Law students unite for a national day of service
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Tomorrow's LDS attorneys recently borrowed a page from King Benjamin's playbook, putting their time and talents to work for the benefit of others during a national day of service.
On Jan. 22 the student chapters of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society from 27 law schools participated in meaningful service. More than 270 people — mostly law students, with some spouses, friends and practicing attorneys sprinkled into the mix — took part in JRCLS-sponsored service projects spread across 14 states and the District of Columbia.
The service opportunities ranged from Habitat for Humanity construction in Wyoming to landscaping a Florida park. Regardless of which project students participated in, the service afforded all of them a welcome respite from the intense rigors of studying the law, a chance to take a step back and put life in better perspective by remembering that "when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God" (Mosiah 2:17).
"I find it easy to complain about law school," said Sachi Jensen, a student at Stanford Law School. "Most often this is because it's easy to forget why I came: to increase my ability to serve. A service event like this, performed as a united team of JRCLS members across the [country], is a powerful reminder. We're blessed to be learning, and we're learning to hopefully become the tools of blessing other lives."
Jason Croft, chairman of the JRCLS Student Chapters Board and a student at Santa Clara Law School, hatched the idea of having the student chapters board orchestrate its first national day of service.
"As students, we can't do a lot of actual legal work in one day," he said. "But I do think the JRCLS could make a major impact if we had all of the students participate in a national day of service where they could give back to the community, whether it be legal in nature or not. And it would also be a great opportunity for students to partner up with the attorney chapters [of the JRCLS]."
Two law students were appointed to help Brother Croft plan a nationwide day of service: BYU's Elsa Jacobsen and Elijah Nielson of Ave Maria School of Law in Naples, Fla.
"The [JRCLS] Student Chapters Board wanted to encourage student members to make service to the community part of the rhythm of their lives," Sister Jacobsen said. "While service projects of any kind were welcomed, we specifically encouraged students to use their legal training and law school experience to serve the community. That way when students graduate from law school they will hopefully be more motivated to use their law degrees to serve the public good."
Students from several law schools in Northern California joined forces to assemble hygiene kits for Haitian earthquake survivors. By juxtaposing the desperate temporal needs of Haitians against the relative physical comfort and ease that tend to typify the lives of American law students, the service project opened eyes and touched hearts.
"Assembling the hygiene kits with the most basic of supplies was an incredibly humbling reminder of the direness of the situation in Haiti," said Ashley Rogers of Stanford Law School. "It reinforced the idea that 'where much is given, much is required' (see Luke 12:48) and allowed me to look beyond my own comparatively insignificant concerns and do something tangible for others."
In Laramie, Wyo., law society members braved winter weather to gather at a Habitat for Humanity construction site. In a vacuum, the menial labor was nothing to write home about — it entailed cleaning out storage sheds and tidying up a construction site — but the service resonated with volunteers.
"The service gave me the opportunity on that cold morning to forget about myself for a moment — to forget about my studies, my concerns, and my problems, and truly lose myself in the service of others, in putting someone else's needs in front of my own," said Rich McKinnon of the University of Wyoming College of Law. "We are all in this community and life together, and the true purpose of this life is to help each other out and care for each other in times of need."
