Engaging Our Community
Service and Outreach
Outreach to our community is one of the fundamental purposes of
the Lochridge Inn and the American Inns of Court generally. The
Lochridge Inn is proud to partner with Volunteer Legal
Services of Central Texas to provide pro bono legal services to
low-income Austinites and to actively foster a spirit of charity
and community commitment in our members. The Inn has established
two programs in partnership with VLS:
- First, each pupillage team commits to spending at least one
evening during the course of the Inn year working at a local VLS
clinic to give members of our community in need of advice and
assistance in accessing the civil justice system.
- Second, to further expand the Inn's involvement with VLS and to
regularize its members' service to VLS clients, the Inn has set
a standing monthly "docket call" at VLS's Martin Middle
School clinic. Any and all Inn members are encouraged to attend and
provide legal advice to clients regularly. Afterwards,
Inn members are invited to join in an informal social event, often
hosted by an Inn master, allowing for additional mentoring and
relationship-building opportunities across multiple teams and
practice levels.
The Inn is proud to note that these sessions commonly
result in Lochridge Inn members taking on VLS clients for pro bono
representation in court. As Judge Andy Austin observed about the
benefits of the Inn's VLS partnership, "young lawyers have the
chance to work side-by-side with experienced attorneys to provide
hands-on advice to live clients with real problems. And it's a
great opportunity to make that happen in an Inn setting." And VLS
sees real benefits, too -- as its executive director Priscilla
Cortez noted, her organization "deeply appreciates the gift of time
and expertise Lochridge Inn members put into action at our more
than 100 legal advice clinics in Austin. We simply could not
improve access to justice without their partnership."
Reflecting Our Community
Reflecting the diversity of Austin and our local legal community
is another cornerstone of the Lochridge Inn's commitment to
improving professionalism and civility among our members, past and
present. The Inn fully subscribes to the American Inns of Court Diversity Policy and extends the
benefits of membership without regard to race, ethnicity,
nationality, culture, sexual orientation, gender, religion, age,
appearance, physical ability, opinions, perspective, or lifestyle.
And because engaging with the widest possible variety of views,
experiences, and practices enriches the experience of every member,
the Lochridge Inn actively cultivates and promotes a diverse
membership including legal professionals from both the public and
private sectors, judges, law students and professors, across a wide
range of litigation-focused disciplines and practice areas.