by Jeremy Hicks, Esq. | SALSA Attorney Volunteer
If a majority are capable of preferring their own private interest, or that of their families, counties, and party, to that of the nation collectively, some provision must be made in the constitution, in favor of justice, to compel all to respect the common right, the public good, the universal law, in preference to all private and partial considerations.
John Adams 1787 From Defence of the constitutions of government of the United States.
The phrase, “Justice for All” for most is a carefully crafted marketing campaign. Once of neurolinguistic programming to condition juvenile minds, but rarely a reality. More than one hundred million Americans experience civil justice issues every year. The vast majority, however, do not receive legal assistance. In a nation united under God, growing tensions among race, lifestyle, and class only serve to deepen the standing divisions arising from these dilemmas.
This is why it is important for lawyers to engage pro bono clients. Without such legal service, everyone is subject to the law, but they do not have the ability to acquire justice under the law. It is commonly said that “The bar cannot help the public if the public has no access to the bar.” Pro bono work is ground-zero for this effort. As Mahatma Gandhi famously said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”
The people are the best keepers of their own liberties, but without a means to execute there is limited access to its enjoyment. My goal is to pursue at least one engagement or event every month. That goal will serve to organize and measure the best of my energy and skills, and because that challenge is one that I am willing to accept.
Pro Bono work has served to develop an overarching competencies adjacent to most areas of law. JFK said, “The greater our knowledge increases, the greater our ignorance unfolds.” As such, the world has become much smaller, but opposingly more apparent.
Photo credit: Bexar County Courthouse – Saile Aranda/TPR