For several weeks that a woman found refuge at Dallas’ New Friends New Life for formerly trafficked and sexually exploited victims, the staff hadn’t seen a small measure of her joy: laughter.
Finally, at a pro bono legal intake clinic with attorneys from Toyota North America and Baker Botts, staffers caught a glimmer of hope as they heard the woman laugh after receiving legal aid.
It was a moment that resonated with the staff and the volunteer lawyers, said Scott Young, managing counsel of Toyota North America in Plano.
“That is more than just turning a page,” Young said. “That’s like freeing her from her limitations.”
Toyota and Baker Botts joined forces to put on the legal clinic in January during the charity’s Fashion Friday event featuring a donation closet. The New Friends New Life organization works to restore and empower teenage girls, women and their children by providing access to education, job training and mental health support.
The lawyers assisted women with an array of legal issues, including housing, child custody and divorce, said Baker Botts partner Christa Brown-Sanford, who serves on the firm’s Executive Committee and Diversity and Inclusion Committee. She also serves on the New Friends New Life board of directors.
“It was a good mix of really impactful legal work and fun and just getting to create relationships, not just between Baker Botts and Toyota, but for the members that we were working with and also the New Friends New Life staff,” Brown-Sanford said.
Young said he was drawn to the mission of New Friends New Life when he was introduced to the organization at an event a few years ago.
“They take people who seem lost to society, who are in a terrible situation, and they restore dignity and self-respect,” Young said, who leads Toyota’s pro bono committee and worked with fellow managing counsel Gunnar Heinisch, who led the New Friends New Life project for Toyota.
He reached out to Brown-Sanford about partnering with Baker Botts, whose lawyers approached the pro bono work the same way they would a paying client, Young said.
Going into a general intake pro bono clinic can be daunting, not knowing what kinds of cases you’ll be faced with, Brown-Sanford said. But it’s not about having all the answers, she said.
“Sometimes it is about us just showing up and being willing to listen and being empathetic and trying to at least be a resource for individuals that have no idea how to even approach their problem,” Brown-Sanford said.
The women expressed gratitude and relief at being listened to, the lawyers added.
“It was like they’ve never been heard. They’ve only been dictated and told what to do, and this was an opportunity for them to be heard,” Brown-Sanford said.
Joint Pro Bono Efforts with In-house Counsel
The Texas Lawbook is planning to do a monthly column on pro bono initiatives handled jointly by corporate in-house counsel and their outside lawyers. These can be individual cases, such as asylum or veterans’ benefits matters or broader efforts to provide legal services to those who cannot afford it. For those story ideas, please email us at krista.torralva@texaslawbook.net.