Pro Bono Volunteer of the Month-January 2019

Marjorie Guymon of Goldsmith & Guymon, P.C.

Marjorie Guymon received her bachelor’s degree from Weber State University and her Juris Doctorate from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University. While in law school, Marjorie received the highest grade in her bankruptcy class. This interest in bankruptcy has led her to where she is today. She is currently with the firm Goldsmith and Guymon and primarily practices bankruptcy, business law, estate planning, family law, guardianship, probate and trust administration. Marjorie first became involved with pro bono service when she and her partner, Dara Goldsmith, formed their firm. Dara was very involved with the legal community and introduced Marjorie to pro bono service.

When we asked her why she does pro bono work, she stated “It is important for the legal community to assist those who are unable to afford legal services. While we also take on private cases for which we end up either reducing our fees or writing off our fees, taking cases from LACSN that are already vetted for financial need is an easy way to identify who is truly deserving of free legal services. Our taking pro bono cases from LACSN also assists the LACSN attorneys with their overwhelming caseload.”

Marjorie shared a story of a recent memorable client. “She was the subject of a minor guardianship as a result of her mother and father divorcing, custody awarded to her father, then her father passing away. Her mother, while living, is incapable of providing responsible care so her elder sister was appointed her guardian. However, the elder sister was not much better than the mother. The Guardian is a homeless drug addict and was bilking the ward’s assets for her own use. The court suspended the guardian and appointed me as the ward’s attorney.  I was successful in obtaining a significant monetary judgment against the guardian. The ward had been living independently and has since obtained majority age, resulting in the termination of the guardianship over her. However, we successfully pursued recovery of an asset paying monthly income to the former guardian/judgment debtor to help satisfy the judgment. The former ward is now graduated from high school, has completed cosmetology school and is working and living independently.”

For her commitment to pro bono, we honor Marjorie Guymon as our January Volunteer of the Month.