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Hotline Number 312-738-9200
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One Legal Aid Attorney's Perspective on Justice RBG
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| Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg |
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CARPLS Attorney
Maria Mora
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For most attorneys, having an opportunity to see a Supreme Court Justice speak is equivalent to watching a rock star perform. So, when Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg came to town last month, CARPLS attorney Maria Mora was thrilled to hear her story. We could not resist asking Maria to share her insights:
Her life's work is an inspiration to me not only as an attorney but also as a woman. RBG dedicated many of her early years as an attorney to fighting for the "underdog" and for equality in the workplace and in other aspects of life for both men and women.
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She took on several cases early in her career regarding gender inequality that affected both sexes, knowing that would advance women's equality as a result.
When Justice Ginsburg attended law school, there were only a handful of women in her class. Those were different times. She and her female classmates were even asked at one point by the law school dean to explain why they felt they had a right to take the place of a man in their law school class.
Instead of being disillusioned by the mindset of the time, Justice Ginsburg's spirit was fueled with energy to fight for women's causes and the advancement of women. She was a true trailblazer. She paved the path for many of us women attorneys who came afterwards. We perhaps forget this, but we must remember not to take this for granted.
During her talk at the Auditorium Theater, Justice Ginsburg stated that she strongly believes that every attorney should at some point in their lives work in the area of legal aid, helping those most in need of access to justice. As a legal aid attorney, these are very meaningful words coming from a Supreme Court Justice. They are a reminder that the work we do does not go unnoticed and that our work is vital to our community and society as a whole.
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NEW ATTORNEY STEPHEN PROUT JOINS CARPLS
CARPLS has added Stephen Prout as a member of the legal team that will take calls on
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Stephen Prout, New CARPLS Attorney |
the new statewide veteran's hotline through the IL-AFLAN Network, which will be fully implemented by Veteran's Day 2017.
Steve started at CARPLS as a volunteer on our general hotline and has valuable life and professional experience that he brings to CARPLS. Prior to CARPLS, Steve worked as a banker, a medi
cal malpractice attorney, and in-house at the CTA. He is particularly interested in veterans issues.
"My father was a chaplain in the US Army and I also served in the Army. When CARPLS received the grant for the IL-AFLAN project, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to meld my prior legal experience and training to apply to veterans. They have the same issues as th
e general population with credit cards, foreclosure and divorce. But there may also be additional issues that are service related, such as PTSD, or maybe pending benefits from the VA, for instance. By virtue of using military jargon they are familiar with, it's implied t
hat I am a veteran as well and helps disarm the veteran or service member that we are talking to," Steve shares.
On one case, an elderly Korean War veteran (Jon) called Steve on the veteran's hotline when his gas provider threatened to cut off his services. Jon was contesting a gas bill that was 15x the normal monthly amount he paid, but he could not get through to customer service. Steve called the company and negotiated an investigation of the bill and ensured that services would not be cut off. Steve notes, "To me, this type of case perfectly encapsulates why our services are so beneficial for veterans."
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