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Martha Taylor
July 2007
Martha Taylor will be
second
year law student this
autumn.
She has been an
outstanding
volunteer during the
spring
and summer of 2007.
Martha
participated in the
Intake Clinic
this past semester and
continues to volunteer
for the
Domestic Relations
Follow-Up
Clinic and the Child
Support
Project this summer. In
addition to her clinic work, Martha is volunteering at the
VLP office one day a week
and is active in the National Lawyers Guild and the
Public Interest Law
Society. When volunteering, Martha has the ability to not
only show professionalism
and patience, but her talent for communication is
remarkable. Martha can
make a client feel calm and heard. She has given
many individuals hope
this past spring and summer.
Martha grew up in
Clifton, Arizona, a thriving small town located in southeastern
Arizona on the
boarder of New Mexico. She did her undergraduate and graduate
work at the
University of Arizona, achieving multiple degrees in education.
Martha was an
accomplished middle and high school teacher for 20 years before
deciding to change
career paths and study the law. Martha also served on many
boards in the
Tucson community and has always displayed a dedication to the
poor and
disenfranchised.
Martha states that
since enrolling in law school she has come to acknowledge
how little she
understood about the legal system prior to the leap from teaching
to law school.
Her favorite law school professor to date is Brent White. Martha
says that his
classes were always “rigorous, interesting and provocative.” “He
always reminded us
that the bottom line of interpreting and enforcing the law
should be fairness
and justice.”
When Martha is not
in school or volunteering for the VLP, you may find her
catching up on
some episodes of 24 and Lost, which her husband taped for her
during the school
year. Martha’s other diversions include reading, writing, word
games and playing
the piano with her grandson, Max. Her favorite restaurants in
Tucson are Le Buzz
and Molina’s Midway. As for Martha’s favorite get-a-way:
she and her
husband took their entire family to Italy for a three week vacation
and in her words
“it was wonderful and unforgettable.”
When asked about her
experience with the VLP, Martha comments:
“One of my main reasons for giving up teaching in favor of the law
was to
be an
advocate for marginalized groups including the poor and others in
need of
legal assistance. I was therefore immediately attracted to the
vision of
the VLP and its work within SALA. I have been impressed with
the range
of services the VLP provides to those who need legal help and
am proud to
be a part of this work. The most important things I have
learned
from volunteering with the VLP are the services the VLP provides
to our
community, the impressive job that the VLP program does in
providing
this opportunity for law students, and I know now that there are
many ways
within the legal community to advocate for and provide
assistance
to those who truly need legal help.”
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Past Outstanding Volunteer
Student Awards |
