I am so mentally, emotionally, and physically drained right now that I can barely think. I promised one of my friends that I would go straight to bed as soon as I got home from class tonight but I had to take a moment to blog.
The main reason for my exhaustion tonight was from taking the day off from work to volunteer at a pro se legal clinic. This was my first time working a legal clinic and I cannot wait (exhaustion and all) to do this again!
Today’s clinic was exclusively for Veterans and the main focus was to help with family law and debtor/creditor issues. I worked the family law side assisting clients with forms for child support modifications. Things were going pretty smoothly for me, I handled a couple of clients quickly because most of their issues needed to be handled with the volunteer child support officers.
Then I got my next client and proceeded to spend the next four and a half hours working with him.
He wanted to obtain court-ordered parenting time with his children. Obviously, this is an area that I have had a lot of recent experience with. Together, we went through all of the paperwork and filled out the forms.
I missed lunch and didn’t even realize it, we just kept on working.
One of the more difficult aspects of assisting this client was the fact that I couldn’t give legal advice because I’m a law student. It was really hard at times but I managed. Fortunately, the volunteer family law attorney that came over to review everything we put together was fantastic and gave my client excellent advice.
By the time we were finished, I knew most of my client’s life story and he even showed me pictures of his children. I shook his hand and wished him luck. I pray that everything works out for him.
Today’s experience was just more proof that family law is what I want to do. I cannot wait until I’m practicing so that I can fully advocate for my clients.
Despite the limitations I had in assisting my client today, I really feel that I helped him. He walked out more confident than when he came in because he had an understanding of the legal process he was about to face and the affirmation from the volunteer attorney that he had a good case. The hope that my client had when he left was such a reward for me.
Any law students reading this, I strongly encourage you to volunteer at these types of clinics if they’re offered through your school.
It was an amazing experience today and I plan to continue volunteering as often as I can while a law student.
My only regret is that I will probably never know what happens to my client. I really hope it works out for him.
