The Nashville School of Law recently invited David Anthony to speak at the February 2024 meeting of its Legal Aid Society.  The Legal Aid Society is a student organization devoted to helping law students learn about protecting and advocating for the legal rights of under-privileged and traditionally under-represented groups through community service, pro bono legal work, and special projects.

David shared his own experiences providing public service and pro bono legal work, as an attorney working exclusively in the private sector. As the recipient of seven-straight Attorney for Justice Awards from the Tennessee Supreme Court for his pro bono work, it’s a component of his career that David takes a lot of pride in. “As a lawyer in private practice, you have to be intentional about donating your time, because time is your most precious resource. You’d think most lawyers could make time for it, but you’d be shocked at how many lawyers in private practice never do pro bono work. With so much need around you, you just can’t let yourself be one of those attorneys,” David told the students.

A large motivation for David’s talk was to encourage the next generation of lawyers to volunteer at future legal aid clinics. “Pro bono service at legal clinics is an awesome use of your time. A typical legal aid client meeting can take 10-20 minutes, but the impact to that client is amazing, in so little time.”

Over the years, David has hosted field trips to local clinics for law firms, law school classes, and in-house legal departments at Legal Aid clinics, and, in his experience, all it takes is one visit for a lawyer (or law student) to come away changed by the experience. To the 30 or so students in attendance at the NSL classroom, David invited them all the join him the next time he goes.

If you’re interested in attending a Legal Aid Clinic, the Legal Aid Society of Nashville and the Upper Cumberlands hosts a variety of them in the region. If you’re nervous about going, email us and we’ll probably join you.