I am proud to be a lawyer. I worked hard for my degrees and licenses that allow me to practice law in the State of Texas, but more importantly, I am proud of the work I do as a Texas attorney.
When a member of my profession does wrong, it is headline grabbing news. There was a story recently about a greedy attorney who stole millions from disabled veterans. What did not make headlines are the free legal clinics all around the State of Texas that help veterans. Texas attorneys take time out of their schedule and help veterans free of charge. It was one such attorney that helped expose the one bad attorney. You will never see a headline that says “Attorney Writes Free Will for Veteran” or “Attorney Helps Keep Veteran from Losing His Home.” Yet more attorneys do such work than the one bad attorney who did so much harm.
I am proud of the work my fellow family law attorneys did when the State removed the children from the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (FDLS) a few years ago. The State needed to appoint attorneys to represent the children and parents in this dispute. Hundreds of attorneys throughout Texas volunteered their time. Children were placed across Texas. My friends were driving cities such as Midland and San Antonio to see the children they were appointed to represent. They took this seriously. Many had nightmares and spent many sleepless nights thinking of these children imploding in foster care as they were placed in homes so foreign to their upbringing.
I am proud of my friend who protected a battered woman who had her children removed by child protective services because she was a battered wife. Child Protective Services actually stated that as the reason the children were removed. Rather than try to help her out of her circumstances, they took her children and had a plan for adoption. He was able to get her children back. Another fought for a woman accused of breaking her child’s bones. He was able to prove it was, in fact, the baby sitter. The baby sitter was prosecuted. He fought to have the children returned to their mother.
We do get our small the occasional “thank you” that makes it all worth it. An attorney friend of mine was shopping when his client stopped him and introduced him to children as “the lawyer who helped make it to where you could live with me.” When both children walked up and hugged the crusty old lawyer, he welled up in tears. I had a similar experience as I helped a Sailor who lived in Virginia obtain custody of his son from a drug addicted mother. I stood back as the child was handed over to him. The pleasure in watching the little boy and the young sailor hug and walk away was the best compensation I could have received for my work.
The vast majority of Texas attorneys work hard every day. We win small victories that will never grab a headline, but they make a difference in the lives of the individuals we touch. For every attorney there are dozens of stories such as these. Stories you will never hear. I am very proud of my fellow attorneys and of the work we do.
Submitted by Patricia Baca, Attorney at Law
Arlington, Texas
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