Volunteer Of The Month

Volunteer of the Month – March 2019 Aaron Cartwright is a sole practitioner who became licensed in November 2017. 1. How did you first get involved in pro bono? A friend knew that I was a newly licensed and setting up my practice, and recommended I connect with DVAP to help the community and gain more experience at the same time. 2. What types of cases have you accepted? I proudly accept consumer law cases from the DVAP case list. I love them and it lines up directly with my practice area and my interests…

Volunteer of the Month – February 2019 Firm: Patnaik Law Office, PLLC. 1. What types of pro bono cases have you accepted? I’m currently handling wills and other probate matters for DVAP, and in the past I have accepted bankruptcy cases. DVAP runs a great program and provides a lot of support for their volunteer attorneys. 2. Describe the most compelling pro bono case. I helped a single mom of two teenagers, whose husband passed away unexpectedly a few years ago, recover money in a bank account. It was only about two thousand dollars, but…

Volunteer of the Month – January 2019 1. How did you get involved in pro bono? UNT Dallas College of Law is committed to community engagement, so they invited Chris Reed-Brown from DVAP to the law school to give some of the students an orientation. Ten days after starting law school, I assisted at my first DVAP legal intake clinic, and I was hooked.  I helped with 31 DVAP clinics in my 1L year. During law school, I completed 800 pro bono hours, and the one place I kept returning to was DVAP. 2. Describe…

Volunteer of the Month – December 2018 Martha Johnson is a sole practitioner and mediator. 1. How did you get involved in pro bono? After I passed the Iowa Bar in January 1994, I started volunteering at our local legal services office.  The Executive Director, Robert Oberbillig, had been a long-time friend and he encouraged me to sign up.  I worked two or three times a month on their intake call line and clinics.  I handled intakes on cases ranging from landlord-tenant law to bankruptcy law to family law to whatever else came to me….

Volunteer of the Month – November 2018 Firm: Bracewell LLP Clark Donat is a commercial litigation associate at Bracewell LLP. 1. Describe your most compelling pro bono case initiative. One of the first pro bono matters I assisted with was to help a veteran from Iraq with his Permanent Physical Disability Retirement after said solider received a number of combat injuries.  After almost four years, with constant communications with the pro bono client and the Department of the Army, my client was officially retired due to his permanent physical disability in 2014.  After his retirement…

Volunteer of the Month – October 2018 Firm: Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP Fawaz A. Bham is an associate with Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP. His practice focuses on the acquisition, development, leasing, and disposition of real estate nationwide. 1. What types of pro bono cases have you accepted? As a transactional attorney, I have tried not to shy away from pro bono work that I am not too familiar with, which has allowed me to work on cases with Mosaic Family Services, answer calls at Dallas Legal Lines, discuss solutions for clients at the Housing Crisis…

Volunteer of the Month – September 2018 1. How did you first get involved in pro bono? Once I was admitted to the Puerto Rico Bar and began to practice law as a solo practitioner, one of the first things I did was to let know Puerto Rico Legal Services, Inc. of my availability to accept pro bono cases. After resigning as an Assistant State Attorney in Puerto Rico to come live in Texas, I attended a Pro Bono Orientation Luncheon and got involved with the DVAP’s pro bono cases with enthusiasm and commitment. 2. Why do you do…

Volunteer of the Month – August 2018 Firm: Bracewell  LLP 1. How did you first get involved in pro bono? My first involvement with pro bono was as a summer clerk for Bracewell when we spent an afternoon working at a legal clinic that was geared toward assisting veterans and their families.  The partner who led Bracewell’s pro bono efforts in Dallas at that time, who embodied the principle that it is an attorney’s privilege and duty to give back to the community, inspired me to make pro bono cases a constant part of my…

Volunteer of the Month – July 2018 Firm: Spring Law Firm 1. How did you first get involved in pro bono? Starting in the late 1980’s with a large firm, I knew I wanted to work with individuals as I had time. As my available time increased (that takes a while in a big firm!), I got involved first with clinics in South Dallas, then Garland. 2. Describe your most compelling pro bono case. The one when I represented a consumer who had been sold a “lemon”, so we were set against a car dealership,…

Volunteer of the Month – June 2018 1. How did you first get involved in pro bono? After I retired in 2013, I quickly realized that I needed to have something to do that was both worthwhile and challenging, or at least interesting.  I usually say, however, that the realization was that my dogs had gotten tired of being walked; there is some truth in that too. 2. What types of cases have you accepted? Almost all of my cases involve aspects of family law along with a bit of probate and will drafting.  I…