Legacy Campaign
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Posted by: Crista Hogan
Four decades ago the Springfield Bar had 180 members. In 1973 our bar had no independent office or staff and legal services to the poor were only available two nights a week from a small room in the courthouse. But that was about to change. In late 1973 big plans were being made by bar leaders including Sam Hamra, Tom Strong, Meredith Turner and Richard Dorr to establish a permanent office for the association so that they could increase their legal aid to the indigent. The following year, bar president Larry Askinosie announced the opening of the association’s first permanent home. The office was located in the Woodruff Building and staffed by a part time secretary and the bar’s first Executive Director, York Johnson.
Forty years later the bar has grown to 900 members and Legal Services of Southern Missouri now serves forty-three counties assisting thousands of families every year. Few remember the early days when our organizations were so closely adhered. The organizations operate independently now, but continue to share the priority of insuring that our community is a place where people of limited means have access to justice.
In recognition of this heritage, the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Foundation and Legal Services of Southern Missouri once again join forces, announcing the Legacy Campaign. The Legacy Campaign is designed to celebrate our joint heritage and help insure the future of our shared priority of insuring access to justice for the poor in our community. The campaign goal is $500,000 and we hope that every member of the Southwest Missouri legal community will join us in supporting the campaign.
In commemoration of this campaign and the rich history of our bar’s contribution to providing indigent legal services in our community, the community room at Legal Services of Southern Missouri will be named after the Springfield Metropolitan Bar. Individual and firms donating to the campaign will be recognized in a permanent installation reminding anyone using the room, including staff, bar members and the public, of the closely linked history of our organizations.
We hope you will want to be part of this exciting and worthwhile collaboration as we celebrate our shared past and solidify our future commitment to equal access to justice in our community.
For more information contact Sharon Alexander: (417) 881-1397, ext. 1327 or sharon@lsosm.org.
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