Pro Bono: A Lot to Celebrate

Last week, as part of the American Bar Association’s coordinated effort to showcase the great difference pro bono makes, we hosted our third annual Pro Bono Celebration.  This gave us opportunity to highlight some of our community partners.  We celebrated with balloons and cake in the conference center and heard from Beth Cordes Thompson, Director of Wisconsin English Language Partners of Wisconsin and a recent beneficiary of the Marquette Legal Initiative for Nonprofit Corporations’ services;  Gerri Sheets-Howard, Director of the House of Peace where the Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinic (MVLC) is in its tenth year of operation; Jim Duff, Director of Milwaukee County Veterans’ Service Office where the MVLC has hosted a clinic since 2009; Dr. Luis “Tony” Baez, Director of the Council for Spanish Speakers where the MVLC has operated a clinic since 2008; and John Barrett, Milwaukee County Clerk of Courts, where our clinic has run since 2009. These speakers are pictured from left to right in the photo accompanying this post. I heard from multiple attendees that they were refueled after hearing about the reach of the legal services our law students and a dedicated cadre of volunteer attorneys provide.

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The Face in the Window

John Luther Bryant was a happy guy as he drove down the dusty roads of rural Pickens County, Alabama.  Life was good on the family farm where he and his spinster sister, Miss Grace Bryant, worked to scratch out a living and raise enough food and chickens to support themselves while enjoying the peace and quiet of a simple country lifestyle.

John was a man of diminutive stature, some attributing that to poor nutrition as a child.  But he was strong, sinewy, and lithe — physical attributes he proudly put to good use working his day job as a sanitation engineer (garbage man) for the City of Gordo, Alabama.

As John drove into town he had no reason to suspect the fate he was about to face.  As was his regular practice, John and his coworker rode on the back of the Gordo garbage truck doing their regular route.  They hopped off at each house to empty the trash and then get back onto the truck to ride to the next block.

As the truck rumbled down the uneven streets of Gordo, the unexpected happened and John’s number was called. 

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Appearing Before the Court

[Editor’s Note: This month faculty members share their favorite brief writing or oral argument tip. This is the first entry in the series.]

When people ask me about the most helpful tip I can give for writing a brief and appearing in front of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, my answer is always “preparation, preparation, preparation.” The most effective appellate lawyers have spent an incredible amount of time knowing and understanding their cases and the applicable and relevant law in the area. They have “mooted” their oral arguments a number of times in front of different lawyers or retired judges. Of course, appellate books and training programs tell you to do that as well.

I believe it is perhaps more helpful for me to write about a significant mistake I have seen very well prepared lawyers make. The biggest error by counsel appearing before the Court is to get too close to the case. They know how they want the case to turn out (although occasionally we had an attorney appear who could not exactly explain what he or she believed the mandate line should say if there is a reversal). We all understand that counsel’s objective (rightfully so) is to win it for the client.

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