SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023
42
The Perfect Volunteer Opportunity
1 . Did you know that Community Law Program has a volunteer opportunity that :
2 . Doesn ’ t require you to leave the comfort of your office or home ; 3 . Takes only 2 – 3 hours per month ; 4 . Doesn ’ t require any prior experience in family law ; and 5 . Makes an incredible difference in someone ’ s life ?
If this sounds too good or too easy to be true , let me introduce you to Attorney Jamie Bigayer . Jamie is an insurance regulatory attorney . She lives and works in Miami . Like many of you , she highly values the importance of pro bono work and helping her community , but she was reluctant to reach out to legal aid to get involved in doing pro bono , because she didn ’ t think she could contribute . Moreover , while she had done pro bono work before on-site with a legal aid organization in her service area , since the pandemic it was challenging for her to find opportunities that she could participate in locally that were remote . This is what Jamie had to say about herself when she first reached out to us after learning of our remote clinic opportunities :
I write the fine print for insurance policies that no one reads . I don ’ t litigate . I ’ m never in court . I have no experience in family law . What can I possibly do for my pro bono work ?
Little did Jamie know we had the perfect volunteer opportunity for her , i . e ., our virtual family law forms clinic . We host this clinic once a month over Zoom . During the clinic , volunteer attorneys and law students help pro se litigants complete Supreme Court approved family law forms that are needed to start either a divorce or paternity action . Before assigning a client ’ s case to this clinic , we vet each case to make sure the issues involved for each pro se litigant are fairly routine , and lack extra levels of complexity . In addition , for each virtual clinic session , a CLP staff attorney is present to monitor the Zoom rooms , answer any questions , or handle any unusual circumstances .
After an orientation session with Jamie that involved
By Kimberly Rodgers , Esq .
familiarizing her with basic divorce law concepts and with the forms , she was off and running ! That was over two years ago , and since then Jamie has helped make a significant difference in the lives of many people who otherwise may not have gotten the help they needed . When I recently asked Jamie why she finds her pro bono work so rewarding , she had this to say :
It is only a commitment of a few hours for each client once a month . But , for the CLP clients , it ’ s everything , it ’ s life changing ; it ’ s a new beginning . If that sounds hyperbolic , it ’ s not . The amount of gratitude I receive from the CLP clients is overwhelming . They say things like “ Thank you so much , I don ’ t know what I would do without you .” “ You have no idea what this means to me .” “ You are saving my life , now I can move forward .”
I don ’ t feel like I deserve all this praise . I am not doing anything complicated or special . Each form has explicit instructions , and many of the forms require the same information . But to the CLP clients , who are completely overwhelmed by the mass of papers and the court process , I am a hero . I am thankful and humbled that such a small effort on my part really has such a huge impact on actual peoples ’ lives . It is extremely rewarding to know I am really helping people and making a difference .
Not only that , but it goes a long way in changing people ’ s perception of lawyers . Many have only seen manipulative or dishonest lawyers on tv . Or if they have already been in the court system , they may have had a bad experience . Through working with me , the CLP clients get to meet a lawyer who is helping them at a crucial turning point in their lives .
Today , Jamie is only one of a few volunteers who participates in our virtual forms clinic . Yet , each week