Lawyers give back to community

What do you call lawyers who spend their time helping others?

Appreciated.

Local attorneys volunteer in a variety of ways, from serving on community boards, to working with local youth, to providing legal assistance to those in need.

John Rush, director of United Way of the Ozarks, said that when any of the 28 agencies within the United Way sets up a board of directors, he recommends each have a lawyer.

"Most not-for-profits would like to have at least one lawyer on their board so that they can tell when they really do need legal counsel," he said.

In the case of Husch & Eppenberger LLC, volunteerism is part of the corporate culture.

"We consider civic and community work very important in our decisions as to partner status and other matters," said Gary Powell, a member of the firm's management committee.

All of the firm's attorneys are currently working with agencies or have done so in the past and are preparing to volunteer again.

For example, partner Jerry Harmison is president of the Springfield School Board; associate Paul Link serves on Habitat for Humanity's Law Panel; and associate Ginger Gooch is active with Junior League of Springfield and Teen Court.

The law firm accommodates the fact that some volunteer work must be taken care of during office hours, Powell said. "We both expect and encourage civic and community involvement, and we understand that a portion of that would occur during the workday."

A local program through which many attorneys volunteer their expertise is Legal Services of Southern Missouri.

In 2002, attorneys donated $930,757 in volunteer hours to Legal Services, with the average case taking 5.8 hours, said Sharon Alexander, director of development for Legal Services of Southern Missouri. Alexander said that this figure is based on a charge of $100 per hour.

The hourly rate is based on the average fee for Missouri attorneys, according to the Missouri Bar.

There are 219 attorneys from 43 counties volunteering their time with Legal Services of Southern Missouri, Alexander said. "If it were not for the support of the private bar, Legal Services would not be able to serve as many clients," she said.

Clients of Legal Services must live at or below 125 percent of the federal poverty level and federal law prohibits the office from handling fee-generating cases. Alexander said many clients need assistance with family law, bankruptcy or housing issues.

Marilyn Sorrells, director of Family Violence Center Inc., said that having volunteer attorneys available through Legal Services makes an impact not only on her clients, but on her staff as well. "It saves them a lot of time just trying to call attorneys one by one, trying to get them to donate their time," she said. Sorrells' staff refers clients to Legal Services, and clients are then matched with someone who can meet their legal needs, whether in-house or pro bono.

Family Violence Center had a legal advocate on staff, but lost the grant that paid her salary at the end of 2001 and spent 2002 without assistance in that position. "Now having attorneys and paralegals that are trained to handle these very complex legal issues really upgrades the quality of services that we can offer to women," Sorrells said.

Sorrells said that legal issues are often what keep the center's clients from being self-sufficient.

"These legal issues can be so complex. Sometimes they can end up going back to their abuser rather than having to go through all this mess. By having this service available to them, it can help them to make a clean break," she said.