Pro Bono Week: Student and Alumni Features, Part I

2L Richard Esparza's comments on pro bono workWe want to highlight just a few of the many students and alumni that participate in pro bono opportunities with our Office of Public Service. We will be featuring some photos of them on our Twitter and Instagram pages and will have another post later this week to highlight more!

First up is 2L Richard Esparza. Richard began volunteering with our pro bono programs during the first week he was allowed to during his 1L year, “I actually was scheduled for my first shift on the same day we received training!” He has participated at all of the MVLCs but he frequents the United Community Center (UCC) more often since he is a native Spanish speaker and there is a large Spanish-speaking population that attends the clinic.

We asked our students why they decided to do pro bono work and what their favorite thing about volunteering was. Richard said, “I decided to do pro bono because I am a native of Milwaukee and feel a strong connection to my community. My favorite thing about volunteering with the pro bono clinics is being able to use my Spanish to help clients.”

Next is Al Sterling. Al is a 3L and has been volunteering with the pro bono programs since his first semester of law school. 

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Bradley Foundation Chief Describes Its Conservative Philosophy and Grant Making

As Rick Graber sees it, the Bradley Foundation operates “in a world of ideas, and we fund people who are in the world of ideas.”

That’s one way to describe the work of the Milwaukee-based foundation. But it is important to add a few things to that description: The Bradley Foundation is huge – it has an endowment of about $900 million and it makes grants of $40 to $50 million a year. It is influential – it has provided funding sparking big changes in American policy since it was launched in the mid-1980s. And it is conservative – its leaders have never hesitated in using that label to describe its support of limited government, free markets, traditional values, and other conservative causes. One of its signature issues is support of programs allowing parents to send their children to private and religious schools using public money.

Graber, president and CEO of Bradley since 2016, told an audience at an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program at Marquette Law School on Thursday, October 17, that the foundation tries to do what two brothers, Harry and Lynda Bradley, would want them to do. The two were founders of the Allen-Bradley Co., and they were supporters of conservative causes. Both died more than a half century ago and the foundation is funded out of some of the proceeds of the sale of Allen-Bradley in the 1980s.

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National Pro Bono Week: October 20-26

October 20-26, 2019 is recognized as National Pro Bono Week. For the last ten years, a week in October has been chosen as a way to spotlight the pro bono work done by law students, lawyers, and paralegals across the country.

How did it get started? Back in 2009, the ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service decided to create a coordinated event to highlight The mobile legal clinic bus.the “increasing need for pro bono services during harsh economic times and the unprecedented response of attorneys to meet this demand.” Ever since, it has promoted pro bono activities during October to help increase access to justice and community involvement.

So what is Marquette Law School doing for Pro Bono Week? Well, I first want to mention that the Law School has been committed to public service for a long time. The Office of Public Service is continuing to organize pro bono opportunities, trainings, CLEs, and really just business as usual because serving our communities is engrained in our mission. Almost 70% of our current students have participated in pro bono opportunities and we’ve served thousands of clients over the year.

So if you haven’t yet volunteered at one of the many Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinics (MVLCs), traveled on the Mobile Legal Clinic bus, or participated with the Milwaukee Justice Center (which will be celebrating its 10th Anniversary this month), I would encourage our students, faculty, and alumni to sign up for a shift during the week.

But we are also going to use the week to recognize just a few of our volunteers, both current students and alumni. They have put in a lot of time and effort to connect with the Milwaukee community and help increase access to justice. Hear about some of their experiences and find out what motivates them to give their time to this cause. Hopefully it will help inspire you to give back as well.

Continue ReadingNational Pro Bono Week: October 20-26