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Jean
West
March 2007
Jean West is a first year
law
student who participated
in the
Domestic Relations clinic
during
the fall of 2006 and
continues to
volunteer this semester
by
participating in the
Intake Clinic.
Jean is also Vice
President of the
Arizona Health Law
Organization;
a member of the Law
Women’s
Association, the Pubic
Interest Law Organization; Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity
and the Lead Mentoring
Program. Jean is extremely good with clients. She
takes her time and
exhibits a keen sense of compassion while doing her best
to provide them with the
best assistance possible. Jean has made a marked
difference in the lives
of clients through her professional demeanor and
empathetic manner.
Jean is originally
from Hopedale Illinois, a small town between Peoria and
Bloomington, about
30 miles from the capital of Springfield. She received her
undergraduate
degree from the University of Illinois in music education. She then
received a Masters
Degree in social work from Southern Illinois University and
went on to
practice as a licensed clinical social worker for the next 10
years.
Jean says her most
interesting work during that time period was the counseling
she did for
impatient adult psychiatric residents at the state hospital in
Illinois.
Jean is enjoying
Tucson and law school. Her favorite professors are Jamie
Ratner and Brent
White and Professor Smolensky. She enjoys the added bonus
of having
Professor Smolensky as the faculty advisor for the Students of
Arizona
Health Law
Organization. When she is not in school or volunteering for the
VLP,
you may find Jean
enjoying a meal at North, Café Poca Cosa or Frog N Firkin.
She also has a
weak spot for TV shows such as the Dog Whisperer and Law
and Order. Jean
is proud of her accomplishments as a runner. She ran her first
marathon at age 36
and also enjoys hiking; biking and playing with her dog
Cooper.
When asked about her
experience with the VLP, Jean comments:
“I have always
tried to volunteer in the community and I thought this would be a
great opportunity
to get experience in my new field. I also heard great things
about the VLP
during orientation. It is very easy in law school to get caught up
in our 'study
lives' and forget about the real world. It has been wonderful to be
around clients and
to listen to their real problems and learn as the lawyers work
through issues
with them. The Intake Clinic has been very beneficial because it
has given me the
opportunity to work one on one with a lawyer and get outside of
my student life.
Coming from a social work background I think the giving of our
time and volunteer
work is very important and it is great to see the law
community working
together to provide such quality help to those who can’t
afford to hire a
lawyer.”
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Past Outstanding Volunteer
Student Awards |
