Justice for All: Celebrating Pro Bono – Volunteer of the Year

Matthew Kretzer, a retired former Trial Lawyer at The United States Department of Justice is the Volunteer Legal Services Corporation’s Volunteer of the Year. Matthew is an active volunteer in our bankruptcy clinics. 

Check out our June of 2016 profile on Matthew from the VLSC Newsletter!

Matthew says he decided to become a lawyer because he was bored being an accountant and too old to become a commercial fisherman! More interestingly, he decided to go to accounting school because he couldn’t get into welding. 

He decided to do bankruptcy work because he wanted to clerk for a judge and Bankruptcy Judge Tom Carlsen (United States Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of California) offered him a clerkship.  Matthew says working for Judge Carlsen was a real education.

He says that the special thing about the VLSC bankruptcy clinics are that you get the advice of high quality bankruptcy professionals, FREE.  There are lots of cheap alternatives, but not high quality.

Bankruptcy is just a drop in the bucket of economic equality. Matthew likes to think it gives the debtors a chance to get their economic houses in order rather than just drowning in debt.

Thank you Matthew for your dedication to helping low-income Alameda County residents get their economic lives back on track! Your efforts have made a true and lasting impact on hundreds of lives in our county.

Join us on May 18th at Justice for All: Celebrating Pro Bono to celebrate Matthew and the rest of the award recipients! More information here

Interested in volunteering with VLSC? Check out our website, or please contact Daniela Meza, Volunteer and Clinics Coordinator, at daniela@acbanet.org, or (510) 302-2219.