pro bono legal services Archives

The songs, lights, shopping all say it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. But for many the season is not merry and bright. The first Christmas didn’t begin so happily either. It began as a story of divorce, poverty and homelessness. Christmas is a story of divorce Years ago I practiced family law and…

Poverty is widely debated. But what exactly is poverty and why should we care? The answer, drawn from events of this past week, might surprise you. How we determine poverty The Department of Health and Human Services released the poverty guidelines for 2018. Most federal assistance programs use these figures or a multiple (125%, 150%)…

The New Testament references teachers of the law at least 63 times – none positively. Matthew 23 records seven daring condemnations of these lawyers including, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices – mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important…

Your blood should boil when you see children neglected and abused. That same anger should be directed at the courts and congress who far too often do the same. Here is guidance on how to courageously advance justice for children. 1. Be a good neighbor. 13 malnourished children were chained in a home in California. …

One year ago women joined together in the Women’s March on Washington. Fed up with the denigration of others, these women began a tsunami that would continue in marches across America. One woman gave her life in Charlottesville standing against white nationalist. And women everywhere cried #metoo, toppling men in power, and receiving recognition as…

Not at first glance. But there are some significant truths around God’s movement of people in the Christmas narrative. The Bible is a remarkable story of movement. My friend Jenny Yang with World Relief first reminded me of this simple, but profound truth. The first immigrants came from Eden. As their children moved across the…

Some call them magi, others wise men, and some kings, but here is why we do them injustice in our Christmas pageants and what you need to know about these wealthy risk-takers. Not Your Christmas Pageant If your son or grandson is wearing a fake beard and towel this Christmas as he parades around the…

What one thing can you do to find peace in injustice? Important question. I conducted an informal poll over social media and received responses ranging from trust, forgiveness, advocacy, or righteous anger to revenge. Is peace even possible? Mass shootings, a cascade of sexual misconduct allegations, attacks on people of color, an opiod epidemic and…

We have a serious problem in America. So serious the most recent World Justice Project Rule of Law Report ranks us 94th out of 113 nations in the world! We are worse than Zimbabwe and Myanmar. What is the number one justice problem in America? A. Fundamental Rights of Citizens B. Order and Security C. …

October 22-28 is National Pro Bono Celebration Week. As we celebrate the work of pro bono lawyers let’s seize the opportunity to do significantly more to rescue and restore neighbors through justice. Here are three valuable opportunities to make that happen: 1. Rescue by seeing the problem. A Priest and a Levite walked past an…