The Volunteer Income Assistance (VITA) clinic is offered by the University of Kansas School of Law each spring. Through VITA, law students prepare free federal land state tax returns for Douglas County residents earning less than $58,000 a year. KU Law students can earn pro bono hours by volunteering for VITA. This year, VITA runs from February 20 to April 17 (Tax Day). VITA sessions are held Monday through Saturday. Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday sessions are held at the law school. Tuesday sessions are held at the Ballard Center, and Thursday sessions are held at the Lawrence-Douglas Housing Authority. KU Law students volunteer for at least one session a week. Students attend training sessions led by Dean Mazza, and each tax return is checked by a site coordinator prior to being submitted.
Who can volunteer for VITA?
Any KU Law student can volunteer for VITA! Tax experience is preferred – but not required. “Tax experience” includes taking a tax class in law school or undergrad (VITA recruits students from Dean Mazza’s Income Tax!) However, I volunteered for VITA last year without any tax experience. I reached out to Dean Mazza and expressed my interest in volunteering for the clinic. Despite my lack of experience, Dean Mazza encouraged me to attend a training session and ultimately volunteer for the clinic. I quickly figured out how to use the software – with Dean Mazza’s and the site coordinators’ help. I encourage anyone who is interested in VITA to give it a go!
Why volunteer for VITA?
Kat Girod, 3L, recruiting students to take part in the VITA clinic
I really enjoyed my time volunteering for VITA last year and despite my busy 2L schedule, I’m making time to volunteer again this year. VITA allows students to serve their community in a meaningful way. Clients often struggle to file taxes on their own and are grateful for the service we provide. VITA provides law students with opportunities to develop interpersonal skills while working directly with clients. If students volunteer 15 or more hours of their time for VITA, they will make the pro bono honor roll! Finally, many attorneys have participated in VITA, and it is a great way to connect with attorneys during networking events or interviews.
Why should I try new things in law school?
Many law students come into law school not knowing what they want to do with their law degrees after graduation. Many of us think we know, but completely change our minds once we start learning about all our options. Participating in clinics like VITA allows students to experiment with different areas of law and find out what they like. VITA led me to take Dean Mazza’s Income Tax class last fall. While the class was challenging, I enjoyed it a lot. VITA and Dean Mazza’s Income Tax have inspired me to pursue a career in estate planning. VITA may lead you down a new and exciting path too!
I recently completed the first half of my field placement with Judge Julie A. Robinson, United States District Judge for the District of Kansas. This mid-way point seemed like the perfect opportunity to share five reasons why I recommend participating in KU Law’s Judicial Field Placement Program.
1. Building relationships with judges, law clerks, courtroom deputies and court reporters
My judicial field placement gives me the opportunity to work with Judge Robinson and her entire chambers. Many things that I experienced at my internship are new to me, and they consistently explain to me how things work and their approaches to different parts of their work. This experience has allowed me to build relationships and gain incredible mentors that have provided me with invaluable feedback and guidance. One of the parts I enjoy most about my internship is listening to stories about past cases and experiences.
2. Seeing the substance of my classes in real cases
My judicial field placement allows me to see and experience the material that I’ve learned in class as it applies to real cases. I took Evidence during the first half of my field placement. Observing jury trials and evidentiary hearings allowed me to see the Rules of Evidence in action. I have only taken one course involving criminal law, so my judicial field placement allows me to learn about sentencing, plea deals and other aspects of criminal law and procedure that I have not learned in school.
3. Observing various styles of advocacy and how attorneys interact with each other and with judges
During my field placement, I have observed various attorneys in different types of proceedings. Each attorney has a different advocacy style, and watching these different styles allows me to see a wide range of effective lawyering. Additionally, I enjoy observing how attorneys interact with each other, with the parties, and with judges. I feel lucky to observe how prepared and professional the attorneys that I have observed act. I hope to demonstrate the same level of competency in the future.
4. Improving my technical skills
At my judicial field placement, I have been able to research and write about issues in real cases. This experience allows me to improve my ability to find issues, thoroughly research, and write clearly. Most importantly, I receive feedback on my skills and have learned how I can keep improving.
5. Discovering and exploring career options
While I haven’t decided exactly how I plan to use my law degree, litigation interests me, and I hoped my Judicial Field Placement would help me further explore whether I hope to pursue that path. Fortunately, my field placement has only strengthened this interest and I am excited for another semester to observe litigators in practice and to continue strengthening my legal research and writing skills.
Marilyn Harp, L’79, has spent her career serving those in need
Marilyn Harp, L’79
Kansas Legal Services Executive Director Marilyn Harp, L’79, retired in December 2022. She served as executive director since 2005 but has been a member of the Kansas Legal Services team since the beginning of her career in 1979. KU Law graduate Matthew Keenan, L’84 took the help as KLS executive director at the beginning of 2023.
“I have loved my job and being able to serve those in need,” Harp said. “This job has been varied. This job has been challenging. I have never been bored.”
During her tenure at Kansas Legal Services, Harp took the lead on building a more user-friendly website for KLS, which now gets nearly 1 million page views per year.
“I have had people who aren’t our clients come up to me and say, ‘I was having difficulty finding resources on my rights as a tenant, etc., but I went to your website and I figured it out,'” Harp said. “My part of doing that is making sure that people who can self-represent have the resources to do so and about 10,000 people a year take advantage of those forms.”
“The Elder Law Hotline is a great volunteer program because attorneys will take a four-hour shift and know if calls are coming and we’re able to forward calls from our call center to that lawyer. We’re really lucky to have some amazing elder law specialist attorneys in the state who volunteer for that so people can get some great help in that way,” Harp said.
Through all her successes, however, Harp has passed on her love of serving those in need to her staff.
“I hire people who want to say yes,” Harp said, with a smile. “And then I put them in a job where a lot of times they have to say no. They are bright and independent and have the best interests of their clients.”
Background
Originally from Wichita, Harp first joined the KU family as an undergraduate in social work. She graduated in 1976 and started the path to her law degree the day after her undergraduate graduation.
“I grew up watching ‘Perry Mason,'” Harp said. “I always wanted to be Della Street, [the legal secretary] because that was the role women played in law firms at the time. Somewhere along the line, someone told me to think about being the lawyer and not the legal secretary.”
An opportunity to intern at Kansas Legal Services set Harp’s career in motion.
“I did an internship at the Kansas City office of Kansas Legal Services and afterward, I moved to Wichita,” Harp said. “I basically waited for weeks for this job to open up because KLS was where I wanted to work. It’s the only place I’ve ever worked.”
Being at the same company for the entirety of her career, Harp has some words of wisdom.
“Your job has to change with you as you get interested in new things,” she said. “You know, when you’re starting a new law practice or a new career the biggest problem is having enough clients, right? Kansas Legal Services does not have that problem because there’s such a need. This job has in some ways been the perfect mash-up between my social work background and my law background.”
Harp also encourages future lawyers and current law students to keep an open mind while in the classroom.
“When I was in law school, you had to take two semesters of Business Associations. At the time I knew I was going to work with poor people, so I didn’t understand why I needed this class,” Harp said. “Within literally six months I was talking to senior centers about incorporating. That’s what law does. It brings you lots of different opportunities and you can see them either as ‘I don’t know what this is so I don’t want to deal with it’ or ‘I don’t know what this is so I should go figure it out.'”
Teaching the future
On top of her legal work, creating programs that benefit those less fortunate across the country, and developing cohesive outward-facing products used by over a million people, Harp also found time to teach both at Wichita State and, later, at KU Law.
After her friend and former teacher, Carol Beier, was appointed as a Kansas Court of Appeals judge, Harp was given the opportunity to teach a new generation of students about Women in Law.
“Teaching that class was really fun. Feminist history through the eyes of the laws then is really interesting and I’m sorry that KU doesn’t offer a class like that,” Harp said. “The class teaches you about advocacy over an issue in your life.”
When the opportunity arose to continue teaching for the Elder Law Field Placement program, Harp jumped at the chance. Unfortunately for KU Law, Harp has retired from teaching as well.
“I saw [Dean] Stephen Mazza and he said, ‘You’re still going to teach, right?'” Harp said with a laugh. “But retiring is retiring.”
What’s next?
Harp attends the Proclamation ceremony for the 45th Anniversary of Kansas Legal Services. Photo courtesy of Marilyn Harp.
According to Harp, lawyers never seem to actually retire, and she is no exception.
“Being a lawyer is such an identity,” Harp said. “If you don’t have your law license, then what is your identity?”
Harp isn’t looking for a quiet retirement, instead, she’s turning her focus to legislation and what she can do to help with legislative reform.
“[Reforms] need a guide so I’m going to be a citizen lobbyist,” Harp said. “I have a badge that says, ‘citizen lobbyist’ and I’m working for nobody but myself. I’m only going to do things I’m interested in and help make those changes happen.”
She also plans to stay close to home and continue her work helping those less fortunate.
“Douglas County is about to open a help center in the courthouse and they’re looking for volunteers,” she said. “Helping a person with a legal problem get from point A to point B is still the thing I love the most about what I’ve done in my life, so I’m going to do more of that at the help center.”
And though she may be retired from Kansas Legal Services, she still plans on lending a hand to the programs she helped get started.
“I can become an emeritus attorney and take pro bono cases for KLS. I can still have that identity as a retired lawyer and help out at the Elder Hotline. I am definitely going to do some of the live expungement and driver’s license clinics we do,” Harp said.
For other lawyers similar to Harp, there are options to keep practicing even after retirement. More information about what you can do with your retired status can be found at Kansas Legal Services from Joy Springfield, director of pro bono services.
As for current KU Law students or any student in a law program, Harp has more words of advice:
“The best things that have happened to me in my career are when I took a risk,” Harp said. “The truth is, you leave law school not knowing how to do a lot of things, but you leave knowing how to figure out how to do a lot of things, so keep that going. Don’t settle for routine. Practicing law can either help you be creative or make you feel like you’re not creative at all. I’ve chosen to approach law creatively.”
Doing less may be more impactful than trying to do more + Brett’s Paella Recipe
Brett Hallagan, 3L KU Law Student Ambassador
The end of the fall semester ushers in a time of change at the law school. The leaves fall, the sky greys, Green Hall becomes a muted shade of concrete and brown, finals stress and imposter syndrome rear their heads once again, and depression transitions into a flavorful pumpkin-spiced seasonal depression.
There is no doubt that the end of the semester can be a cocktail of emotions. But don’t let this scare you, for I have frequented enough “Bar Review” events to learn a trick to preventing law school hangovers.
Just like hydration and a meal helps a bad hangover, feeding your mind, body, and soul will help you in the enduring battle against your own self-criticism.
Feeding your mind
Objectively, the memes in this post are funny yet accurate descriptions of school. But what makes them great is the mask of humor that covers the self-neglect we believe necessary to be successful in law school. However, self-neglect is emotional malnourishment and although it feels better than a cold call on a subject you haven’t read, its long-term effects are much worse than those few moments of embarrassment.
Instead of keeping your mind in a constant state of stress to maintain self-imposed deadlines, I implore you to take a few breaths and relax. Watch a show you haven’t kept up on, take a hike, read something that doesn’t have “Et al.” as an author, or simply just veg on the couch for a bit. Whatever you choose to do, the key is to rest your mind. So, take a break and make sure to muzzle that voice that’s constantly telling you, “Work is more important than self-care.”
Feeding your soul
There is no doubt this semester has been a challenge and has even shown me the upper limits of what I can effectively manage.
Unfortunately, that limit is at times far less than what I currently have on my plate. Coming up short can be crushing, but perfect is the enemy of good. If you constantly worry about perfection, you will never realize how great you are today. Feeding your soul positivity and practicing positive affirmations will improve your natural defense against stress, burnout and imposter syndrome.
Just remember, any “Ls” you take along the way don’t need to be losses, they can be lessons.
Feeding your body
OK, I know self-help posts can start feeling a bit cringe after a while, so I will get to the point.
Eating well is crucial, and the Lunchables from the Burge can only get you so far. So, in traditional Brett fashion, I have incorporated another one of my recipes into this blog for you to use as an exercise in feeding your mind, body and soul. Take a break from studying, relax, give it a go, and bask in the deliciously joyful embrace of a good home-cooked meal.
Brett’s Paella Recipe
Brett’s paella recipe
Ingredients
Olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 zucchini, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
8oz mushroom, sliced
4 Roma tomatoes, Cubed
or 1 can of crushed tomatoes
4 large garlic cloves, diced
2 cups bomba rice (or substitute a medium grain rice) (DO NOT RINSE)
5 cups chicken broth
½ cup frozen peas
1-3 bay leaves
2 teaspoon paprika
Pinch of saffron
Parsley, chopped (save some for garnish)
Salt and pepper
Lemon for garnish
Protein
Traditional paellas are seafood dishes, but on a student budget I would suggest picking two of these proteins instead.
1 lb sausage, sliced
½ lb shrimp, peeled
1 lb chicken breast or boneless thighs, cubed
Instructions
Step 1
Add oil to skillet over medium heat. Add onion, zucchini, bell peppers, and mushrooms and cook until the mixture softens. Then add tomatoes, bay leaves, paprika, salt, pepper, and saffron to mixture and cook for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Transfer into a separate container. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Step 2
In the same pan, add more oil and your protein. Make sure to space your protein and cook for 3-5 minutes or until all pieces have a nice brown color. Add a few ounces of wine or whatever alcohol you are currently drinking to the pan to deglaze the burnt bits off the bottom and let cook for an additional minute.
Step 3
Add the vegetable mixture back to the pan and incorporate. Then, add your rice and parsley and quickly make sure to get an even distribution of rice in the pan. It is important to not mix your paella moving forward or else you will lose the crispy crust that forms on the bottom, known as a socarrat.
Step 4
Slowly pour your broth around the pan. If you need to distribute the liquid evenly you can jiggle the pan but do not stir.
Step 5
Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium low. Cook for 15 minutes or until most of the liquid has absorbed. Nestle shrimp around the top and then continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
Step 6
Check rice. If not tender, add slightly more water or broth. If tender, add peas to top and cover with foil. Then place in oven for 5-10 minutes or until shrimp are cooked through.
Step 7
Remove pan from oven and let rest. Garnish with additional parsley and lemon. Enjoy!
With Thanksgiving only a few days away and my time at Green Hall coming to end, I wanted to use my last blog post as an opportunity to thank several people in my life who have contributed to my success in Green Hall.
I want to start by thanking my younger brother, Chris. While you might be the most intense person I know, you always have supported me in this process. I still remember my text to you during 1L orientation. I was so unsure of what I had just signed up for and honestly, without you, I’m entirely sure that I would not be where I am today. From outlines to help to pick classes, you were a sherpa to help me up this mountain and I cannot thank you enough.
Next, I want to thank my mom. I remember telling you I was moving to Kansas for law school, and you did not bat an eye. It was only love and support as I moved half away across the country to undertake this journey. Knowing that my mom’s house in Georgia would forever be a safety net made it possible to take this risk. I could not have even entertained going back to school let alone law school without your support. I thank you and will appreciate your support forever.
The friends I made in law school were necessary for me to be successful. When I moved to Kansas, I never imagined I would form such a tight group of friends that became like family. Matt, Henry, Jack, Jadyn, Kacey, Jamie, Mary-Kate and Hannah, COVID kind of forced us into becoming a group of friends but I could not imagine going through law school with any other group of people. Matt and Henry, you two are the best roommates or close friends I could ask for and I could not possibly ask for anything more. Spending the past two and half years struggling to understand our classes, celebrating the national championship, and watching Jack get married have been a great time that I would not trade for anything in the world.
Finally, I want to thank my girlfriend, Allie. My first two years in Lawrence were in the haze of COVID and I really could not appreciate the greatness of Lawrence, but you opened my eyes to how much I will miss Lawrence. You also were my rock during the trying times when law school felt like it was too much, or I needed the opinion of an adult. Who else would listen to inane rants about subjects where you only understand half of what I’m saying? I sincerely thank you for being there when law school took the most from me.
On more than one occasion and from more than one professor, the above expression was used to remind law students that the intricacies of law form a larger operating legal system. By only focusing on learning either the intricacies or the system, a law student is likely to fundamentally misunderstand both. But why stop with the expression’s application to legal studies? What does the expression reveal about being a KU Law student in the larger KU community?
Law Students Studying in the Burge Union
KU Law maximizes study opportunities and limits wasteful class transition commutes by not only having every class, but even every professor’s office, in Green Hall. Law students could enter the building at 7:30 a.m. and not step outside of it until as late as 11:00 p.m. (especially considering the upgraded vending machine selection). A short elevator ride or a few sets of stairs can take you from the buzzing first-floor commons to the beautiful view from the fifth floor of Wheat Law Library. Somewhere between them is each law student’s entire day.
Convenience comes at a price. Law students can miss out on connecting with the larger KU student body. If you have not yet taken time to get to know people outside of your law school peers, you need to, and the perfect place to start is just across the road at the Burge Union.
The Burge Union’s floor-to-ceiling windows illuminate a bright and welcoming communal space, but nothing does more for the enjoyment of Burge than the baristas. The baristas are always happy to grind a fresh shot of espresso so that you can get back to your grind. Do not feel the need to rush away after ordering though, because every barista has confirmed their favorite customers to interact with are KU Law students.
Hannah might share how she similarly feels locked away in her building as an engineering major. Ryan may discuss his plans to commute on K-10, like many law students, for his upper-level Biotechnology courses at the KU Edwards Campus. Anna, who is one of the most experienced baristas and a coffee aficionado, can relate to out-of-state law students as she is from Colorado Springs.
Randy (3L) picks up his morning shaken espresso from AlexAnna welcomes in customersPatrick (2L) picks up an afternoon mocha as Maddie makes the next drink orderBaristas Alex, Anna and Maddie working in the Burge Union Starbucks
The mornings I spend in Burge are always enjoyable. Sipping a warm coffee and watching the steady stream of students shuffle in and out of the Burge with the playful banter between the baristas filling the air is how I gain inspiration from our greater Jayhawk community. Law students are trees in a much larger KU forest. Learning to appreciate this fact has helped me, and I hope can help others to solidify a sense of belonging in our wonderful campus community.
Barista Hot Takes
Autumn, a Burge Union Starbucks barista poses with two freshly made drinks
Hannah (Engineering Major)
Q: What percentage of the law students would paint their face and/or chest for a KU basketball game?
A: 5%.
Ryan (Biotechnology Major)
Q: What drink best describes a law student?
A: A venti Americano with an extra shot of espresso.
