Four months ago, Jane was destitute, hopeless and living in the I.M. Sulzbacher Center when she decided to attend one of the monthly free legal aid intake sessions provided jointly by the Jacksonville Bar Association and the Jacksonville Legal Aid.
Specifically, the third Tuesday of every month, attorneys with various specialties and expertises volunteer their time and efforts to listen to and answer the complaints and grievances of the guests of the shelter via the legal process.
Jane had worked for numerous years, but recently hit a difficult stretch in her life and was unable to work. Although penniless, she thought her father, who had died three years ago, left her money through his will. If correct, she could use the money to move out of the shelter and get her life back on track. However, she did not have a copy of the will nor did she know the name of the estate attorney. Further, no one seemed to believe her or care, and she had been completely unsuccessful in her attempts.
However, her fortunes changed when she met Alan Pickert, a partner at Brown Terrell and Hogan, who faithfully attends the monthly legal aid sessions at the shelter. Pickert has been involved with creation and implementation of the legal aid intake program at the homeless shelter since its inception two years ago. Not only did he care, but he agreed to help her and took the case pro bono.
Eventually, Pickert was able to track down the estate attorney in British Columbia who handled the estate of Jane’s father. After several months of correspondence and fact finding, Pickert was able to recover almost $45,000 from her fathers estate. With the money, Jane was able to start her life anew.
“All I needed was someone who was willing to listen and to have the ability to help me,” said Jane. “Luckily, Alan came along my way.”