American Airlines is in the news every day.  And most of it is not good news.

We have read about union issues, negotiation struggles, bankruptcy, customer service issues, and a host of other maladies about the airline.

But, in the Dallas Morning News Business section on February 22, 2012, there is a great article about how American provides free legal service to deserving citizens.  You can read the entire article here.

The article features Marjorie Powell, who is an assistant general counsel at American Airlines.  She oordinates pro bono work for the carrier’s 40 in-house attorneys.   American was among the first corporations to implement a formal pro bono program.  American requires each lawyer to complete ten hours of pro bono work each year. 

I have known Powell for more than 25 years.  Always bright and insightful, she had a remarkable career transformation, starting with dance as an undergraduate student, to communication as a master’s student, and then on to law school.  She is quite a success story, and her featured picture and article in the newspaper is quite deserving.  I wish she had more time to tell her story to people who feel down-and-out.  She has demonstrated that you can do anything, if you put your mind to it, and decide that is what you want to do.

American is not alone.  You will read in the article about other companies that do this, such as Exxon Mobil and AT&T.

I hope you find this as refreshing as I do.  Not only is this good news about American Airlines, but also, good news about corporate giving and social responsibility.  And, it is great to see good news on the front page of the Business section for a change.

What do you think ?  Let’s talk about it really soon.