Heidi Post 8

 For this post, I read a story about a lawyer who worked pro bono for a man, Eduardo, and was helping him seek asylum in the US. Throughout the story, she describes the emotional effects that Eduardo and his story had on her, and also realized that there are not a lot of lawyers who will do pro bono work (pro bono is free). Because of this, she decided to do something about it. She met a woman at a music festival, Kristen, and they spoke about Eduardo’s story together. Both feeling moved, they ultimately decided to start a business called “Paladin” that would help people find more pro bono lawyers, all while bringing new business to many companies. Their idea turned out to be an incredibly successful justice tech company, and continues to help people every day.

This story is well rounded in a variety of ways. The speaker (human) here has complex thoughts and feelings and portrays that well. She is quite successful, but does not leave out the parts of her story that were more difficult. She tells us how difficult it was to start a business that not many people have thought about before. Overall, I think the story does a great job of evoking emotion out of the reader, and also inspiring the reader to be the change they want to see in the world. Pro bono work, while a great idea at base value, is so hard to find because a large number of lawyers do not engage with that type of work. Because of this, many people who cannot afford lawyers are given a lawyer whom they did not choose. Because of the women in this story, many more people can find the type of lawyer they need for a less hefty price. This, I believe, will help move a lot of people’s lives forward.