Attorney Mike Kennedy has always taken the legal profession’s responsibility to provide voluntary pro bono services seriously. Much of Mike’s work as an attorney is his work suing debt collectors under the fair debt collection practices act, and he has devoted his career to helping many people who can’t afford an attorney.  “I knew I could help a lot of people and make a living at it,” says Mike. As an attorney working in Maryland, Mike devoted time to taking clients from the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service and filed class action suits against the Navy federal credit union and Wells Fargo – resulting in forgiveness of millions of dollars of debt and a Cyprus award of $100,000 that Mike and his father donated to Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service. Mike and his father were awarded the organization’s 2012 Annual Law Firm Volunteer Award for their pro bono work and support of the organization.

When Mike moved back to Connecticut during the pandemic he wanted to get involved in pro bono work and loved the idea of working with veterans. “I love the country that I live in and I’ve never met a more grateful group of people that get screwed worse by their government, by their disability ratings. They serve our country with no expectations, get shitty pay, put their life in danger, and then they come home and they get the shit end of the stick all the way around,” says Mike. “We don’t do enough for our service members. It just seems like the very least I could do is to help them. And then I get to meet and talk to them and hear their stories. And they are just grateful and happy for anything you can do.  Their attitude has an effect on me. They are positive, not down on themselves. That really makes me want to do everything I could possibly do and then some.” Mike has provided excellent representation to CVLC clients in consumer debt matters. Of his work with CVLC clients, Mike says “I’m ecstatic that I’m able to do something for them. I love giving back and being able to help people. You should have lawyers beating down the door to help your clients.”