A Journey to Justice
Jason Reese
Jason Reese is a strong man of faith and devotes much of his time and resources to helping others. A member of the Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic Board, Jason also serves as a member of the EDGE Mentoring Advisory Board, supporting younger business leaders to help them grow both in their professional lives and in their spiritual lives. When talking about his family and his many other commitments, Jason says, “It warms my heart to serve.”
But things were not always this way. Growing up, Jason watched the show LA Law regularly. The fast-paced storylines and exciting character arcs drew him in, immediately attracting him to the legal profession. Eventually, he decided he wanted to be an attorney. “The truth is my motivation was not to serve other people and have good Christian values. That’s not who I was at the time,” Jason says. “It was to make the most money possible.”
While attending Law School, Jason met and married a woman named Jill. He then went on to start his own practice with his partner, Steve Wagner. Years passed, and all the while, the money and accolades rolled in. In the eyes of the world, he was everything he was supposed to be. He was a success. But Jason found himself thinking, “This is ridiculous. I want to be more than that.”
Jason with his wife and children
After years of working six and a half days a week, Jason felt those closest to him were being hurt. “I’d been kind of wandering in the wilderness for probably a decade where my priorities were out of whack,” he says. A long-time believer in Christ, Jason made the decision to put his relationship with God front and center. He registered for The Great Banquet, a short course in Christianity hosted by Second Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis and designed to nourish participants’ spiritual lives. “I knew I wasn’t living the life I was supposed to,” Jason says. “For me, that weekend opened my eyes to the fact that I wasn’t the man God wanted me to be.” Through this realization, he found himself finally able to accept the Grace the Lord was extending to him.
After this experience, Jason completely changed his internal trajectory. “I came out of there transformed and made new commitments to my family, my church, and my practice.” Just a few weeks prior to this metamorphosis, Jason declined the opportunity to be a part of the Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic Board. At the time, he believed he was simply too busy. But one of the first things he did upon returning from the banquet was to contact then-Executive Director Josh Abel to say he changed his mind.
Now, over five years later, Jason’s vision for the future is one that is filled with excitement. In addition to being a financial supporter of the Clinic, he considers it part of his duty to help maintain morale amongst the staff. He continuously brainstorms new ways to expand the Clinic’s reach, to serve more people for the Lord. For him, such work is not a burden, but a joy. “I just love the people that are being the hands and feet of Jesus,” he says.