One of the principles at the heart of Altior is the desire to meet a higher calling – that working in the law is a noble profession that has a unique role in making the world better.
Our Higher Calling work covers several areas…
Raising the Bar
We are very active in the development and improvement of the legal profession. Jennifer put professionalism and service at the center of her agenda as State Bar President, and started a ground-breaking Pro Bono Mentor Match program when she was President of the Oakland County Bar Association. Ken and Steve are active with the Inns of Court program, and Ken also serves on the Wayne State University Law School’s Board of Visitors.
Human Trafficking
Altior is a supporter of The Joseph Project, which provides pro bono legal services to human trafficking survivors.
School-to-Prison Pipeline
During Jennifer’s State Bar presidency, she became aware of the increased criminalization of school discipline and the ways that that disproportionately impacts minorities. Led by Jennifer’s concern for this issue, Altior is working to address this counter-productive and unjust pipeline.
Access to Justice for Everyone
A large portion of the population does not have access to good legal resources. There are organizations – like Lakeshore Legal Aid in the Detroit area – that are working to change that, and supporting those organizations is part of Altior’s work to expand access to justice. Jennifer currently serves on the Board of Directors of Lakeshore and our lawyers take pro bono cases that are referred from Lakeshore.
Using Law to Make the World Better
In addition to those focus areas listed above, Altior looks for opportunities when the law can play a role in making the world better. The highest-profile example of this is the work Altior’s attorneys did to change the animal control ordinance in Detroit.