Dyllan Brown-Bramble is an associate at Latham & Watkins LLP, and a member of the VOLS Pro Bono Advocates Council, a VOLS initiative that plays an integral role in raising awareness and support for VOLS’ pro bono programs. We sat down with Dyllan to speak about his pro bono work, how it fits into his experience as a lawyer, and the importance of service during difficult times.
What interested you in volunteering with the Senior Law and Microenterprise Projects?
With the Microenterprise Project, I became interested because I really admire entrepreneurship. I find the idea of creating something of your own to be really cool. I’ve met so many people whose families and personal lives have changed completely because they took that step, so helping people start that process is really important work. It’s an amazing feeling when you do a project with someone and assist with something seemingly simple that makes such a huge difference. I connected with a former pro bono client on LinkedIn, and I saw that her business was expanding to another country and she’s opening a new product line. It’s like: “Oh, I helped with her business and now it is expanding – I’m helping make a difference.”
And with the Senior Law Project, I know how important this process is for people. My mother recently did her end-of-life planning documents and I could see her relief knowing that her family will get what they need. Everyone should have access to end-of-life planning, so being able to provide people with that relief is extremely rewarding. Some of my client’s items are so cherished that it’s so important to them that a specific person who understands its importance and will take care of it. They want to know that the proper care will be put into it and Intestacy law is not always going to do that. People sometimes come to us with horror stories, “Oh my friend’s cousin passed away five years ago, and they held the stuff for three years,” or “It went to this person who didn’t care about it and threw away.” People work hard to build their lives and their things and just want to be sure that their family and friends will be taken care of.
For me the big picture is, some of these matters only take 15-20 hours on my end can make a really big difference in someone’s life so why would I not want to do that?
How has your experience as an attorney been enriched by volunteering?
Pro bono work is a really great opportunity for junior attorneys, like me, to take a more active role, build client management skills and gain experience communicating with clients. These are skills I’m going to need as I grow in my practice. It’s a really great opportunity to get those skills early, expand your horizons, and expand your practice.
There’s also an aspect of confidence-building involved. When you’re a junior attorney and you get the chance to take the lead with a client, to really make a difference, it really helps build your confidence as a lawyer.
In light of the COVID 19 pandemic, why do you think this type of work is particularly important?
It seemed like due to the continued impact of COVID-19, people need these crucial legal services more than ever, but also have less access than ever. Particularly, for the Senior Law Project, I think COVID gave people more motivation to get their end-of-life planning than before as the pandemic has forced us all to reflect on our mortality and how suddenly people can be gone. I’m glad we have the technology and resources to help provide these crucial services. Now it’s okay if they can’t meet in person. It has given attorneys the opportunity to reflect on the things we can do in a less physical world to get people the help that they need. It also helps with scope, involvement and access to pro bono in general. People are able to access pro bono resources and services outside of what they can take a train or bus to. On Zoom, it doesn’t matter whether you live 15 minutes or 15 hours away. I’m glad that organizations like VOLS are seizing the opportunity to take the positives of the pandemic, because there are a lot of negatives, to try to enrich pro bono work and help people as much as we can.
If you had a colleague who was on the fence about volunteering, how would you engage them to pursue volunteering with VOLS?
I would remind them that these are people that have basic needs that should be met, and we have the skills to help them. I think most people want to help. They want to be able to reach out to use their skills and make a difference in other people’s lives so I would reiterate that and emphasize the satisfaction that you get from doing this important work. I think that our mission in life is to share our talents and gifts with other people and what better opportunity than pro bono work? I would remind anyone on the fence that not everyone has access to these services. I think it’s easy to forget sometimes when you’re on the other side. Maybe you can afford to call a lawyer but not everyone can, and we can bridge that gap with the skills that we have.