Student Spotlight: Rochelle Krebs ’09
Spring “Break” in Appalachia
Rochelle Krebs is second from the right in the photo
Over spring break I was one of six law students to participate in the inaugural NDLS Appalachia Pro Bono Project. We piled into a minivan and headed to Eastern Kentucky (with an unfortunately disproportionate number of CDs in relation to the amount of driving ahead) to spend our week winding through the hills, learning about issues specific to Appalachia, and working on legal projects with the dedicated and very Southern-style friendly staff at the Appalachia Research and Defense Fund of Kentucky (AppalReD) .
AppalReD is a government-funded organization that provides free legal aid to the poorest communities in Eastern and Southern Kentucky. For people who live below the poverty line it is estimated that at least 80 percent of their legal needs go unmet, and considering that Kentucky has 3 of the 5 poorest counties in the country and only 10 percent of the state’s licensed attorneys participate in pro bono work, AppalReD was happy to have us.
Our legal projects included assisting elderly clients in preparing legal documents that designate heath care surrogates and end of life directives. We conducted divorce intakes and prepared the necessary motions to file for those clients. We also provided the office with some general legal research, and improved the format of a pro se legal form and created accompanying instructions that will be accessible online for those that AppalReD is unable to take on as clients.
Our informational component included meeting with the attorneys at the Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center who work the front lines of the legal battle against the serious health and safety, environmental, and social consequences facing the region as a result of its domination by the coal industry. Additionally, we met with other attorneys and judges and heard about a wide range of topics from working in the civil rights movement back in the 1960’s, to fighting home foreclosures in the midst of today’s financial crisis.
In case you’re worried you missed your chance for such a great pro bono experience, the NDLS Appalachia Pro Bono Project will be available during both spring and fall breaks next year. It’s a wonderful way to spend a week — invite your friends, help out a worthy cause, learn about life and legal aid in Appalachia, and gain some practical legal experience.
i Jackie Cahill, Melissa Dinwoodie, Lisa Gast, Lee Metzger, and Kathi Portman also generously donated their spring breaks.
ii For more information see: http://www.ardfky.org/default.html. Yes, they are still hiring for summer internships!
iii For more information see: http://www.appalachianlawcenter.org/.
