Hello, LAWM friends! What’s the big deal about a mission statement?

Last year, our staff and board of directors collaborated to refresh our mission statement.
This is a clear, simple declaration of what we do. Over the next few months, we’ll offer examples of how we achieve that mission - resulting in legal outcomes which improve our clients' everyday lives. Let’s begin at the beginning...
We Protect Rights...
Celine is a senior who lives with a disability. Her disability leaves her homebound. Celine came to us when her landlord was trying to evict her. We investigated and concluded that the landlord had refused to provide a reasonable accommodation for her disability.

We believed the landlord mistreated Celine and broke fair housing laws that exist to protect vulnerable people. We sued the landlord. The outcome: a settlement that kept Celine in her home and secured a monetary award. We stood up to protect a senior's rights, and Celine won.
Our 2022 Cases
What did we do in 2022? While we are still assessing our 2022 work, we have enough data to know the kinds of client needs we responded to. This chart approximates how the cases we closed were distributed across different areas of law.
Roughly half our work involved housing, especially helping renters who faced evictions. Our family law attorneys focus heavily on assisting survivors of domestic abuse. The "other" category includes helping people who had problems with unemployment insurance, Social Security, or other benefits, along with tax and consumer debt problems. Finally, our expungement work helps our neighbors improve the odds of getting good jobs and housing.
Donuts & The Law!
Donuts & The Law comes to Kalamazoo and St Joseph on April 20!

Join our “legal basics” program for employees with nonprofits, government agencies, and other social services providers!

  • What: legal issues impacting lower-income homeowners and buyers. Costs of living are high and pandemic assistance is going away. Learn about the housing challenges your clients may face.
  • Who should register: staffers with service-provider organizations who want to learn the legal basics. This is a class by lawyers for non-lawyers.
  • When:
Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency,
1819 E Milham Ave, Portage, MI 49002

Campus for Creative Aging,
2920 Lakeview Ave, St Joseph, MI 49085

  • Why: Learn useful stuff! Network with new people! Eat free donuts!
  • How: Let’s do this! Registration is required! (click on an image below to register online today!
We're Hiring!
We have an opening in Grand Rapids for a part-time legal assistant to our pro bono team. Interested? Find all the details and how to apply here!
Every gift changes lives. Thank you!