A shop that gives back

At Spark, we approach the provision of legal services like we approached things in the healthcare industry. Courtney is a former nurse and retired firefighter-paramedic. She went back to school and finished her bachelor's degree during Covid - finishing strong from Louisiana State University at Shreveport! Loyola New Orleans College of Law followed close behind - and a lifelong dream was achieved in 2024 when Courtney graduated cum laude from Law School. Admitted fully to the practice of law after passing the bar exam on the first try, Courtney began to pursue her passion of criminal defense work. 

Courtney, catalyzed by the turn of events in the United States and Radicalized by a life spent following the teachings of Jesus Christ, Courtney knew that she couldn't practice law and be authentic to herself in a corporate setting. Courtney also knew that, while she wanted to work in criminal law - she did not want to work that hard for someone else - someone who would maybe demand she compromise herself -- she wanted to work that hard for her clients.  Courtney also began coursework towards her PhD in Justice Studies at the University of New Orleans because she believes that legal services can be provided in a revolutionary way - and that it only takes a Spark to start a revolution. This law firm is, in itself, a grand experiment - a truth seeking and telling of sorts, and the question really is: Is it possible to provide low=barrier. lower-cost legal services by building a mutual aid/community support network of ordinary, everyday people? Thus, the idea for our MACS Fund was born. The idea, eventually, is to fully and privately subsidize low-barrier and lower-cost legal services across the legal services spectrum. First, we just wanted to see if people would buy cool merchandise that does us a favor (advertises for us), helps provide legal care (profits offset costs), and makes you look awesome (cool stuff, bro).

Every purchase from MACS Shop helps offset the costs associated with providing low-barrier, lower-cost legal representation. At Spark, there are things we KNOW and there are things we BELIEVE, and we absolutely understand that there is a difference. 

Among other things, we KNOW that legal representation in criminal matters is a fundamental right - protected by the US Constitution. We BELIEVE that representation should be zealous, and we BELIEVE that caring, zealous representation shouldn't be reserved only for the rich! 

We also KNOW that barriers to receiving zealous care in the criminal legal system exist - one of these barriers is that it is EXPENSIVE - the expenses associated with defending against a criminal case include investigatory costs, staffing costs, filing costs, expert fees, and so much more; the expenses involved in defending against a suit by a creditor include filing fees, service fees, and so much more!

We could go on, but the point is - every penny we make on our merchandise goes directly back to our Legal Care Fund - a fund used to cover some of these costs for our pro-bono and lower-income clients because they deserve the same exact care as our full-paying and higher-income clients. We thank you for your support of our mission and we remind you that we are always here if you ever need us.