Our own Supreme Court has recognized the importance that every student who enters law school understand that it is an ancient and honored tradition of the law that a reasonable part of a lawyer's time be devoted to uncompensated public service. This philosophy arises from the de facto monopoly of the court system that lawyers enjoy. By honoring this tradition of providing uncompensated assistance to the Appalachian Legal Services for the past few years, I have discovered that pro bono work can prove to be of the most challenging and rewarding endeavors.

After spotting a short blurb in the Legal Aid newsletter a few years ago about a divorce clinic, my wife, Sudha Sharma (an attorney with the West Virginia Division of Highways,) and I (in private in Charleston) decided to call Jean Audet at legal aid to volunteer our time. In the course of our sometimes hectic work schedules, we had not, to that point, provided much in the way of the pro bono work that was of such great concern to our law school ethics professor. As nascent pro bono service providers, we were also a bit apprehensive about providing a full seminar involving an area of law that can be incredibly contentious and controversial.

The stated goal of the ALS Divorce Clinic is to provide a reasonable method to assist indigent persons in preparing the initial pleadings so that they may file for divorce pro se. This assistance involves instructing the clinic attendees in the basic practices and procedures before our state family law judges in the preliminary matters of filing a complaint and securing a temporary hearing date. Our practical goal is that at the conclusion of each session each individual can leave the clinic with a divorce complaint prepared that is ready to be filed.

What may seem to be a daunting task, that is, teaching pleading preparation to a group of persons that have had little or no contact with the court system in three hours or less, turned out to be an extremely pleasurable experience with the assistance of the ALS staff, and in particular Mary Unger, who coordinates this program. Mary makes every attempt to move the clinic along as smoothly as possible and to help Sudha and me when we get stuck for an answer (which is usually pretty often.)

All of my initial reluctance to get involved with pro bono work has been allayed by participating in this clinic, and the participants seem to truly appreciate the assistance we provide. What makes this work more meaningful to us is the knowledge that we are using our education and experience for the benefit of others, and not simply for financial gain. What we have learned from this experience is that you can make a difference in life to others, if you only open your eyes and look. A good place to start looking is with ALS.

*Tao Te Ching, Chapter Thirteen.

About the Authors

Mr. Valentino is an attorney in Wheeling and Ms. Sharma is an attorney in Charleston.