The ABA recommends that each lawyer render at least fifty hours of pro bono work per year. Specific requirements are listed as to the type of work that qualifies as pro bono. However, compassionate lawyers and law students are needed to answer the call to public service if we are to meet the needs of those in society who require legal assistance but cannot afford it.

I always have been amazed by how the lack of financial resources can turn a minor issue into major problem.  In fact, it was my desire to assist those who could not afford legal representation that drove me to attend law school.  As Gainesville native, I knew I wanted to be involved in assisting to represent indigent clients in the area while at law school.  This led me to start volunteering with Three Rivers Legal Services during my 1L summer.  I remained a volunteer there throughout my 2L year and was afforded the opportunity to work there during my 3L year as a Florida Bar Foundation Public Interest Law Fellow.  Throughout my time at law school, I have attempted to gain an understanding of the needs of different types of indigent clients.  During My 2L summer, I volunteered at the Monroe County Public Defender’s Office in Rochester, NY.

Through these and other experiences, I have developed an understanding of the fears and challenges that some individuals face when they are hurled into the justice system with a limited understanding of the process and with inadequate financial resources.  I have learned firsthand how showing empathy and refraining from judgment can enhance attorney-client relationships and place clients at ease.  Most importantly, I have learned that a patient and thorough explanation of a legal process can go a long way to assist an individual who will have to navigate the justice system alone.

Four law school classes especially have informed my perspective and have strengthened my desire to work with indigent clients: Child Support Enforcement; Criminal Procedure; Poverty Law; and Race, Law, and Crime.  Each class shed light on the needs of those populations who are likely be in need of free or low-cost legal assistance.  Each of these courses highlighted some of the rudimentary struggles that an individual may face in attempting to gain access to justice due to their socioeconomic status.  I feel that my ability to serve low-income clients was strongly enhanced by these classes and their professors.  I would encourage students interested in incorporating pro bono work into their careers to consider these courses.

The human experience is what has mattered most to me as I sought to donate my time.  I was able to gain excellent practical legal experience through these volunteer opportunities while a student at the Levin College of Law.  Yet, I feel most fortunate that I have had the opportunity to positively impact the lives of others by simply making myself available to serve them during their time of need.

Yvette Wiltshire is a 2011-12 Public Interest Law Fellow.  The Public Interest Law Fellowship Program is funded by the Florida Bar Foundation to promote public interest law, and offered at the Levin College of Law by the Center for Governmental Responsibility.

At FILS, I was lucky to have many opportunities to explore my interests and expand my outlook by focusing on prisoners, a group that society so often forgets about and sometimes purposely ignores.  When asked, by family or classmates, what benefit I saw to society by “defending convicts and criminals,” I used their criticism as an opportunity to inform them about a few of the major problems faced by inmates. I made sure to stress that it may be prudent to rethink our beliefs about judging people’s worth as human beings based on one mistake or lapse in judgment.

Meeting prisoners and attempting to help them with their problems (including allegations of overcrowded conditions, prolonged solitary confinement over minor disciplinary infractions, problems with prison officials, fights with other prisoners, and lack of basic, necessary medical care to name a few) was a powerful balancing force on my conscience and a constant reminder to stop making assumptions about people based on the crimes for which they were convicted.  During my time working at FILS, I had the opportunity to interview several inmates and travel across the state to visit them at their institutions.  The exposure to the inmates, our clients, in the prison environment offered a clearer understanding of the bigger picture and the subtleties of prison society.  I quickly came to the realization that the prison walls encased a completely alternate reality from the one I was accustomed to.

I was able to help with current litigation by performing legal research on varied topics. A few research subjects involved complex federal legislation like the Prison Litigation Reform Act; Section 1983 Claims against state officials; Bivens actions against federal officials; and the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (which severely limits inmates’ Constitutional claims against prison officials via habeas corpus petition).  I got to apply what I learned in Constitutional Law and Federal Courts classes, combining the real-world approach to bring perspective to issues covered in law school classes.

I’m extremely thankful for the experience I gained during my time at FILS and the mentorship of the firm’s attorneys and staff.   My fellowship cemented my commitment to practice public interest law at the first possible opportunity upon graduation.  Eventually, I want to start my own non-profit organization that provides a one-stop-shop for legal, medical/mental health, substance abuse and social work services of poverty-stricken Americans.  My time at FILS gave me a first-hand glimpse at the workings of race, class and gender divisions among incarcerated populations. It also was important to expand my view on the effects that one person’s incarceration has on those around them – loved ones, job prospects and friends — as well.

Nicole Safker is a 2011-12 Public Interest Law Fellow.  The Public Interest Law Fellowship Program is funded by the Florida Bar Foundation to promote public interest law, and offered at the Levin College of Law by the Center for Governmental Responsibility.

“SLC is a small firm with a big impact,” said supervising attorney Kirsten Clanton on my very first day at Southern Legal Counsel, Inc. (SLC).  The idea that litigation can be used as a vehicle to directly change legislation, policies, and practices, also known as “impact litigation,” for the benefit of those who would otherwise not have a voice in our legal system was always something I had in mind in deciding to pursue a law degree.  The Florida Bar Foundation Public Interest Law Fellowship gave me the opportunity to do this first-hand as a law student, alongside passionate and committed attorneys at SLC.

In my time at SLC, I have had the unique opportunity to work on a variety of systemic issues, including the constitutional adequacy of Florida’s education system; Section 1983 civil rights claims involving the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments; special education in public schools; affordable housing; and constitutional and tort claims on behalf of homeless people.

One of the many things my experience at SLC has taught me is that our laws should be designed to uphold the dignity of everyone in our society, regardless of socioeconomics, housing status, disability, etc.  The attorneys at SLC operate under the philosophy that regardless of ability to pay, everyone deserves access to our justice system and the benefit of high-quality legal representation.

Even if I will not work exclusively as a public interest lawyer in the future, this Fellowship has taught me the importance of carving out space in my legal career for public interest and pro bono work.  Incorporating pro bono work into any legal career was also the theme of the recent event co-fellows Nicole Safker, Yvette Wiltshire and I planned at the law school.  In March, Justice Fred Lewis of the Florida Supreme Court visited to talk about his “Justice Teaching” program, through which attorneys from varied practice areas volunteer to educate children about our justice system.

I would greatly encourage any law student reading this to get involved with public interest and pro bono opportunities while in school, and carry that commitment to equalizing access to our justice system into practice, regardless of the practice area.

Dominique McPherson is a 2011-12 Public Interest Law Fellow.  The Public Interest Law Fellowship Program is funded by the Florida Bar Foundation to promote public interest law, and offered at the Levin College of Law by the Center for Governmental Responsibility.

• Dominique McPherson
• Nicole Safker
• Yvette Ceandreas Wiltshire

In July, Phyllis Harris (JD 85) was promoted to senior vice president and chief compliance officer for the largest private employer in the world: retail giant Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Among her duties, Harris oversees a grease recycling program.

“Several years ago, Wal-Mart’s sustainability initiative really led the way for many retailers as a self-sustaining business model,” Harris explained.

Wal-Mart provides grease interceptor maintenance and oil and water separator maintenance for its facilities. Grease trap/interceptors are pretreatment devices designed to remove fats, oils and grease (FOG) in wastewater from food preparation areas and tenant restaurants. The oil and grease portions are recycled at the majority of locations, such as Tire Lube Express Centers, and reused in many beneficial ways, including energy production (anaerobic digestion), boiler fuel, compost material, bio-fuel production and ethanol production. Likewise, plastics are recycled and reused to make products such as dog beds, cat litter pans and hangers. The program has proved successful by generating substantial income and products to offset the cost of environmental services.

Companies “struggle with whether or not sustainability is actually a good business endeavor,” Harris said, but looking at Wal-Mart’s results, “it really is possible to do well while doing good.”

Harris got her start as a $28,000-a-year government attorney straight out of law school.

As a UF Law 3L, she interviewed with the United States Environmental Protection Agency and was hired 18 months later as a part-time staff attorney. Harris worked with the EPA for 19 years and was conferred the Presidential Rank Award by President George W. Bush in 2001. It is the highest award a senior executive branch official can receive.

Harris left the EPA in December 2005 and eventually became vice president of environmental health and safety compliance for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Her duties expanded in 2011 as she became the chief compliance officer responsible for all aspects of compliance including product safety, privacy, employment, and environmental health and safety for thousands of Wal-Mart stores and facilities. These compliance programs include the Global Food Safety Initiative, which requires Wal-Mart suppliers to participate in rigorous audits of their supply chain to ensure that the food is safe, and Wal-Mart’s partnership with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission through the creation of Wal-Mart’s Toy Safety Net program, which has lowered lead levels in children’s jewelry.

Harris also supports UF Law’s Environmental and Land Use Law Program.

“Back in the early to mid-80s there was a very minimal environmental law program at UF,” Harris said. “It was not as big as it is now. I am now fortunate to be on the board for the program and it has come a long way – it has great leadership and a great vision. I think we’ve made some great strides in the environmental programs and the LL.M. program and I’m just proud of it.”

Harris joined Wal-Mart to create a $10,000 fellowship to encourage minorities to pursue environmental law. The fellowship is offered through the land use program.

According to UF Law Professor Mary Jane Angelo, director of the program, the LL.M. program has seen an increase in students and job market success for its graduates. Recent graduates have landed associate jobs at environmental and land use law firms, government agencies, and one former student is now executive director of a nonprofit environmental group. Another UF Law LL.M. graduate is a tenured track professor at another law school.

“The next step,” Harris says, “is getting the program some of that national recognition that it deserves.” UF’s Environmental and Land Use Law Program ranked No. 13 overall and No. 6 among public law schools by U.S. News and World Report in 2011. It now ranks No. 9 overall and No. 5 among public school. Harris thinks it should be ranked even higher.

“While rankings are important, what Florida brings to the table is what students get with faculty,” Harris said. “Students want quality time with professors who are nationally recognized and want the opportunity to study internationally.”

The 2011 Environmental and Land Use Law J.D. Minority Fellowship was awarded to UF Law student Danisa M. Gonzalez who used the money to travel to Costa Rica for a summer placement and project.

Gonzalez externed with the Inter-American Institute for Human Rights, which provides support to the Inter-American Court for Human Rights in Costa Rica.

“Phyllis is very supportive of the program – and not just financially,” Angelo said. “It’s great having someone who graduated from our law school who is so successful – she is an inspiration and a great role model for students in the program.” Harris says she is just doing what she loves.

“Find something you are passionate about – that is what has sustained me for as long as I’ve been a lawyer,” Harris said. “It makes your time fly by when you’re able to do something you care about.”

Now, almost 30 years since Harris got her start in environmental law, her 20-year-old daughter is thinking of pursuing a legal career in environmental policy.

“It’s pretty gratifying,” Harris said. “It’s come full circle.”