When Matt Goldberg’s wife Cary was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago he felt pretty helpless.

“I couldn’t do anything to help increase my wife’s chances of survival,” said Matt.

Matt, an attorney, began reading articles about breast cancer. And he came across an article in an issue of the Washington State bar publication about some attorneys from Seattle who were providing pro-bono legal services to women facing issues with their employers and/or insurance companies due to their diagnosis.

Digging a little further, Matt learned that Oregon and Washington have the highest incidence of breast cancer in the country. Matt decided that if women in Washington were suffering from legal issues due to their experience with cancer, then women in Oregon probably were as well.

Matt won the support of the Oregon Bar Association and the Oregon Women Lawyers Association and in December 2007, Matt held a training session for lawyers who were interested in helping out on a pro-bono basis.

To date, the group, called Breast Cancer Legal Advocacy Project for Oregon, has served just under a dozen women facing issues with their insurance companies or in their work place related to breast cancer diagnosis or treatment.

“We’ve achieved success by building something at the grass roots level and providing free legal support for a handful of women who otherwise wouldn’t have received any,” said Matt.

For more information on the Breast Cancer Legal Advocacy Project or Oregon or to contact a local attorney for legal support, email Matt Goldberg at BClegalor@gmail.com