Some people help others a little, some people help others a lot. This month’s pro bono spotlight attorney of the month, Judi Setzer, falls under the latter category, and in a big way.
In Setzer’s eight years of practice, she has contributed her legal skills and services in representing more than two dozen pro bono guardianship, probate and adoption clients in the Jacksonville area through Jacksonville Area Legal Aid.
Setzer’s work with the pro bono clients does not stop there. She also is a highly dedicated member of the City Rescue Mission Pro Bono Project, in which she actively assists residents in the LifeBuilders Program with legal issues to aid them in a fresh start once they depart from the program.
Recently, she also has begun serving as an expert resource person for other pro bono attorneys who have accepted their first pro bono cases.
Looking back over her extensive pro bono work, Setzer recalls an adoption case that was especially memorable and rewarding.
“I assisted a sweet grandmother in adopting her grandson,” said Setzer. “The mother of the child was deceased, and the father had abandoned the boy. I was able to help her provide security and permanence for this child. It was very important for her to be able to make sure that her grandson would always know that she would be there to take care of him.”
Her past experiences also encourage her to urge others considering pro bono work to move forward both with their own professional development and to give back to the community.
“It is the most rewarding work you can do,” she said. “You will not regret it.”
In private practice, Setzer practices adoption law, estate planning, probate, guardianship and also acts as a circuit court mediator.
Personally, she enjoys running, cycling, yoga and lifting. Not limiting herself to purely large legal feats, she recently finished a six-day race in Utah running 148 miles along the Kokopelli Trail.
Judi Setzer is not one to back down from a challenge in her personal or professional life and steps forward again and again to assist people in need.
It is with deep gratitude that we recognize her for her service in the Fourth Judicial Circuit as July’s Pro Bono Attorney of the Month.
Attorneys interested in pro bono opportunities throughout the Fourth Judicial Circuit are encouraged to contact Kathy Para, chairperson, The JBA Pro Bono Committee, at [email protected], 356-8371, ext. 363.