The North Carolina Pro Bono Resource Center is proud to highlight the work of attorneys making a difference through pro bono.
Denisse Gonzalez works as Corporate Counsel for Cisco. Since becoming any attorney, Denisse has served as a pro bono volunteer to help people obtain protection from domestic abuse, obtain unemployment benefits, and assist a non-profit develop best practice policies for running their organization. Currently, Denisse is dedicating her time to helping her fellow North Carolinians to restore their driving privileges and is also helping three persecuted individuals with their asylum cases.
Denisse is most proud of the moments when her pro bono clients express gratitude for her work changing their life’s trajectory. She urges her fellow attorneys to take on pro bono in order to make a difference for their clients and to enrich their confidence as attorneys. Denisse takes on cases outside of her practice area which she reports has made her a more flexible and creative advocate. Writes Denisse, “One of my favorite quotes is by Shirley Chisholm who said ‘Service is the rent we pay for the privilege of living on this earth.’ I believe that lawyers underestimate the immense power we hold to really make a difference in people’s lives. Our license to practice can liberate a man and it can also take away his life. My will to take on pro bono matters is very much inspired by all of these ideals combined.”