Citizen Lawyer Lisa Angel
Article Date: Friday, June 26, 2009
 |
| Lisa Angel accepts award from Charles Becton. |
Lisa M. Angel gives up her time each week to volunteer work, whether she’s
serving as the chair of the Governor’s Domestic Violence Commission or teaching
math and reading to children at a Raleigh housing project.
The one who benefits the most from all of that service might be Angel
herself.
“I know it’s a cliché, but it’s true for me,” she said. “I learn things about
my community. I understand injustices in my community that I wouldn’t have been
exposed to. And I become connected to the world in a way that I otherwise
wouldn’t. I just really feel like I get a lot more out of it than I ever
give.”
Because of her dedication to community service while also practicing law, the
North Carolina Bar Association selected Angel to receive a Citizen Lawyer Award
on June 26 at the NCBA’s Annual Meeting in Asheville.
Angel, a board-certified family law specialist with Rosen Law Firm, has
focused most of her attention on finding ways to combat domestic violence.
It started 16 years ago. The Wake Forest law school graduate spent her
weekends as a crisis responder with Interact of Wake County, a United Way agency
that provides safety and support to domestic violence and sexual assault
victims.
From there, Angel became involved in raising awareness and influencing policy
at a statewide level as a member of Interact’s speaker’s bureau and as chair of
the N.C. Bar Association Young Lawyers Division’s domestic violence
committee.
Angel also worked with Interact, Legal Aid of North Carolina and other
lawyers to establish Project Together, a volunteer organization that provides
pro bono service to low-income clients in domestic violence protective order
hearings.
That work led to her appointment to the Governor’s Domestic Violence
Commission, which she has chaired since 2005.
As a commission member, Angel has helped to push legislation through the
General Assembly that increased penalties for offenders, made child custody and
support more readily available for victims and created a joint legislative
committee on domestic violence.
“It’s not just me. It’s a group of 39 people who have expertise from lots and
lots of different areas throughout the state,” Angel said. “I think the whole
idea behind the commission has been that if you bring together all of the
players, the collaboration will produce amazing results. And it really has.”
Even though she’s busy working on the commission’s current priority –
preserving state funding for victims’ service agencies – Angel still finds free
time on Tuesdays and Saturdays to serve as a tutor at the Mayview housing
project.
“There’s not one day I go there and think, ‘Wow, I really gave of myself.’ I
always think I got something out of it,” she said. “It’s something I really
enjoy, something that adds quality to my life.”
Provided by the Young Lawyers Division of the North Carolina Bar
Association in conjunction with the Citizen Lawyer Task Force in recognition of
recipients of the 2009 Citizen Lawyer Awards. The awards were presented on
Friday, June 26, at the NCBA Annual Meeting in Asheville.