We’re proud to recognize Edward Geldermann as the March 2022 Volunteer of the Month. Read on to learn more about Brad and his experience as an MVLS volunteer. 

Why do you choose to volunteer with MVLS? 
With each passing year, it has become increasingly obvious that the advantages, opportunities, benefits and privileges that have somehow befallen me were blessings not entitlements, and this awareness has created in me a strong impulse to assist those far less privileged.

Do you have any stand out stories?
Not yet. I am eager to see how my relationship with MVLS clients will continue to grow. 

What is your favorite part about volunteering with MVLS?
Direct interpersonal communication with clients, and a feeling of contributing something real to others whose legal needs might otherwise go unmet.

Why should other attorneys do pro bono?
Many of MVLS clients do not know where or how to solve legal challenges and problems. MVLS allows for attorneys to be paired with low-income clients who have legal or tax problems that match the professionals’ expertise. MVLS provides clinics and resources for attorneys and professionals who have not yet developed an expertise in a particular area of specialization, enabling them more easily to accept cases outside their current practice field(s). This not only broadens the professional’s experience, it seems to lessen, for the professional, what might otherwise be a disinclination to take on something new and unfamiliar.

Where do you see the Impact of civil legal services in the next ten years? 
The demand for pro bono services will grow as an increasing number of low-income persons come to understand the value and wide variety of needs that can be served by organizations such as MVLS, and become more educated as to what these services have done for them so that they can inform others with similar needs.