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Counsel,
For more than twenty years, when Mario Mandina was finished
with the daily demands of his law practice, he would dedicate himself to the
cause of the sanctity of life. We all know him as the founder and leader for
nearly 17 years of the National Lawyers Association. Throughout that time, his
wife, Kathleen, has been his support personally, in his law practice and in
Mario’s work for the NLA.
Mario was honored as Lawyer of the Year by the Catholic
Lawyers Guild in Kansas City at this year’s Red Mass, concelebrated on October
14, 2009 by Archbishop Joseph Naumann of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in
Kansas and Bishop Robert W. Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.
Above and beyond his work for the NLA, Mario dedicated his
life to serving others. According to writer Kevin Kelly’s newspaper report in
the diocesan paper, the Catholic Key, Mario belongs to the Knights of
Columbus, Missouri Lawyers for Life, Missouri Right to Life and to his parish
pro-life committee. He also served on the board of a home for developmentally
disabled adults and, together with Kathleen, founded St. Joseph’s Table, an
annual fundraising event for the poor.
Mario is just one lawyer. Yet his life is significant to
thousands of people -- those who benefitted from his fundraising, those unknown
numbers of unborn whose lives were saved, and those of us who call him friend
and colleague. In founding the National Lawyers Association, Mario challenged
lawyers and judges to defend the sanctity of human life from conception until
natural death. No wonder he is Lawyer of the Year. The article in the Key
put it this way:
Mandina is exactly the
kind of attorney that Kansas City, Kan., Archbishop Joseph Naumann spoke of in
his homily at that evening’s Red Mass . . .
“The good order of our
society, the protection of rights of individuals, the smooth working of
commerce, the proper distribution of estate assets depend on the work in which
you are engaged. . .We pray for the Holy Spirit to guide you as you formulate
laws, as you are the human instruments of administering justice — deciding
innocence or guilt, assigning appropriate sentences, untangling competing rights
in disputes, and you strive to uphold the rights of clients and provide the
protection of law to those who are weak and vulnerable,” the archbishop said.
The archbishop also
reminded his audience that the most fundamental right of all is the right to
life, written first by God in the hearts of all human beings.
“It is not necessary to be
a Christian to understand and respect these most basic of rights. They are
available to us through human reason,” he said.
This past July, a worsening health condition forced Mario
to close his law practice and tender his resignation as NLA’s CEO. He was
unsteady on his feet, but the cane he needed did not diminish the warmth of his
smile, his sense of humor, nor his zeal for the mission of the National Lawyers
Association.
After Mario’s resignation, and after several months of
deliberations and soul searching, the lawyers who make up NLA’s board of
directors voted unanimously to be stronger than ever, to stay the course and to
rededicate ourselves wholeheartedly to Mario’s cause, the cause of defending
life for the unborn, the disabled, the elderly and terminally ill.
Here’s to our friend, Mario Mandina, a lawyer with the
strength and courage of a lion, yet with a gentle love for the vulnerable among
us. Here’s to his dream for a renewed jurisprudence through renewing lawyers and
judges. Here’s to the National Lawyers Association.
Sincerely yours,
Rebecca Messall, Esq.
NLA, CEO
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