by Kathy Para
Chair, JBA Pro Bono Committee
Army private Sam Griffith received the kind of phone call that no parent ever wants to receive: A child welfare caseworker in Michigan had just removed Griffith’s young daughter from the home of the child’s mother — Griffith’s ex-wife — based on suspicion of abuse and neglect. Griffith dropped everything to drive from Fort Hood, Texas, to recover his daughter in Michigan, but upon his return to Texas, he was faced with a very difficult legal situation. The child’s mother still retained legal custody of the child under a Michigan court order, there was an open child welfare case in the Michigan juvenile court, and, on top of it all, Griffith was soon scheduled to deploy overseas to Iraq. Though he had met with a legal assistance attorney at his JAG office, there was little the Texas-licensed attorney could do to help him with what was entirely a Michigan legal matter, and with a very limited income, Griffith could not even begin to imagine how he would be able to get a civilian attorney to help him untangle these legal problems.
What the military attorney was able to do, however, was to refer Griffith to the American Bar Association’s Military Pro Bono Project. Once referred, the case was matched up with a Michigan attorney who volunteered with the Project to handle cases for service members pro bono. The attorney quickly appeared in the case for Griffith and, after a series of hearings — including those conducted with Griffith appearing by phone from Iraq — the court granted him permanent custody of his daughter. As a result, he was able to focus on his mission in Iraq without concern for any unresolved legal problems or the welfare of his child.
Though names and locations in this story have been changed, it is based on a real case, one of hundreds that have been capably handled by volunteer attorneys across the country who have donated thousands of hours of time on behalf of enlisted service members and their families in need of pro bono legal help with civil cases through the Military Pro Bono Project. An initiative of the ABA Standing Committee on Legal Assistance for Military Personnel, the Project works closely with military attorneys around the world to connect military personnel to pro bono volunteer attorneys wherever legal help is needed.
This first and only national program serving active-duty military personnel was created because service members often have legal problems falling outside the scope of the assistance that can be provided by military attorneys, they often have difficulty affording legal representation, and, like in the example above, they frequently encounter legal problems arising in locations far from where they are stationed. In meeting these needs, the Project provides an outlet for the hundreds of civilian attorneys around the country who are motivated to give back to those who have bravely served in the defense of our nation.
In less than two years of operation, the Project has become widely recognized as a very effective means to meet the legal needs of service members, but that success has, understandably, resulted in ever-increasing demands for pro bono help for those in need. And in states like Florida, where there exists a large military-connected population, that demand is particularly great — especially in Jacksonville.
If you are an attorney interested in giving back to the men and women of the armed forces, please visit www.militaryprobono.org to learn more about the ABA Military Pro Bono Project. There you will find information about the Project, a list of cases currently in need of pro bono assistance, and an opportunity to register and be added to the Project’s volunteer roster. Once on the roster, you may be contacted when pro bono needs for service members arise in your geographic and substantive practice areas. Though signing up with the Project does not obligate you to take any particular case, it is hoped that you will give consideration to these volunteer opportunities when they come your way and that you will take a case pro bono when you can.
There is a tremendous need for attorneys in all civil practice areas to assist those serving in uniform. Our service members willingly place themselves in harm’s way, and they must not be distracted from their mission by legal problems that they cannot resolve on their own. Please join the ABA Military Pro Bono Project to lend a hand to our military personnel and their families, in recognition of the sacrifices they make on behalf of us all.
For information on additional pro bono opportunities in the Fourth Judicial Circuit, contact Kathy Para, Esq., Chairperson, Pro Bono Committee, [email protected].