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The Volunteer Lawyers Program
Celebrates 25 Years of Service
in Pima County
By Stacy Rupprecht
Butler
On October 25,
2006, nearly three
hundred attorneys
and guests
attended the
Volunteer Lawyers
Program Annual
Awards Luncheon
at the newly
restored and renovated
Fox Theater in
downtown Tucson to
celebrate the
attorneys who have
contributed to the
Volunteer Lawyers
Program since its
inception 25 years ago.
The silver
anniversary celebration was kicked off by a surprise visit from
former
United States
Senator John Edwards, a long-time advocate for equal justice
and legal access
for America's indigent population. Edwards currently serves
as Director
of the University of North
Carolina's
Center on Poverty, Work and
Opportunity. He appeared at the VLP
Awards
Luncheon to extend his personal
thanks to
the many attorneys and law
students
who volunteer their time to
provide
legal assistance to those who
otherwise
could not afford it.
A special
presentation on the Fox's silver
screen
celebrated the tremendous growth
of the
program over the past twenty-five
years. In
2006, over 1200 attorneys
volunteered
their services with VLP, serving
an estimated 3200
clients in need. Law students began participating in VLP
programs in 2001;
this year, 150 students participated in VLP clinics, assisting
more than 1000
clients. Since its establishment, VLP has assisted more than
22,000 clients.
This year's awards
were presented by Arizona Supreme Court Vice-Chief Justice
Rebecca White
Berch. Those attorneys who received the Atto rney
of the Month
award in 2006 were
recognized:
Shannon Giles
(January), Charles
Flett (February),
Emily Dillof
(March), Robert
Ferrier (April),
Lisa Schriner
Lewis (May), Chris
Mathis (June),
Heather Strickland
(July - pictured
at right with Justice
Rebecca White
Berch), Angela
Moore (August),
Jeannette Geiser
(September), Alan
Solot (October),
Elizabeth
Berenguer (November)
and James Mather
(December).
In addition, the
VLP extended
special awards of
thanks to several
individuals, law
firms and organizations who have demonstrated long time
commitment,
extraordinary service and significant milestone contributions to the
program over the
past 25 years .
Individual award winners were William Bacon,
Stacy Rupprecht
Butler, Hon.
Frederic Dardis,
Amy Glicken,
Joseph Riley, Jr.,
and Denice
Shepherd. The law
firms of
DeConcini McDonald
Yetwin &
Lacy, Fleming &
Curti, Quarles
& Brady Streich
Lang also
received
anniversary awards.
The VLP recognized
several
organizations as
well: the
Arizona Foundation
for Legal
Services &
Education, the
James E. Rogers
College of
Law (Dean Toni
Massaro
pictured above
with Justice Rebecca White Berch), Pima County Superior Court,
and the VLP
Advisory Board.
Elliot Glicksman
MC'ed the event, as he has done for the past
ten years,
delighting the
audience with his unique blend of humor and dedication to the
VLP's mission. At
the close of the awards ceremony, Mr. Glicksman was
presented with a
special award of thanks for his many years of participation in
the VLP's Annual
Awards Luncheons.
Following the
awards presentation,
guests enjoyed a
buffet luncheon
catered by Lerua's.
As they exited
the theater,
guests received thank
you bags filled
with a personal letter
of thank you from
Arizona Governor
Janet Napolitano,
a bag of M&M's
(a VLP Awards
Luncheon tradition)
and a coffee
thermos bearing the
Luncheon's theme:
A History of
Helping, A Future
of Hope. VLP volunteers, thank you – and here's to 25
more years.
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Celebrating 25 Years of the VLP
> 2006 PowerPoint Presentation
Make sure to turn up your speakers, as the presentation has
music!
To watch the Power Points in your web viewer, such as
Internet
Explorer, simply click on the title of the Power Point above.
Windows will ask if you want to Open or Save the Power Point.
Click
Open.
The Power Point will start automatically, although there might be a
slight delay as your computer downloads the file.
If you have any problems viewing the PowerPoint, please contact Amy
Glicken at
aglicken@email.arizona.edu.
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