|
Chris Enos
April 2009
By Stacy
Rupprecht Butler
Chris Enos has
been selected as the
Outstanding
Pro Bono Attorney of the
Month for
April. Chris was selected to
receive this
award for his long time
dedication to
the program. Chris has
been a member
of Southern Arizona
Legal Aid’s
Volunteer Lawyers Program
(VLP) since
1995. During that time he
has assisted
countless clients with debt
collection,
tort defense and consumer
matters.
Chris is a frequent participant in the Advice Only Clinic where
he meets
with
prescheduled clients to determine the legal merits of their
case, provide
advice and
determine the next course of action. Chris also accepts cases
for
direct
representation. The VLP’s monthly award is a distinct
honor: of the 1220
attorneys who
volunteer their time with VLP, only 12 receive the VLP’s
Outstanding
Pro Bono Attorney award each year.
Q & A with
Chris Enos:
Where did
you go to college? Where did you go to law school?
University of
Arizona.
What is the
history of your practice of law? What are your current
practice
areas?
I have been
practicing law since 1992. I began my career as a prosecutor at
the Pima
County Attorney’s Office. After a couple of years, I was
offered the
opportunity to
practice law at Goering, Roberts, Rubin and I have been
practicing
with that firm since. Our firm is devoted to litigation defense
of
both personal
injury and workers’ compensation.
What drives
you to volunteer for the VLP?
When I started
at Goering, Roberts, Rubin, the partners encouraged me to
become
involved with the VLP and I started participating shortly
thereafter.
I have
continued to volunteer with the VLP because of the wonderful
benefits
it gives to
the lower income people in both the Tucson area and in rural
areas
throughout the state. The program provides legal services and
advice to
individuals who otherwise would never have the ability to go to
someone in the
legal profession and receive advise regarding legal issues
which have
come into their lives.
One reason
you would encourage attorneys to volunteer with VLP?
While I know that
at times in a busy practice it is difficult to devote time to
outside
activities, I would encourage everyone to attempt to help the VLP if
possible. The
program is run with the express goal of helping those who
are less fortunate
than ourselves. Over the years, I have personally seen
the relief on the
faces of numerous individuals after having the opportunity
to talk to an
attorney regarding the legal issues they face. Most of the
individuals who
receive services through the VLP are scared and confused
and unsure of the
severity of their legal situation. This service is provided
by the VLP to give
them an opportunity to find out exactly where they stand
and to provide
them with information that normally eases their concerns
regarding the
particular issue.
Best thing
about being an attorney in Tucson?
I think the best thing
about working as a lawyer in the Tucson area is the fact
that we are still a
fairly small legal community. I believe we are very lucky to
know most of the
attorneys who practice in your particular area of law. While
Tucson continues to grow,
I do hope that our legal community stays fairly
close and tight knit so
that people can work in a congenial manner in our
adversarial system.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Past Pima
County Monthly Award Winners
|
