Law Society Community Service Overview

Sterling Brennan’s Introduction of Franklin S. Richards Pro Bono Award Recipients

Central to the mission of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society is for its members to bless the communities in which they live through service and example. Due to their personal religious beliefs, Law Society members can use their unique professional skills, experience, and leadership to enrich their communities with positive, religiously anchored professional service, by providing legal services to the unprotected or volunteering leadership to non-profit organizations and programs.

As Chief Justice Ronald M. George of the California Supreme Court observed at a state bar convention on September 5, 2003:



Those members of the Law Society who render pro bono assistance best epitomize the virtues that the Law Society espouses, and perhaps the admonitions of the Savior and His holy prophets to care for the poor, the needy, and the disadvantaged.

We honor tonight, as the first recipients of the Franklin S. Richards Pro Bono Achievement Award, two members of the Law Society who have helped the plight of those who, without pro bono representation, would stand injured and unprotected.

Please join me tonight in honoring Craig Galli and Mike Fehmel for their commitment and practical help to the otherwise un- or under-represented. Brief biographical sketches for our two honorees are on the back of your program.

Franklin S. Richards Pro Bono Award Recipients

Craig D. Galli

Craig Galli holds both bachelor and master degrees from BYU and his law degree from Columbia University. He is a partner in the Salt Lake City office of Holland & Hart, where he specializes in natural resources, environmental, and land use law. Craig is member of the International Board of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society.
Craig has actively participated in pro bono programs throughout his professional career. Craig his wife, Lark, and their four daughters served as welfare service missionaries in the Salt Lake Valley in 1998 and 1999. Since then, Craig has helped coordinate the pro bono work performed by volunteer attorneys who receive referrals from Church Service Missionaries working in the Inner City Project and Hispanic Initiative. Last year, Craig worked with other Law Society Board members to expand the Pro Bono Initiative and bring it under the auspices of the Salt Lake Chapter of the Law Society. Today, nearly 50 attorneys in the Salt Lake area devote hundreds of hours each year to provide pro bono legal advice and representation to the indigent throughout Salt Lake Valley. Craig is working with other Law Society chapters to expand the Society’s Pro Bono Initiative to other communities.

T. Michael Fehmel

Mike Fehmel obtained his undergraduate degree from UCLA and his law degree from Glendale University College Of Law. Mike is a member and former board member of the Los Angeles Chapter of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society. His law firm, Fehmel & Associates, specializes in real estate transactions, international trade, and immigration. About 80 percent of his firm’s clients are Japanese, so Mike spends much of his time each day communicating in Japanese.

In early 2003, a bishop in the Glendale area contacted the Los Angeles Chapter of the Law Society about an immigration problem that a member of his ward was facing. The chapter tapped Mike, who agreed to take on the problem notwithstanding that there was a hearing in the matter the next day. As it turned out, the “hearing” was actually the first day of an asylum trial for a woman and her granddaughter who were seeking asylum from an Eastern European country, and who did not speak much English. They previously had been represented by unscrupulous agents who provided them fraudulent documents, took their money, and left their case in shambles. After three days of trial, Mike got the court to award the asylum his new pro bono clients were seeking.

The Lima Peru Chapter of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society

The Lima Peru Chapter of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society was awarded The Franklin S. Richards Pro Bono Service Award for its legal clinic which convenes once per month at a Stake Center in Lima and advises individuals and non-profit social organizations (e.g. Mothers’ Club, Glass of Milk Organization) who could otherwise not afford legal representation.

The chapter is looking to expand the reach of the pro bono program to the cities of Huancayo and Arequipa.