Name: Robert Wilbert
Age: 44
Family: Wife Kristy and children Brieahyna and Kadedynn
Pets: Cat Kasey
Education: B.A. History-Salisbury University, J.D., Ole Miss, LL.M. in Admiralty, Tulane University.
Admitted to the Bar: Maryland 1992, Florida 2001
Employed by: Jacksonville Area Legal Aid
Field of practice: Bankruptcy and Foreclosure Defense
Professional Organizations: National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, National Association of Consumer Advocates
Community Involvement
I currently don’t do community volunteering in the traditional sense. I don’t teach Sunday school or run a youth sports league. However, I do go out into the community and educate people about their rights as consumers and litigants. I advise people on what creditors may do to them or take from them if they cannot and do not pay their bills. I also urge local people to get involved in the political process and be sure to register to vote. People often hear me lamenting the fact that many Americans will complain and get extremely angry over paying a $3 ATM fee to “get their own money,” but those same people will not write their representatives in Washington to complain about the income tax or the inflation tax or big bank bailouts. I try to get the average citizen to get as excited about the political process and contacting Congress as he or she would about watching the Gators or Bulldogs play. The former could have a real impact in their lives. while the latter is just entertainment. “Change” was the big word last election, but how many people really get involved to try to effectuate change in D.C.?
I am a lawyer who makes house calls. All of my clients are low income and some are truly destitute. I visit clients from Flagler Estates in Hastings to Keystone Heights to Lake City and places in between. Many of my clients cannot get around town, so I visit them to notarize documents and the like. One of my elderly clients in rural St. Johns County was recently featured in USA Today and Newsweek. She told me that she never expected a lawyer to visit her at home — said it made her feel important. Also, being a bankruptcy attorney, I like to see what kind of property and assets my clients have.
How did you get involved?
In the political process; my grandfather got me involved. In legal aid work: I started in the Bush I recession and law jobs were hard to find. I walked into the local Salisbury, MD legal aid office and told the manager that I wanted to work there.
How can someone else get involved?
In the political process: check Meet Up for your type of candidate or party. For legal aid work: go to www.jaxlegalaid.org and see if we are hiring.
What have you learned/achieved through the experience?
I have learned that one does not really need a lot of property in order to get by and that material things don’t really bring anyone happiness deep down. Like local Jacksonville band Shinedown sings “Bring only what you need to survive.” I see my poor clients who are surviving and are happy, notwithstanding their lack of stuff.
What was the last book you read or are reading?
“The Revolution: A Manifesto” by Congressman Ron Paul. The basic premise is: keep the government out of our bedrooms and out of our wallets.