By
Michele Mirto
Every month,
Southern Arizona
Legal Aid’s (SALA)
Volunteer
Lawyers
Program (VLP)
recognizes an
attorney for his
or her efforts
and contributions
to the
program. The VLP’s
monthly award
is a distinct
honor: of the
1270 attorneys
who volunteer
their time with VLP, only 12 receive the VLP’s Outstanding Pro
Bono Attorney
award each year.
Stacy
Rupprecht Butler (pictured above with Supreme Court Justice
Stephen
Breyer at the
VLP's 2009 Awards Event) has been selected as the Outstanding
Pro Bono
Attorney of the Month for October. Stacy became involved with
the
VLP before her
senior of college and continued her participation in the program
throughout her
law school career. As an attorney Stacy has been involved in
the VLP as a
private practitioner and as a clerk to Judge Guerin. This year
Stacy found
new ways to assist the VLP. She lead the program’s Firm
Recruitment
Campaign, drafted and edited program materials and helped to
organize
the VLP’s 13th
Annual Awards Event.
Q & A with
Stacy Rupprecht Butler
Where are
you from? Where did you go to college? Where did you go
to law
school? How long have you lived in Tucson?
My mom grew up
in Tucson and although I was born in Houston we moved back
here when I
was 4 months old. Other than leaving Tucson for college, I’ve
been
here my whole
life – I went to U of A for law school and practiced with
DeConcini
McDonald
Yetwin & Lacy before starting my clerkship with Magistrate Judge
Guerin.
What drives
you to volunteer with VLP?
I believe that
everyone has an obligation to give back to their community, and
that this
means attorneys have an obligation to make the justice system
accessible for
everyone. I think the VLP does such an amazing job of meeting
this goal and
serving clients who would otherwise not receive any legal
assistance
that I try to stay involved with the program as much as I can,
even
though I am no
longer in private practice. Also, I cannot say “no” to Michele
Mirto.
Anyone you
would like to acknowledge for contributing to your legal
career /
pro bono service?
I was very
fortunate to spend my private practice career at DMYL, which
values
pro bono
service more than any other firm I know. The attorneys there
are
remarkably
giving people.
Favorite
Tucson restaurant?
I’m pregnant
with my second child right now, so currently it’s any place that
serves a
buffalo chicken sandwich. We’re spending a lot of time at
ZinBurger.
If this
award was accompanied by prize money, how would you spend it?
How much prize
money are we talking about? Because I’d really like a summer
home on
Coronado.
