Lawyers Make a Difference
Non-Profits Help Protect Children's Rights

Seven years ago, two Oklahoma lawyers determined to make a difference in the lives of abused and neglected children formed Oklahoma Lawyers for Children.  Since those early beginnings in 1997, D. Kent Meyers and Don R. Nicholson II have amassed a force of more than 350 volunteer attorneys who represent and assist children in the Juvenile Division of the Oklahoma County District Court. 

Volunteers accept pro bono cases and work with the Oklahoma County Public Defender's Office.  Involvement varies depending upon the needs of the Public Defender's Office and the willingness and availability of the volunteer attorney.  Some attorneys agree to take depositions or write briefs when the Public Defender's Office is simply unable to do so.  Other times, attorneys will agree to take on entire representation and see it through trial of the matter. 

"Whatever their involvement, the pro bono attorneys in Oklahoma County give their time freely so that the legal representation of the children will not simply be adequate, but excellent," explains Oklahoma Lawyers for Children Executive Director Buddy Faye Foster. 

Recently Oklahoma Lawyers for Children agreed to staff the show cause hearing docket with volunteer attorneys who will represent the children. The show cause docket is every day (five days a week) at Juvenile Court in Oklahoma County .  This is the first hearing after children are taken into state custody.  The docket normally takes about one and a half hours.

Ms. Foster comments that,  "While several attorneys have signed up to do one show cause hearing a month, there is always a need for more.  Volunteering to do show cause hearings is a good way to learn a bit about the juvenile system without making a big time commitment.  It is especially attractive to new attorneys who want to get experience in the courtroom."  Attorneys who become a show cause volunteer will not be asked to handle a case, unless they expressly ask to have a case assigned to them.

Despite the amazing work being done by volunteer attorneys, the vision of Oklahoma Lawyers for Children did not end with recruiting attorneys.  Court reporters, private investigators, paralegals, legal graphics, copy companies and specially trained lay volunteers in Oklahoma County have all added their names to the ranks of volunteers. As recognized by Ms. Foster, "The very key to the existence and success of Oklahoma Lawyers for Children is the army of volunteers who sacrifice their time and share their talents so selflessly. Every volunteer truly makes a difference."

With the encouragement of the founders of Oklahoma Lawyers for Children, in May 2000, the Tulsa County Bar Association formed Tulsa Lawyers for Children to recruit and train attorneys willing to provide pro bono representation for children.  The Tulsa program initially relied heavily on the expertise of lawyers from the law firm Conner & Winters, which had provided free legal services to abused children since agreeing in 1993 to accept conflict juvenile cases on a pro bono basis.  

Anne Sublett, president of Tulsa Lawyers for Children, notes, "One central difference between Oklahoma Lawyers for Children and Tulsa Lawyers for Children is that Oklahoma County attorneys work in conjunction with the Public Defender's Office.  In Tulsa County, our attorneys agree to provide representation when the Public Defender's Office has a conflict.  This means that lawyers commit to take on all aspects of representing a child until the case is closed, either through adoption, establishment of a guardianship or the child’s turning 18.”

Whatever the scope of representation, both Oklahoma Lawyers for Children and Tulsa Lawyers for Children continue to find new and better ways to make a difference in the lives of children.  In the words of famed anthropologist Margaret Mead

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.  Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.

Undoubtedly these two organizations, and the volunteers who serve them, have already changed the world for many children.

Oklahoma Lawyers for Children (405) 23-CHILD [232-4453]. Tulsa Lawyers for Children (918) 585-1711.