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The
Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education is proud to
honor the
state’s Top 50 Pro Bono Attorneys for 2003. Through their
hard work, dedication,
courage and unselfish gifts of time and
talent, these attorneys have made real
the ideals of justice for
citizens of Arizona who, otherwise, may have found them
beyond their
grasp.
The 2003
honorees have been chosen for giving tirelessly to pro9vide legal
services to low-income clients. All are active volunteers of the
four Volunteer
Lawyers Programs supported by the Arizona Foundation
for Legal Services and
Education. Their selection has been based on
such factors as number of pro
bono cases accepted and hours donated
indications of overall commitment to
pro bono work.
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John Balentine
Van
O’Steen Attorneys at Law
Pima County
Since 1987 John has been helping clients of the VLP
in Tucson. John
has
assisted two hundred and sixty-
four VLP clients. He helps clients
through the
Advice
Only Clinic where he meets with pre-scheduled clients
to determine the
legal merits of their cases and to
determine the next course of
action. John also
accepts cases for direct
representation in the area of tort-defense.
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Dean Christoffel
West, Christoffel & Zickerman, P.C.
Pima County
Dean has
been a member of the VLP in Tucson since
1981, where he assists
clients with divorce and custody
matters. Dean has also helped VLP
clients in the
Domestic Relations Clinics, providing information
and advice to pro
per
litigants. During the last year,
Dean has become involved in
training law
students
to participate in the VLP. Dean trains the students to
assist with the
Domestic Relations Follow-up Clinics. The clinic provides
students
with an
opportunity to meet with a client under the supervision of a
volunteer attorney.
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Dennis Clancy
Raven &
Awerkamp, P.C.
Pima County
Dennis has been helping clients through the VLP in
Tucson for
thirteen years. He
has assisted more
than eighty clients seeking bankruptcy relief. He
has
helped clients with both Chapter 7 and Chapter
13 cases. He also
participates in Bankruptcy Court
reaffirmation hearings where he supervises law
students
as
they meet with unrepresented clients and appear
before the court to
offer their
recommendations as to whether the client should
sign the agreement.
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Benjamin S. Cole
Navajo
County Legal Defender
Navajo County
Every day
Ben Cole represents low-income clients through the Navajo County
Legal Defender’s Office. He is also committed to donating his time
through the
VLP.
Cole accepted a complicated custody case in March of 2002; through
subpoenas, hearings, and the Rodeo-Chediski fires, Cole remained
dedicated to
this case. After 60 hours of volunteer time, the case concluded in
January of
2003. Without Cole’s assistance, his client would have remained
unrepresented
in
the custody hearing process.
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Joubert
Davenport
Pima
County
A
member of the VLP in Tucson since 1988, Jourbert
participates in the
Advice Only and Domestic Relations
Clinics and accepts domestic
cases for direct
representation. Joubert consistently accepts
cases
from the VLP. He is always willing to lend a hand and
help out a VLP client.
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Fred Farsjo
Pima
County
Fred Farsjo has been helping VLP clients in Pima County
for eight years. He
assists clients with wills, small estates
and probate matters. He
has never declined to accept a
case when called upon by
the VLP staff. “Many elderly
individuals are faced with estate
planning problems, but
cannot afford a lawyer. If I can do
some estate planning
for some of those people so that they
can sleep better
at night, it is the least I can do.”
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Craig Gordon
Bogutz &
Gordon, P.C.
Pima County
Craig has
been a member of the Volunteer Lawyers Program in Pima County
for
seventeen years. During that time Craig has assisted countless
numbers
of
clients with wills, guardianship and rust matters. Recently he
completed a
guardianship matter for a VLP client that required eighty-one hours
of his time.
Craig also agreed to assist the client with a special needs trust.
The trust was
created for the purpose of receiving donations for the client’s
medical care –
care
that AHCCCS will not pay for, such as dialysis. The creation of the
trust
will
allow the client to continue to qualify for AHCCCS medical care and
other
government means-tested programs.
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Cole Hernandez
Goering,
Roberts, Rubin, Brogna, Enos
& Hernandez, P.C.
Pima County
Cole joined the VLP in Pima County in 1998. Since
then he has been
a regular
participant in the Advice
Only Clinic where he provides advice and
brief service
to
clients in the areas of bankruptcy, debt collection
and real
property. Cole also
accepts debt collection
and landlord/tenant cases for direct
representation.
Cole is
very sympathetic toward VLP clients and genuinely cares about
helping
them. The VLP is very lucky to count him as a friend.
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Sidney Kain
Sole
Practitioner
Pima County
Sidney Kain has been a member of the VLP in Tucson
for twenty-one
years. In
that time he has assisted three
hundred and seventy-two clients
seeking
assistance with
domestic
relations and real property matters. Mr. Kain
helps VLP
clients both trough direct representation and
by participation
in the VLP’s pro per
clinics, where he
offers advice and brief
service. He also covers
the clinics
when other attorneys have
to cancel on short notice.
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Thabet Khalidi
Sole
Practitioner
Pima County
Thabet has
been a volunteer with the VLP ion Tucson
since 1997. Over the last six
years, Thabet has
assisted VLP clients with divorce, custody and
visitation
matters. “The
fact of the matter is that we
are a privileged
profession with an
opportunity to do
some good as a means of giving back
to society all
that it has
given us. None of us would be
where we
are today without the help
of countless
others.
The only way to repay these
kindnesses is to help others."
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Pamela A. Liberty
Liberty,
O’Neill & Bibbens
Pima County
Pam
Liberty has been a VLP participant since 1989. During her time with
the
program, Pam has helped clients with divorce, custody and
guardianship
matters. Pam recently completed a guardianship case for a VLP
client. These
case required Pam to represent the client at a guardianship
proceeding and at a
subsequent juvenile court proceeding. Pam also filed a special
action before the
Court of Appeals. She has dedicated more than one hundred hours to
the case.
Her
efforts resulted in the client’s two children being returned to the
client.
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Irval L. Mortensen
Sole
Practitioner
Graham
County
Having
practiced law for over 40 years, Irval Mortensen brings great
experience,
wisdom, and kindness to his pro bono work. Mortensen assisted in
pioneering
Divorce Clinics in Graham and Greenlee counties; these Clinics are
held in his
own
conference room every other month. Mortensen brings a level of
professionalism and compassion to these clients that they may not
have seen
before. After the initial clinic, Mortensen schedules appointments
to meet with
clients for an individual consultation at his office. In addition
to his domestic
relations work, Mortensen represents clients in VLP bankruptcy
cases.
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Barry Nelson
Sole
Practitioner
Pima
County
Barry
Nelson has been a participant in the VLP in
Tucson since 1989. He
has
consistently taken on
the most difficult domestic relations cases
that come
to the
VLP. He recently completed a case that required
more than fifty
hours of his
time. In addition, Mr. Nelson
has been willing to travel to Santa
Cruz County to
assist
VLP clients that reside in Nogales.
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Nathan Parkey
Sole
Practitioner
Pima
County
Nathan
began working with the VLP in Tucson in 1985.
He accepts case for
direct representation in the area
of domestic relations. He is also
a frequent
participant
in the domestic relations clinics where he assists
clients with divorce and
paternity issues. Nathan
also supervises law students through the
Domestic
Relations Follow-up Clinics.
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Tom Niemeir
Sole
Practitioner
Pima
County
A VLP member since 1989, Tom Niemeir helps
VLP clients resolve their
domestic relations issues.
He has assisted two hundred and
sixty-nine clients
in
his time with the program. Mr. Niemeir is a
pleasure to work with;
he is a
favorite of VLP staff
and clients alike.
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John Richardson
DeConcini
McDonald Yetwin & Lacy, PC
Pima
County
John
Richardson has been helping VLP
clients in Tucson since 1985. John
participates in the Advice Only Clinic
and advises clients with debt collection,
bankruptcy, employment and tort defense
cases. In his time with the VLP John
has assisted two hundred and thirty-five clients.
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Denice Shepherd
Sole
Practitioner
Pima
County
Denice has
been a member of the VLP in Pima County
for seven years and has
represented pro bono clients
in bankruptcy maters. She also
prepares wills for
clients and frequently participates in the Domestic
Violence Law
Clinic. “I think it
is not only important,
but also a social obligation for everyone to
contribute
to
their community. Lawyers can and should contribute pro bono
services.
Volunteering gives you that warm, fuzzy feeling that you do not
often get in the
practice of law for fees.”
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Patrick Traynor
Waterfall,
Economidis, Caldwell, Hanshaw & Villamana, PC
Pima
County
Pat has volunteered with the VLP in Tucson
since 1986. He provides
direct
representation
to VLP clients in the area of domestic relations.
Pat has consistently accepted some of the most
difficult domestic cases that
are
referred by the
VLP. Often the cases involved complicated
property
and support issues. Like Pat’s clients,
the VLP staff is grateful for his
participation in the
program.
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Carl Tootle
Sole
Practitioner
Pima
County
Carl
Tootle has been helping VLP clients in Pima County for twenty-two
years.
Two
hundred and eighty-four clients have received legal assistance on
various
domestic relations issues from Mr. Tootle. Mr. Tootle has endeared
himself to
the
VLP staff by always making himself available to cover a VLP clinic
when
other volunteers have to reschedule. He is a valued member of the
program.
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Jeanne Benda Whitney
Sole
Practitioner
Cochise
County
Caring and knowledgeable, Jeanne Benda Whitney is a former attorney
with the
Cochise County Attorney Child Support Division. As such, she has
become the
resident expert on child support at divorce clinics held in Sierra
Vista. While
presenting general information on divorce at these clinics, Whitney
also
calculates child support and gives individual advice to clients
after each clinic.
Since November of 2002, Whitney has also accepted three pro bono
divorce
cases for direct representation.
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Jacqueline Wohl
Sole
Practitioner
Pima
County
Jacqueline Wohl has been a member of the VLP in Tucson
since 1996.
She
assists VLP clients with divorce, custody
and guardianship matters.
In addition to
assisting VLP
clients in Pima County, Jacqueline has been willing to
travel to
rural areas around the state to assist pro bon clients. She has helped
clients in
both Cochise and Santa Cruz Counties. Jacqueline’s willingness to
travel to
meet the needs of clients has made her an invaluable asset to the VLP
program.
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