The Justice & Diversity Center (JDC) is pleased to recognize Allysyn Overton as our volunteer of the month.

Overton was new to Family Law in early 2013 when she began helping low-income clients with divorce, child custody, and domestic violence issues through JDC’s Family Law Project. After handling a relatively straightforward case with the help of mentors, she jumped head first into a number of difficult, highly-litigated cases and has been getting wonderful results for her clients.

Overton has had notable success in two very difficult JDC cases. In one, she ensured that a client’s child support was not retroactively terminated, saving the client and her four children from homelessness. In another matter, Overton helped a client who found the courage to leave her husband after years of abuse. Although the client and her husband speak Arabic, and Overton does not, and although all of the parties’ assets are overseas, Overton was able to reach settlement on all issues.

When she first relocated from her native Indiana after attending Indiana University’s Law School, Overton had no connection to San Francisco’s legal world. She searched online for volunteer opportunities, liked what was offered on JDC’s website, and decided to get involved. She took her first custody case in to get a feel for practice in San Francisco, and ended up volunteering on three more cases. She has now opened her own solo Family Law practice and is dedicated to making her practice an accessible tool for people, despite their financial status.

Overton finds volunteering rewarding because she has seen the injustice that can occur when one person can afford an attorney and the other cannot. “Volunteering has given me opportunities to help balance scales, allowing the court to better make decisions based on the actual merits of the case.”

In her spare time, Overton performs as a dancer, gardens, plays softball, and volunteers with Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom.

For more information on volunteering with the Justice & Diversity Center’s Family Law Project, please email probono@sfbar.org.