Conquer – Withstand; Battle; Overcome.
GRL Law set out to come up with a theme for the year that adequately captured our goals both internally within our office and externally on behalf of our clients. To make our endeavor a little more challenging, we also wanted the theme to apply to the charity that we have chosen to support this year as well; Family Crisis Center. Since our practice areas vary, and at times can appear to directly conflict with one another, this was no easy task. Challenges are something the GRL Law thrives on though and after much brainstorming, a few heated debates, and a final vote, we agreed on our theme; Conquer.
In order to conquer, one must first withstand adversity. In order survive adversity, one must at some point battle and fight. On the other side of that battle is the end result of overcoming the adversity that started the process. One who withstands, battles and overcomes adversity is a conqueror; hence our theme.
You may be asking yourself how does “conquer” fit into GRL Law’s internal goals, external goals for clients. More importantly, how in the world does this theme relate to the Family Crisis Center?
First and foremost, the charity – Family Crisis Center. One of GRL Law's founding partners, Cory Gourley, sits on the board of the Family Crisis Center so GRL Law is directly involved with this organization. The Family Crisis Center serves survivors of violent crimes including domestic violence, human trafficking, and sexual assaults. As part of their services, FCC also runs the Survivor's Helpline which provides emergency assistance to those in need across the entire state of Iowa. GRL Law's theme "conquer" reflects the process that survivors of abuse go through. They first endure and withstand the adversity of abuse. They certainly battle and fight as they separate themselves from the abusive situation or individual. At the end of that battle is a realization that they have overcome that adversity and have earned the status of "survivor." GRL Law prefers to elevate those who survive abuse a little further. It is not merely surviving. A survivor of abuse has truly conquered one of the greatest challenges any person can face. Survivors are conquerors. “Conquer” reflects the end-result of what the Family Crisis Center assists others in accomplishing.
Conquer also reflects GRL Law’s goals for each-and-every client. We practice primarily in the areas of personal injury and criminal defense. While these areas of law may seem to conflict, there is a common thread between them; the need to conquer. Every family and every client that we are privileges to assist seeks out to conquer the legal challenge that confronts them. Personal injury and wrongful death clients are withstanding life-altering injuries or the tragic loss of a loved one. Clients accused of committing criminal offenses must withstand the social stigma, self-blame, regret and other negative implications of being accused of a crime. All of GRL Law’s clients must withstand, battle and overcome the adversity that is in front of them; they must conquer. Adversity is not overcome by inaction. The challenge must be faced. The battle must ensue. It is GRL Law’s role to assist our clients in conquering the personal and legal challenges confronting them. We help clients conquer.
Finally, conquer is a personal mantra for our staff. This year, GRL Law has chosen to ride a stage of RAGBRAI as a team. It may not sound like much to many, especially avid cyclists, but for half of our group, this is a significant challenge. Some of us have not ridden a bike since childhood. Getting back on a bike and riding 40 miles of Iowa hills from Winterset to Indianola is going to bring on adversity. It is a challenge. Personal battles will be waged. The GRL Law team has bonded together and has began working toward our collective goal. The team will have to battle as a collective group and at the end, having overcome the challenge, we will conquer.
As the GRL Law team comes together to ride the Winterset to Indianola route of RAGBRAI we will be rocking our purple “Conquer” shirts. We chose the color purple because that is the color used for domestic violence awareness. As part of our RAGBRAI experience we will be raising money and collecting donations for the Family Crisis Center. If you would like to help us conquer abuse feel free to join us on our ride or make a donation to the Family Crisis Center.
