Nicholas Larson

Murphy Pearson Bradley & Feeney
Twitter: @larson_nicholas

Interesting fact:

I was initially skeptical of pursuing a legal career, so I attended law school at night while continuing to work full-time as a federal public policy consultant.  It took a few years, but through positive experiences in law school, a judicial externship, and a summer associate position, I left my prior career and pursued the practice of law fulltime.

I became a BASF member:

• In order to join the Barristers Pro Bono and Community Service Committee.  I believe attorneys have a special opportunity, and responsibility, through our position in the community to get involved in helping others. This committee connects attorneys, law firms and a diverse range of nonprofit organizations in an effort to increase pro bono opportunities in the Bay Area and also to encourage more attorneys to give back to the community through pro bono work.
•  To connect with the San Francisco legal community and expand my legal career through interactions with skilled legal practitioners in a variety of settings.

I stay a BASF member because:

• I want to continue to give back to the community through service.  In addition, the pro bono, community service, networking, educational, professional, developmental, and personal opportunities that are available through BASF on a monthly basis are too numerous to count and too good to pass up.
• I enjoy playing in the BASF basketball league on Tuesday evenings.

I was interested in leading a Barristers Club committee because:

I wanted to work with the incredible resources of the Barristers and BASF to promote and facilitate further community service and pro bono opportunities throughout the San Francisco legal community. I also wanted to continue to work with the Barristers to expand and promote the efficacy of the Justice & Diversity Center, and many of its programs, including the Housing Negotiation Project and Right to Civil Counsel. Working as the cochair of the Pro Bono Committee I have enjoyed being able to connect with and promote these programs to attorneys throughout the Bay Area.

The need for pro bono attorneys is enormous and I wanted to focus my efforts on helping to fill this need through the Barristers Pro Bono Committee. Specifically, each year the committee puts together the Pro Bono Resource Guide: a comprehensive guide to facilitate attorney involvement in Bay Area nonprofit organizations. The Resource Guide, available at www.sfbar.org/pro-bono-guide, provides contact information, mission statements and a brief description of the pro bono opportunities available at each individual organization. Making the guide available, through BASF’s website, to thousands of Bay Area attorneys on an annual basis is a critical part of the Pro Bono Committee’s efforts to filling the enormous need for pro bono attorneys.