It’s often hard to paint the picture of the incredible work we get to do on a day to day basis but recently our team got to witness truly how big of an impact we can make on people’s lives.
Our attorney, Mike Howard was speaking with a prosecutor about a case when she interrupted him to send him something important. She sent the following article link.
She told Mike that she was reading this incredible story about a woman who’d been facing a serious drug charge after years of addiction and abuse when her lawyer changed her life forever by asking one simple question:
“Do you need help?”
She said yes and then that attorney fought to get her help. That attorney fought for that client against a prosecutor who was trying to send her to prison.
This attorney was able to get her the help she needed and it totally changed her life.
Almost 10 years later, she’s working for a nonprofit organization helping other women caught up in human trafficking. The prosecutor told Mike that she’d been so intrigued by this story that she looked up the original case to find out who this woman’s attorney had been. It turned out that Mike Howard was the attorney who stopped to ask that all-important question and helped this woman.
Mike reached out to congratulate this former client, Annette Bailey, on turning her life around. That call led to them getting together for lunch to talk about how much her life has changed and what she’s been doing these last 10 years.
The last time Mike saw her she was in jail clothes; now she was in a smartly tailored professional outfit. Annette was able to share that she’d been through the drug treatment program that was the centerpiece of her probation. On her probation officer’s recommendation, she did another program with New Life New Friends, the nonprofit she now works for.
When she graduated from their program, they hired her. She went to work for them and has been with them ever since. Since then, she’s gotten both her Associate’s and Bachelor’s degrees.
She showed Mike pictures of her family at her graduations (the very same family he met years ago when they showed up to show support at her plea hearing when we were fighting to get her program and treatment).
On top of that, she just celebrated 10 years sober (that sobriety started the day she was arrested, which was only a couple days before Mike first met her when he took on her case).
She now has the ability to work with women who are victims of human trafficking and who often have substance abuse problems. She uses her experience to meet them at their level. Her real-world experience helps her connect with them like no one else possibly could.
Annette mentioned that something as simple as taking that moment years ago to ask her if she had a problem and needed help, changed her life.
That question took her back because literally, no one had ever asked her that before. She hadn’t even looked at herself up until that moment as someone who needed or could get help. It took someone taking the time to ask that seemingly simple question for her to even stop and realize that help and change was possible. Annette has not only turned her life around, but she’s shown everyone around her (from her children and grandchildren to the women she works with at the nonprofit) how far they can go with commitment and effort.
We are taking this as a clear reminder that what we do really matters to people. At the core of our law office is a strong foundational value that our clients are human beings and that there’s an important component of treating everyone with respect, dignity, and patience. That alone can have profound and lasting impact. We will always take the time to listen. We will always take the time to help get you to the other side of your case so you can have the opportunity to make a positive impact in the world, like Annette. Contact us today for a consultation.
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