Kirk Baumeister

Volunteer of the Month: Kirk Baumeister

VIP’s Volunteer of the Month is Kirk Baumeister, an intellectual property/transactions lawyer who has assisted over two dozen families through the adoption process in his pro bono practice.

Kirk first connected with VIP in the nineties, not long after graduating law school and taking his first legal job. As an intellectual property attorney with a background in the hard sciences, Kirk spent his time assisting clients with highly technical patent applications and licensing transactions. He contacted VIP with an interest in building a pro bono practice and an openness to learning about our different opportunities.

“At the time, I didn’t have anything particular in mind, and someone at VIP suggested adoption,” Kirk recalls. “They connected me with someone who handled adoptions for a living. That helped me feel confident proceeding in an area of the law new to me.” With that confidence in hand, Kirk represented clients in adoption matters for years.

“Most of my adoptions are kinship adoptions,” Kirk explains. “Generally, the parents have been through a break-up or divorce, and then a new step-parent comes into the picture.” Kirk, like our other adoption volunteers, helps that step-parent formalize their relationship to the child through adoption. “I think of it as helping to rebuild a family.”

After taking an extended break from pro bono work with VIP, Kirk returned last year to take a handful of new adoption matters. “It’s a good feeling to help these clients,” he says. “I’ve had multiple clients try to pay me or give me gifts. I tell them that if they really want to give me something in return, all I’ll accept is a family photo after the adoption is final.”