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Page 1: Rawle Andrews, Jr. Esq.
Page 2: Rawle Andrews, Jr. Esq.

Rawle Andrews, Jr., Esq.Rawle Andrews, Jr., Esq.

Regional Vice President, Maryland

American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)

Page 3: Rawle Andrews, Jr. Esq.

EmpowermentEmpowermentEmpowermentEmpowerment

might call it external communica-

tions, on what AARP is, what it does,

and how you can get involved.”

Andrews shared with Exceptional

People Magazine what he enjoys

about his position and what he enjoys

most about helping AARP members

live healthy and productive lives.

EPM: Why did you decide to be-

come an attorney?

Rawle: I believe that I always

wanted to find a career in law, even

though my father was a physician, his

uncle and mentor was a physician and

my younger brother also is a medical

doctor. And I think my ability to help

folks know their rights, have those

rights enforced, was only going to be

from a mouthpiece where legal train-

ing was available. That doesn’t mean

a lot of people don’t watch Law and

Order; they can figure out what law-

yers do, and sometimes they do it

pretty successfully. But ultimately the

classical legal training, I think, does

give me a chance to give voice to the

voiceless, whether that’s a corpora-

tion, a government entity, or an indi-

vidual.

EPM: You received your JD with

honors, and you also received the

2006 Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year

award. How important is it for attor-

neys to do pro bono work?

As an attorney and the

Regional Vice President for

AARP in Maryland, Rawle

Andrews, Jr. has confronted

many challenges.

Often viewed by many as an organi-

zation offering discounts to senior

citizens, AARP is much more than

that. It provides an abundance of

benefits that many people may not be

aware of. Andrews is responsible for

ensuring that it all comes together and

runs smoothly. He oversees various

programs for 850,000 members.

“In some respects they are our con-

stituents, but they also are our volun-

teers. They also are our partners in

several of our collaborative efforts to

try to make a difference for people 50

and older and their families,” stated

Andrews.

“I would split my job into thirds, if

you will. One-third of my job is the

general administration and manage-

ment of the business and financial

affairs of AARP’s business in the

state of Maryland. The second phase

or the second third of my job is to run

and oversee our advocacy operations,

which some people would call lobby-

ing. And the third is really in the pub-

lic education and community outreach

phase of the work we do, so you

Rawle: I believe that if you read 99

out of 100 law school essays over the

last 25 to 30 years, almost every one

of them would say, “Please admit me

to your law school,” no matter where

the law school is, “because I want to

be able to give back to the commu-

nity, and the only way I can do it is to

be a lawyer.” That being said, people

get in, the golden handcuffs come out

and then, suddenly, they take a job on

K Street or Wall Street, or wherever

the street may be, and they find that it

becomes difficult with family and

other commitments to give back.

But I think if that’s where you started,

that your plans were that you would

be committed to public service in that

way, that you would know your obli-

gations. So it becomes an obligation

deferred, not an obligation you aren’t

aware of. The other thing I would say

is – but this is really, really important

– I believe the reason why I was hon-

ored with that award is because there

is a difference between pro bono and

community service.

And I’ll give you an example. If I’m

a lawyer trained in lawyer skills, the

best way I can give back is to take my

professional expertise and help some-

body who has modest means and

make their life a little better. That

doesn’t mean I couldn’t volunteer for

Habitat for Humanity and go build

somebody’s back yard playground, or

May-June 2011 | Exceptional People Magazine | 59

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Rawle: I think every day when I

wake up, I know I have a real oppor-

tunity to help someone. And that’s

when I pick up the phone, write a let-

ter, send an e-mail, or have a meeting.

Because they come to you with a

problem and they know there has

been wrongdoing – sometimes they

don’t legally know how it happened

or why it happened. But they feel in

their DNA that they’ve been

wronged, and they need a road map –

a Mapquest, if you will – to try to

find the solution to it.

Sometimes the fact that they’ve been

wronged morally, in our system of

laws doesn’t mean that there’s a legal

remedy for that. But if I can help

someone say, “Well, you know what,

I know you feel badly about it, but

they weren’t required to tell you X,

Y, or Z,” I hope I’m saving you some

time. People don’t always see the

value in me giving my hour or two

hours to explain that to them. But I

am saving them from a roadblock,

because if you go to court, you’re

going to waste money filing a lawsuit

and it’s going to be dismissed – but

there is a value in doing that.

But I do feel that every day I get up, I

am in an honorable profession – al-

though sometimes lawyers don’t be-

have honorably. I have an opportu-

nity to make a difference every day --

plant trees, or clean up the park or

something like that. That certainly is

valuable service and needed service in

the community, but where do people

really need help?

The reality of it is, when Martin Lu-

ther King was in jail in Birmingham,

he needed a lawyer to get him out, not

a gardener, not a doctor, or pharma-

cist. So I think when professionals

use their professional tools for the

public good, that’s pro bono in my

book.

EPM: You also received a commu-

nity service award for the DC Coali-

tion for Housing Justice.

Rawle: I did, and a lot of that was

related to helping people who either

were in predatory loans or who were

in foreclosure rescue scams, so they

could keep their family housing. A

lot of my pro bono has been in the

affordable housing arena, because I

believe if the house is not right, eve-

rything else falls apart. The home has

to be the castle. So it’s been easy for

me to use my professional training to

help people in those scenarios, as well

as teaching about housing issues at

Howard University.

EPM: What have you found to be

most rewarding about being an attor-

ney?

whether I take that opportunity or not,

that’s on me.

EPM: You’ve been with the Mary-

land state AARP office for quite a

while. In your current position, what

is your main role as Regional Vice

President?

Rawle: I think I would split my job

in thirds, if you will. One-third of my

job is the general administration and

management of the business and fi-

nancial affairs of AARP’s business in

the state of Maryland. The second

phase or the second third of my job is

to run and oversee our advocacy op-

erations, which some people would

call lobbying. And the third is the

public education and community out-

reach phase of the work we do, so it

can be called external communica-

tions -- what AARP is, what it does

and how you can become involved

and so forth.

I wish I could tell you, that every time

I come here, I have a list and the first

three things on my list are manage-

ment, the second three things are ad-

vocacy, and so forth. Every time I put

a list of ten together, I’m lucky if I get

three of them done, no matter what

basket it happens to be in on any par-

ticular day. In Maryland, we have

850,000 members, so in some re-

spects they are our constituents but

they are also our volunteers.

60 | Exceptional People Magazine | May-June 2011

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AARP was offering a class. And the

only requirement, if you came to the

class, was that you had to agree to

handle at least two bro bono cases. I

ended up handling about 15 cases and

probably consulting on about another

20, inside and outside of the District

of Columbia. I advised people in Ha-

waii, in Minnesota. I actually had a

trial in Dallas. What made me proud,

with divine intervention and knocking

on wood, is between 2004 and 2006,

nobody we worked with lost their

home.

There were some days that were dark.

The reality of it is that we were able

to come up with the strength and the

creative solutions – sometimes com-

munity support. Sometimes people

don't realize the impact that a volun-

tary appearance can have upon a

judge. And I’d say, “You need to tell

everybody in your friend and family

network that this is serious.” I know

a lot of times we don’t like to talk

about troubles we’re having, but if

the judge sees that the community

cares about these issues and that eve-

rybody’s potentially at risk, he or she

may give you favor that day – and it

worked. Ultimately, by the time I

did that and the award came, Legal

Counsel for the Elderly under AARP

was seeking a managing attorney.

EPM: How does it feel to know that

you have approximately 850,000

They are our partners in several col-

laborative efforts to make a difference

for people 50 and older and their

families.

EPM: What attracted you to AARP?

Rawle: Well, it’s funny -- whether I

was attracted to AARP or AARP

found me I really don’t know the an-

swer to that question, but it all kind of

dovetails around the pro bono award

that you spoke about earlier. When

predatory lending first came to my

attention, a gentleman came to my

office to tell me that he was in an up-

side-down loan, and none of the

promises the bank made were kept.

There was no way he could ever pay

his mortgage. This was about the

summer of 2004. Nobody was really

talking a lot about predatory lending

then and I didn’t know a lot about it,

because in my former professional

life, I had worked with banks.

I did a lot of business banking as a

deal-breaker, but I wasn’t really fa-

miliar with predatory lending. So I

said, “Well, as I’m doing my due dili-

gence, I don’t know that you really

have a case. You signed a loan, you

took the money, and you’re in your

house, but let me see if I can do some

research.” And so I was looking for

courses where I could do continuing

education to learn about predatory

lending and what the anatomy of

those cases was and lo and behold,

lives that you are responsible for as

the Regional Vice President?

Rawle: When I first heard that I had

850,000 constituents and members, it

didn’t sound that daunting. It was just

a number on a page. AARP has al-

most 40 million members, so the real-

ity of it is at some level everybody’s

responsible, good or bad, for every

one of those 40 million. So it didn’t

seem when I was talking about the

promotion, the opportunity, that it

was that daunting. But in reality, con-

stituent casework is constituent case-

work, no matter what.

So in a membership-type organiza-

tion, you can get calls from any and

everybody, including people who are

elected officials but also who happen

to be dues-paying members of AARP.

They ask, “Why are you doing this?

Why haven’t you done that?” And

they want an answer. If you don’t

have an immediate answer, they don't

want to wait 20 years for green ba-

nanas to grow yellow to get that an-

swer. So in reality, it is manageable,

but I can tell you that it is an awe-

some privilege and responsibility to

know that that many people are rely-

ing on you.

EPM: Well, you’re performing a

great service, so it’s worth it, I would

imagine. What are some specific ser-

May-June 2011 | Exceptional People Magazine | 61

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Rawle: We are making great strides

to accommodate a growing older

population in America. But the real-

ity is while we have large numbers of

African-American members – over

two million – we don’t believe we’ve

done our best to demonstrate the

benefits AARP can offer to them. In

many instances what we’re finding is

that African-Americans are aware of

AARP but they don’t know why it’s

relevant to them.

Hispanics and Latinos is another area

of multiculturalism where we could

be doing better. While we have well

over a million members in Hispanic-

Latino populations, what we find is

that many times they are not aware of

AARP. If they don’t speak English

as a first language, there is nothing

similar to AARP in other countries,

except the government. They're not

going to voluntarily give money and

turn their information over to this

entity, without knowing what will be

done with that information.

EPM: With your attorney back-

ground, do you help individual mem-

bers of AARP, or do you represent

the organization?

Rawle: In the Legal Counsel for the

Elderly position, I advised the depart-

ment and individuals. In my current

position we don’t actively practice

law on behalf of individuals, but we

vices and products offered by AARP

which make the organization unique?

Rawle: Oh, I think that the two sin-

gular priorities of AARP which peo-

ple rely on regardless of age, if

they’re a wage-earner, are Social Se-

curity and Medicare. And people

who pay into FICA expect that when

the time comes for them to receive the

paid-in benefit, they’re going to get

their money back at a reasonable rate

of return. They don't expect Congress

or anyone else to tamper with their

benefits. That is where we are; that is

where we’re going to stand.

From a standpoint of protecting Medi-

care, for the most part the recipients

are 65 and older. There are some ex-

ceptions such as people with disabili-

ties -- and you have to prove them.

For a lot of people the only income

they have – one in five people – is

Social Security. The only medical

insurance they have is through Medi-

care. And I think people rely on us to

do that. But beyond that, AARP is

much more because by having 40 mil-

lion members what we’re able to do is

leverage that network to provide

goods and services at reasonable

rates.

EPM: What are some areas where

you believe AARP can possibly im-

prove?

put them in touch with folks, includ-

ing our legal services network at

AARP, who can actually provide that

information.

EPM: Your job requires that you

travel a lot. How do you balance that

with your personal life and family

life?

Rawle: I have a very understanding

family, and I try like the dickens to

make sure that when I’m at work, I’m

at work, but when I’m at home, I’m at

home. So I don’t bring my laptop

home – I’m not saying I never get on

a PDA or a Blackberry from time to

time – but if I’m at home, I’m at

home. In terms of travel, being in

close proximity to headquarters, a lot

of times when the meetings are in the

Washington area, I stay at home in

lieu of staying at a hotel – I think that

saves AARP money, but it gives me

more time at home.

EPM: What would you say to peo-

ple who think that they don’t need

AARP?

Rawle: Well, usually, at first blush,

what I say is that you cannot and will

not hasten death by opening an AARP

birthday card or joining AARP. But

the other thing I would say is life, like

any game, doesn’t end until the sec-

ond half is over. And the reality is

everything we do and everything we

62 | Exceptional People Magazine | May-June 2011

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how to age. And the reason why I

say that is because everything that

brought us to this phone call, some-

body taught us how to do it or we

watched somebody do it. Would you

agree with that?

When it comes to aging, all we do is

have birthdays, whether we choose to

celebrate them or not. And there are

consequences of not learning how to

age properly. So what I want to do is

help people plan for aging. I want to

help people know how to plan for

disability. I want people to be com-

fortable with having a plan for the

hereafter, so that when they leave

their loved ones, there will be no riot

at the repast. I’ve been to one riot at

the repast – I’ve been to one too

many.

And so that’s what I’m hoping for, is

that having been here and shared

some of my experiences and exper-

tise, I've been able to help. I want

people to learn how to age, so they

can live the way they want to live

until it’s time for them to go home to

glory. �

see tells us if you’re not prepared,

you’re already struggling with matters

such as older parents who are facing

health issues and that can place a

drain on you, your income and your

time. You’re already dealing with

younger kids who are not being taught

how handle aging, so you’re going to

be a burden to them when you be-

come your parents’ age.

When we have a family reunion, we

want to make sure one of the pro-

grams we talk about is nutrition and

wellness. When we have a family

reunion or a patriarch or matriarch

birthday, we want to talk about well-

ness and family planning, and those

types of things. But on a more basic

level we fight utility companies to

keep the rates reasonable and prevent

shut-offs from being handled in an

unfair or unreasonable manner. Peo-

ple don’t know we’re doing that.

EPM: What kind of footprint or leg-

acy would you like to leave with re-

spect to your position as Regional

Vice President for AARP?

Rawle: I am truly committed to our

mission and vision of helping people

live better in the second half of life. I

would hope because I was here, hav-

ing been on the legal side of some

issues that complicate the second half

of life, that I would be in the van-

guard of having helped people learn

May-June 2011 | Exceptional People Magazine | 63