Monday, October 26, 2009
Mon, 26 Oct 2009
In June of 2007, while she was a law student at Liberty University School of Law, Crystal Lawrence began volunteering as a disposition team member and a defendant evaluator for the Lynchburg Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Community Court Program. Ms. Lawrence helped with both the adult and juvenile Community Court hearings each month. Beginning in September of 2007, the Community Prosecutor asked her to write the summaries for each of the cases before each hearing. She excitedly accepted the opportunity and continued to work with the Community Court Program through February 2009. Ms. Lawrence said, “The greatest part of this experience was the opportunity to reach out to the youth of the community who have been dealt a tough hand and are acting out as a result of it. Despite my similar past circumstances, I was able to go to college and I graduated from law school in May 2009. I used everything in my background and my current place in life to show young people that they do not have to become one of the usual statistics. I challenge them to rise above their circumstances, break the stereotypes, and become productive members of society.”
In addition her service to the Commonwealth’s Attorneys, Ms. Lawrence also spent several hours teaching Street Law to youth at the Lynchburg Juvenile Detention Center. She encourages current students to take advantage of the myriad opportunities to volunteer, saying, “Students should engage in pro bono work throughout law school because it is Christ-like and because the Bible commands us to contribute to the needs of others and to practice hospitality (Romans 12:13). Secondly, the relationships that are created and the experience that is gained are invaluable to the future law career of each student.”