Public Service Voices

The Gates Public Service Law Scholarship Program is about more than just the scholarships. It also provides opportunities for the whole law school community to engage in discussions about public service.

The newest service Public Service Voices, a column presenting perspectives from different practitioners. The first is The Gratitude-Driven Practice, by Jason Vail, an attorney with Northwest Justice Project.

My hope is that my fellow attorneys will join me in choosing to practice law out of a sense of gratitude instead of entitlement. This does not require wholesale career changes; I am not suggesting one must become a full-time public interest attorney in order to accomplish this goal. The approach is far simpler, requiring only that we all recognize that as attorneys we have extremely valuable problem-solving capabilities that are desperately needed every day by many who cannot obtain them.