Cornel West proclaimed, “Justice is what love looks like in public.”

We all need love but are doing an embarrassingly poor job implementing justice. Although the U.S. has one of the best civil justice systems in the world, we rank 115th among those with access to civil justice. Among the 43 high-income peer countries, we rank 43rd.

The solution to our “Justice Gap” is love and justice. It is Cornel West’s “love in public” and requires innovative and compassionate lawyering.

I know those aren’t adjectives often associated with the legal profession. But without them, our legal systems will continue to prevent people from accessing and experiencing justice.

After law school, my wife and I moved back to Waco, Texas, where we attended college. Waco’s poverty rate and persistent racial and ethnic inequities, combined with a desire to explore how to build up resources in underserved, mid-sized cities in the South, made Waco a prime place to jump into the Justice Gap.

There, I began what would become Greater Waco Legal Services (GWLS). At GWLS, we seek to provide affordable legal services, holistic advocacy, and collaborative, community-driven partnerships that give our beloved community equal access to justice. Our clients are those affected by the Justice Gap, who can’t afford private attorneys and don’t qualify for legal aid.

We offer representation in multiple practice areas, legal empowerment through workshops and clinics, and advocacy for the whole person. Our legal services are provided on a sliding scale, where clients pay what they can afford.

Dean

Dean, a big, bald, tattooed dude, showed up angry one day at our office. His truck, which he inherited from his mother, had been stolen. Dean was furious because, after over a year, he saw the truck at a gas station.

We discovered forged titles and filed a suit in Justice Court for Dean. After several months of failed negotiations, the truck magically showed up in our parking lot on the week of the hearing. But it wouldn’t start.

After paying for a tow and a mechanic, we received a default judgment when the defendant didn’t show up. At the time, Dean was in the hospital with persistent health issues.

Dean burst into tears when I called to tell him that we got the truck back and a judgment in his favor. In his gruff, yet shaky voice, he told me how much that truck meant to him and how he was so sorry he couldn’t immediately pay us back.

He promised he would, just before ghosting us.

After trying for a few months to track him down, I wrote it off, honestly thinking that, sadly, Dean might have died.

Then, over two years later, after our organization had changed names and addresses, I heard the chime of our front door and then an unmistakable voice. Dean found us and came with the full payment of what he owed.

I was floored. I expected to never see him again, let alone get our money back, but there he was.

We hugged it out, and I was again reminded of the abounding true nature of dignity, resilience, and value abiding deep within the clients and communities we have the privilege to serve.


Victoria

As multi-disciplinary silo-busters, we can meet our beloved community where they are, making our services affordable, accessible and effective. Partnering with a wide array of community organizations fosters a holistic approach to community justice as we work together to dismantle historic and systemic inequities.

Victoria sheepishly entered our office one morning. Her doctor referred her to us through a medical-legal partnership with our county’s federally qualified health center.

Victoria shared with her doctor that she had just found out the home she lived in with her young teenage daughter had been sold at a property tax foreclosure sale. The news didn’t help her high blood pressure and other health issues.

She had just a few days before she would be forced out.

We were far from hopeful for a positive outcome. Once it reaches that point, foreclosure is usually inevitable.

Yet, as we looked at the process more closely, we realized Victoria had never received proper notice of any of the legal proceedings. Although she received the house in a divorce, her ex-husband’s name remained on the deed and in the county’s records as the owner.

The county’s attorneys agreed, so they vacated the foreclosure sale and, once Victoria paid off the delinquent taxes, they would nonsuit the case.

Within about a year, Victoria had paid off several thousand dollars of back taxes, saving her house, greatly improving her health, and preventing the devastating disruption to her and her daughter’s lives.

The medical-legal partnership is just one example of our willingness to venture anywhere where there are opportunities to connect and co-labor with those already working for love and justice.

Tina

Last year, Tina’s case ended during a time when I was struggling.

Tina had rented a small commercial building to begin her artist studio, trusting the owner would honor her promises to make proper repairs. This never happened, so Tina faced additional challenges in starting and growing her business.

We filed suit and then muddled through the case for almost two years, finally getting a Justice Court bench trial.

The case really pushed my limits, as I certainly don’t flourish as a litigator. Yet, as her case dragged out, Tina became an endearing client, so I really wanted a win. Although anxious about the trial, I was confident in our case and hopeful for my client.

We lost.

I was devastated, mostly for Tina who I had such high hopes for helping. Deeply dejected, I apologized to her, wondering where I had gone wrong and why I could not have done better for her.

Just because a judge made a final decision, was justice really served? Neither party was better off. The relationship was still broken and my client didn’t win.

And then Tina’s heartfelt response struck me to my core. 

“Kent, I was heard,” she said. “You did a great job. You listened and helped me fight for my story to be heard. I wish we won, but I am just so grateful I was heard.”

With that, her wisdom deepened my understanding of how true justice flourishes.

Justice is listening. It is paying attention, walking alongside, and suffering with. It is compassion, openness, and vulnerability.

Justice is love.

The place to find the love we need is among those least served by the justice system.

In shifting the paradigm about the outcomes we seek, we discover what justice truly is and can be—the powerful force of love in public, the creative, redemptive, and transforming goodwill for all.

Love and justice wait for us. They call us to explore abundance, connect with the beloved community, and abide in the freedom to flourish. 

Will we answer their call?