Volunteer Legal Service Program (VLSP)
May Spotlight: Volunteer Attorney Helps Woman Escape Abusive Marriage
By Samantha Silva, VLSP Intern
Maria Mercedes* recently contacted VLSP for assistance in obtaining a dissolution of marriage from her verbally and physically abusive husband. VLSP connected her with Devon Caroselli, a real estate and corporate law transactional attorney at Cox Castle & Nicholson LLP, who took the case pro bono after attending one of VLSP’s free family law trainings.
Caroselli discovered that her client faced two challenges. “During the marriage my client and her husband had accumulated a lot of debt, almost exclusively in her name, and she had limited assets,” Caroselli stated.
 Just as the case was moving forward, Caroselli went on maternity leave. Mercedes, impressed with the hard work Caroselli put into her case, decided to wait until she returned from maternity leave to complete the dissolution. “We kept in contact over my maternity leave. She let me know she had an opportunity to move to Las Vegas but wanted to make sure that it would not affect her ability to get dissolution. I let her know that it would make it more difficult but not be impossible,” Caroselli explains. Despite these multiple issues, the case pressed on and Caroselli persevered in drafting a successful marital settlement agreement.
Caroselli said, “Maria was so happy after obtaining the dissolution… She was in such a better place, and it was great to feel like I had contributed to that.” Caroselli also explained the impact volunteering had on her life, despite the relatively simple legal procedures she completed for Mercedes saying, “Bringing that kind of joy to her was just amazing. When you get out of your comfort zone and really force yourself to take on challenges that are completely new to you, any accomplishment feels ten times greater than one you achieve while doing something you already know how to do.”
When asked how volunteering fits into the larger picture of her life, Caroselli responds, “I was very excited to find that VLSP offers a variety of excellent opportunities to learn something new while helping others.” She looks forward to taking advantage of more of these opportunities in the future, as this was her first case through VLSP.
* Client name has been changed.
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