Jamie💕🕊️🦋

Two months ago, I walked into the LDC Legal Aid Clinic @LDC_Uganda as a Lawyer who thought law was in the textbooks. Last week, I walked out as a Lawyer who knows law lives in people. Practice is far different from mere citing sections of the law and I did not just pass through. I worked. In less than 60 days, I handled 66 cases. Of those, I completed and closed 41 cases. Only 25 cases were left pending - i didnt just close these files; I always put up a fight in court and 80% of the families were always going jubilating. Out of the 66, 39 were brand new cases I opened myself. Clients who came with nothing but pain, and left with a file number , hope and a smile. Those who came thinking they can’t get Justice in the cold court rooms left with Justice. I appeared before 8 different Magistrates. I stood up, I said "Your Worship," a number of times, perhaps, atleast 7 times a day, and I represented people society has forgotten - the indigent, the confused, the old, the young, the prisoners who were so vulnerable, mothers with no one else. I saw families jubilate when their loved one walked out of a cell because of a bail application we fought for. A production warrant we secured for those that Justice had forgotten. I saw neighbors who had hated each other for years reconcile over one table at the clinic. I saw doors I knocked open for people who were told "the law is not for poor." But most of all, I listened and listened, and out of my constant listening I learnt the skill and strength which comes with active listening. I interviewed clients who cried in front of me. I heard stories that changed how I see life. I learned that behind every file number is a human being whose entire world depends on whether you show up for them. I learned how ADR resolves matters amicably! To my supervisors, my fellow clerks, and every client who trusted me with their story - thank you. The struggle continues.