Law Students

Drop in the Ocean

By Andrea

Today I got the loveliest letter from one of my detained clients, thanking me not for winning his case, but merely for filing a habeas in federal court. Some nice correctional officer must have let him loose on the word processor, because he had chosen an ornate, curly font and centered the text so it looked like a poem, which made me smile. It reminded me exactly of taking my ESL students to the computer lab to type up their essay final drafts, which they would usually proudly do in large, crazy fonts with a picture of Tweety Bird in the background. (I usually let them.)

He thanked me for all my "sacrifice" on his case, coming to see him, doing paperwork and spending money (I take the bus to the jail and I spotted him the $5 filing fee out of convenience, it's not that bad.) He told me he wished he could pay me, but once he gets out, he'll "prove" himself to me. He has some money in his canteen fund now (he got a coveted job Windexing the tables for $2 a day), and he wanted to send me some money, but they wouldn't let him. In his words, his money would be a "drop in the ocean" of what I've done, but he wanted to show his appreciation. OH LORD. I have to write him back and tell him to KEEP his money for living expenses when he gets out, but I haven't gotten a letter like that since...I guess since 2 years ago when my law school clinic asylum client won and wrote me a heartfelt email. And this client wrote this letter just because I filed his case and sent him a copy with an encouraging note.

The way my interests and ambitions are, I'll probably move away from direct legal services pretty soon. But I'll miss it so much. It's the exact same struggle that good teachers have when they move into administration and influence the whole system for good, but miss the kids something awful. I'm not going to get letters like this my whole career. I'm keeping this one forever and ever.

Full post as published by Peanut Butter Burrito on May 14, 2009 (boomark / email).