Community Service
Student volunteers at the Community Warehouse during the 2014 service project
Connecting Leadership and Service:
Gonzaga Law Students in Action Catherine Brown, Assistant Director of the Center for Law in Public Service
20 | THE GONZAGA LAWYER
The Center for Law in Public Service continued to explore and support law student pro bono and public service efforts in 2014. Impressive levels of student engagement ignited new pro bono service initiatives and strengthened existing programs. Gonzaga University School of Law highlighted the student body’s commitment to service through the voluntary Pro Bono Distinction recognition. The Moderate Means Program continues to grow at Gonzaga. In partnership with the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) and the three law schools in Washington state, the Moderate Means Program connects those in moderate-income households with attorneys who offer reduced-fee legal help. Since its June 2011 launch, more than 120 Gonzaga law students volunteered to field 4,000 requests for assistance, complete 2,800 intake interviews and refer 935 cases. A law student reflected on his Moderate Means Program experience, “I think MMP has shown me [that] other attorneys fit pro bono into their schedules, so it is possible. Also, finding time to volunteer now, during a very busy semester, I am conditioning myself to it. It has to be part of my career.” Attorneys who are members of the WSBA may sign up to participate with the Moderate Means Program at www.myWSBA. org. Prospective clients can learn more and apply for Moderate Means Program assistance at www.moderatemeanswa.org.
Gonzaga Law students continue to team up with attorney volunteers through a partnership with the Spokane County Bar Association’s Volunteer Lawyers Program. Through the Family Law Attorney Student Help (FLASH) program, the Center for Law in Public Service recruits and coordinates student volunteers to attend weekly Family Law Advice Clinics at the courthouse and twice-monthly Divorce Advice Clinics at the Volunteer Lawyers Program office. A small team of FLASH students also assist attorney volunteers at the Volunteer Lawyers Program outreach clinic at Women’s Hearth, a drop-in center for homeless women in downtown Spokane. Gonzaga’s Juvenile Record Sealing Clinic continues under the leadership of five student coordinators and with the strong partnership and support of TeamChild and the Northwest Justice Project. Students recruited attorney volunteers to assist pro se clients at four record sealing clinics in 2014. TeamChild attorneys George Yeannakis and Rosey Thurman and private attorney Jaime Hawk trained law students and volunteer attorneys about the record sealing process in October 2014. With the support of the Center for Law in Public Service, Gonzaga’s Law Student Alliance for Social Justice (Alliance) engaged myriad social justice speakers through Public