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 Top
50 Attorneys >> 2008
The Arizona Foundation
for Legal Services and Education
is proud to honor the state’s Top 50 Pro Bono Attorneys
for
2008. 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.
Building upon the proud
work of the past Top 50 Pro Bono
Attorneys, first named
in 2001, the 2008 honorees have been chosen for
giving tirelessly to provide legal
services to low-income
clients. All are active volunteers of programs supported by
the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and
Education: Community Legal
Services, DNA People’s Legal
Services, Southern Arizona Legal Aid, and the
Florence
Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project. Their selection was based
on
such factors as the number of pro bono cases
accepted and hours donated,
indicators of overall commitment to
pro bono work.
Awardees are listed
below, and are pictured at the awards ceremony with Chief
Justice Ruth McGregor.
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Larry Adamson
An active participant
in Southern Arizona Legal Aid’s Volunteer Lawyers
Program (VLP), Mr.
Adamson provides legal assistance to clients who need
help preparing a
will. He also assists clients who have small estate issues.
Although Mr. Adamson
does not speak Spanish himself, he often assists
Spanish speakers with
their civil legal needs. Mr. Adamson also donates
the use of his
support staff to interpret for clients.
When talking about
Mr. Adamson’s selection for this award, Socorro Diaz, the
VLP’s Pima County
Coordinator, noted, “Mr. Adamson is always ready and
willing to go to bat
for those in need of legal services. He is incredibly
generous with his
time and is always gracious and kind when dealing with
program staff.”
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Juan Flores
Juan Flores joined
Southern Arizona Legal Aid’s Volunteer Lawyers Program
(VLP) in December of
2001. Since that time he has participated in the program
by providing direct
representation to clients in Cochise County. Mr. Flores has
also been a frequent
participant in the VLP clinics. Recently Mr. Flores
expanded his
commitment to the VLP by helping to lead the first Domestic
Relations Clinic
offered in Spanish to clients in Sierra Vista. In his time with
the program, Mr.
Flores has donated more than 400 hours to help low-income
clients. The VLP is
proud to work with Mr. Flores and thrilled that the
Foundation will
recognize him as one of Arizona’s Top 50 Pro Bono
Attorneys.
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Jeannie Geiser
Jeannie began to
donate her time through
Southern Arizona
Legal Aid’s Volunteer
Lawyers Program (VLP)
in 1992. She
helps program clients
with wills and small
estate matters.
Jeannie recently closed
a case that she
worked on for several
years. She dedicated
more than 100
hours to the matter
and achieved a
wonderful result for
the client. The VLP can always count on Jeannie to help a
client in need. She
is professional, kind and generous. Her VLP clients develop
a genuine affection
for her and always provide the program with glowing feedback
about the work that
Jeannie performs on their behalf.
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Charles
George
Since he joined
Southern Arizona Legal
Aid’s Volunteer
Lawyers Program (VLP)
in September of 2002,
Charles George
has helped pro bono
clients with contract,
warranty, and private
landlord/tenant
issues in Cochise
County. Most
recently Mr. George
expanded his
work with the VLP to
include probate
matters. Mr. George
has never declined
to accept a case when
called upon by program staff. The VLP is grateful to Mr.
George for his
continued support and participation in the program.
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 Anne
Graham-Bergin
Anne has been a
member of Southern
Arizona Legal Aid’s
Volunteer Lawyers
Program (VLP) since
1990. Initially
Anne’s work with VLP
clients focused
on bankruptcy
issues. More recently,
she has donated her
time to help clients
with guardianship
matters. Anne also
drafts simple wills
for clients in need.
Anne is generous
with her time and expertise. VLP staff appreciate her
willingness to become
involved and help clients. Her eighteen years of pro
bono service stand as
an example to the bar and the community at large.
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Steve Itkin
In 1999 Steve Itkin
joined the cadre of volunteers who provide civil legal services
to low income clients
through Southern Arizona Legal Aid’s Volunteer Lawyers
Program (VLP). He
assists pro bono clients in need of help with Chapter 7 and
Chapter 13 bankruptcy
cases. Steve is also a frequent participant in the VLP’s
Reaffirmation Project
where he supervises law students as they meet with clients
in bankruptcy court.
The students review reaffirmation agreements presented to
the clients by their
creditors and make recommendations to the Court. VLP
staff appreciate
Steve’s long time commitment to the program and feel fortunate
to work with such a
generous attorney.
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Barry Kirschner
Mr. Kirschner joined
Southern Arizona Legal Aid’s Volunteer Lawyers Program
(VLP) in 1988. Over
the last twenty years he has donated countless hours to
help VLP clients with
debt collection, real property and unemployment cases.
His staff have also
been generous with their time and help Mr. Kirschner with
his volunteer work.
In addition to his direct work with VLP clients, Mr.
Kirschner also
supported SALA by serving as a member of the programs
Board of Directors.
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Albert Lassen
Albert Lassen joined
Southern Arizona
Legal Aid’s Volunteer
Lawyers Program
(VLP) in December of
2001. During that
time he has donated
more than 100
hours of pro bono
service to clients
who reside in Apache
County. Mr.
Lassen assists
clients in the areas
of divorce, custody,
tort defense, wills
and estates. The VLP
is grateful to Mr. Lassen for his continued dedication to
program clients.
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Patrick Ledger
Since he joined
Southern Arizona Legal Aid’s Volunteer Lawyers Program
(VLP) in August of
2001, Patrick Ledger has assisted clients with home
ownership issues, as
well as with simple wills and small estates. He
recently accepted a
case for a client who hopes to obtain needed repairs
to her home. The VLP
is thankful to Mr. Ledger for his continued support
and commitment to VLP
clients.
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Kate McMillan
A member of Southern
Arizona Legal
Aid's Volunteer
Lawyers Program
(VLP) since 2002,
Kate frequently
assists Pima county
clients by
preparing their wills
and powers of
attorney. Kate is
bilingual and is
always happy to
accept monolingual
Spanish speakers as
clients.
Whenever called upon
by the VLP,
Kate willingly
accepts referrals and has never declined to assist a client in
need.
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Jim Sakrison
A member of
Southern Arizona Legal
Aid's Volunteer
Lawyers Program (VLP)
for nearly
twenty-five years, Mr. Sakrison
assists clients
with wills, guardianships
and small
estate matters. Recently Mr.
Sakrison agreed
to assist a client from
Cochise
county. The client seeks to
obtain
guardianship over her disabled
adult sister.
Although, the client resides
quite a
distance from where Mr. Sakrison practices in Tucson, he did not
hesitate to
assist the client. The VLP is proud to work with Mr. Sakrison
and excited
that the Foundation will honor him for his good work.
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Skip Skinner
A member of Southern
Arizona Legal
Aid's Volunteer
Lawyers Program
(VLP) for three
years, Skip is a
frequent participant
in the VLP’s
Advice Only Clinic.
In the clinic,
Skip meets with
pre-scheduled clients
to determine the
legal merits of their
cases, provide advice
and determine
the next course of
action. Skip also participates in the VLP’s Minor
Guardianship Clinic.
Additionally, he accepts cases for direct representation
in the areas of
guardianship and debt collection. Although Skip has been
a member of the VLP
for a relatively short time, he has made an enormous
impact on the
program, already assisting two hundred and seventy clients
with their legal
needs.
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Tom Slutes
Since he became a
member of Southern
Arizona Legal Aid’s
Volunteer Lawyers
Program (VLP) in
1982, Mr. Slutes has
helped numerous pro
bono clients in
need of assistance
with debt collection,
real property and
tort defense cases.
Clients and staff
enjoy working with
Mr. Slutes and
appreciate his years of
dedication to the
Tucson community. The VLP staff was happy to nominate
Mr.
Slutes for the Top 50
Award and is very pleased that the Foundation will honor
him for his service.
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Spencer Smith
A shareholder in the
Tucson office of DeConcini McDonald Yetwin & Lacy,
Mr. Smith has been
donating his time as a member of Southern Arizona
Legal Aid’s Volunteer
Lawyers Program (VLP) since 1989. Mr. Smith
represents VLP clients in
contract and real property matters.
“I have enjoyed my VLP
cases over the years. The clients are always grateful
for whatever assistance
we provide, and the cases are often very interesting,
said Smith when asked
about his participation in the VLP. “I have had VLP
cases go to the Court of
Appeals and had the Legislature change the Arizona
homestead exemption as a
result of a VLP case.”
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Alan Solot
Mr. Solot began to
volunteer with
Southern Arizona Legal
Aid’s Volunteer
Lawyers Program (VLP) in
1982. He
has consistently offered
help to VLP
clients with Chapter 7
and Chapter 13
bankruptcies, frequently
accepting
some of the most complex
cases seen
by the program. In the
last several
years, Mr. Solot has been
a frequent
participant in the VLP’s
Reaffirmation
Clinic at Bankruptcy
Court. In this
clinic Mr. Solot
supervises law students
as they meet with debtors
seeking relief.
Recently, Mr. Solot
extended his work with VLP students to include the training
of new volunteers.
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Ron Sommer
Ron has been a member of
SALA’s
Volunteer Lawyers Program
for
twenty six years. During
that time
he has accepted VLP cases
for direct
representation in the
area of domestic
relations.
When asked why he
volunteers with
the VLP Ron responded,
“By participating in the VLP, we help to serve in unity
with those seeking better
conditions, better understandings, and greater
opportunities for all.”
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Merle Turchik
Merle registered with
SALA’s Volunteer
Lawyers Program in 2006.
She assists
pro bono clients in
Tucson with
employment and labor law
issues. In
her short time with the
program Merle
has already made an
enormous impact,
accepting thirteen cases
for direct
representation. In
addition to her work
with clients, Merle has
assisted the program by offering to train and mentor staff.
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David West
A member of SALA’s
Volunteer Lawyers
Program (VLP) for eleven
years, Mr.
West provides pro bono
legal assistance
to clients in the areas
of guardianship,
real property and wills.
He is always
eager to help out when
called upon by
VLP staff. Mr. West is
always
professional and patient
with VLP
clients. The VLP is
grateful to Mr. West for his long time dedication to the
program and for his
willingness to assist clients when called up by program
staff.
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