Chase Bank's le-
gal department, which took
note of the possible language
barrier and brought along an
entourage of volunteer transla-
tors willing to give up their Sat-
urday morning to aid the attor-
neys in this mission. In estima-
tion, over 70 percent of all the
persons helped through this lo-
cation primarily spoke Spanish
as a first language.
Giving back to those in need
is always a rewarding experi-
ence and should be a goal of
every person, on every level, of
the legal profession. We are
professionals and community
leaders that others will come to
rely on and look to for solutions
and answers in crisis. It never
hurts to also let your commu-
nity know you are truly noble
(and also have a heart).
There are opportunities just
about every place you look, if
you look. As a law student, you
can join in at the HVLP's next
Day of Giving. You will be no-
tified by Stanley so you can sign
up, or you can volunteer at nu-
merous other legal or charitable
agencies. It is not only good for
the community—it's good for
you. Hope to see you there!
Left: Day of Giving
participants coun-
sel members of the
community on vari-
ous legal concerns.
Lawyers, judges,
law students, and
paralegals are just
a few of the ex-
amples of people
who came to help.
Translators were
also availble to
break language
barriers.
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Lewis, Tamara E. South Texas College of Law Annotations (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 4, Ed. 1, February, 2008, newspaper, February 2008; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth144587/m1/3/: accessed May 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting South Texas College of Law.