As a municipal attorney, it is a tremendous honor and privilege to work with the City of North Las Vegas team for the betterment of our community. We have taken an innovative approach to government to save the City from economic collapse and improve the quality of life for our residents. COVID presented the City with various opportunities to rethink operations and ramp up services—from widespread vaccination and testing, to housing assistance, the launch of our new business startup program, homeless services initiative, and a micro-school to tackle pandemic learning loss. The municipal court expanded to offer diversionary programs focusing on rehabilitation as part of an overall effort to increase access to justice. It is gratifying to work hard for our residents and see our efforts make a difference. However, there are some community issues that cannot be resolved at the local level. Pro bono service complements our mission as government lawyers to serve the public.
While pro bono participation by government attorneys can present unique challenges, there are many options available, such as the great need to represent the most vulnerable in our community: abused and neglected children in the foster care system through the Children’s Attorney Project. Every civil attorney in my office has taken CAP cases and it is resoundingly life-changing for us to help children have a voice. To see children flourish and succeed, despite what they have been through, is profoundly inspiring. The ability to see positive impacts on an individual level is incredibly rewarding. Collectively, attorneys can make a much larger impact for this portion of our community by volunteering. Thank you LACSN for providing training, support, and malpractice insurance to volunteers so public attorneys can provide services above and beyond their existing duties.
About the author
Micaela Rustia Moore, Esq. is the City Attorney for the City of North Las Vegas and is on the Executive Council of the State Bar of Nevada Public Lawyers Section. Micaela volunteers with the Children’s Attorney Project and the Junior League of Las Vegas.
About this article: This article was originally published in the “Employment Law” issue of Communiqué, the official publication of the Clark County Bar Association, (Feb. 2022). See https://clarkcountybar.org/about/member-benefits/communique-2022/communique-february-2022/.
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