Help Me Build My Dream...
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In the fall of 2007, I took a job as an instructor at a community college. Teaching in this setting introduced me to a wide cross section of the population of Eastern Iowa. Most of my students were hardworking people, trying to improve their lives. Some of them had significant obstacles standing between where they were and the lives they aspired to have. While I enjoyed teaching, it became clear to me that, as a teacher, I wasn’t in a very powerful position to help remove these obstacles. Little has changed since then.
That is why I went to law school – to help people remove obstacles between the lives they are living and the lives they want to live. This is what lawyers do – they help people find solutions to their most complex problems. The difficulty lies in the fact that many lawyers still rely mainly on an outmoded hourly billing model for their services. Hourly billing makes the price of legal services either too high or too uncertain for the average consumer. We’re not talking about charity cases here – there are programs to help the most extreme situations – but average, hard-working people with real problems that deserve real, zealous legal representation.
I dream of a law office that operates with low overhead and innovative billing models such as flat-fee services, contingency fees as appropriate, limited scope representation, and close collaboration with government agencies that will result in a billing structure that reaches a segment of the population that has been unable to obtain legal representation without significant sacrifice in the past.
This is where you come in. Because of the nature of the business I am proposing, many traditional method of raising startup capital are closed off to me. I cannot sell stock because of ethical rules that govern the legal profession. Because I am not selling goods, lenders, including government agencies are generally unwilling to lend money to a new business venture. Government grants for this type of work are nonexistent. To achieve my dream of opening my own office, to put myself in a position to help people, I am turning to you and I am asking for your help.
I am asking you for a small gift to help me get my dream up and running.
That is why I went to law school – to help people remove obstacles between the lives they are living and the lives they want to live. This is what lawyers do – they help people find solutions to their most complex problems. The difficulty lies in the fact that many lawyers still rely mainly on an outmoded hourly billing model for their services. Hourly billing makes the price of legal services either too high or too uncertain for the average consumer. We’re not talking about charity cases here – there are programs to help the most extreme situations – but average, hard-working people with real problems that deserve real, zealous legal representation.
I dream of a law office that operates with low overhead and innovative billing models such as flat-fee services, contingency fees as appropriate, limited scope representation, and close collaboration with government agencies that will result in a billing structure that reaches a segment of the population that has been unable to obtain legal representation without significant sacrifice in the past.
This is where you come in. Because of the nature of the business I am proposing, many traditional method of raising startup capital are closed off to me. I cannot sell stock because of ethical rules that govern the legal profession. Because I am not selling goods, lenders, including government agencies are generally unwilling to lend money to a new business venture. Government grants for this type of work are nonexistent. To achieve my dream of opening my own office, to put myself in a position to help people, I am turning to you and I am asking for your help.
I am asking you for a small gift to help me get my dream up and running.
Organizer
Jennifer Rowray
Organizer
Cedar Rapids, IA
