By Michele Mirto
Every month,
Southern Arizona
Legal Aids’ (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
1220 attorneys who
volunteer their
time with the VLP,
only 12 receive
the VLP’s
Outstanding Pro
Bono Attorney
award each year.
Amy Farrell
Matheson was selected to receive the Outstanding Pro Bono
Attorney of the
Month Award for April 2010. Amy has been a member
of the
VLP in Pima
County for just over a year. Although she has been with the
program for a
relatively short period of time, Amy has had a significant
impact
on the client
community. Amy prepares wills and other documents for
clients
in need. She has
never declined to accept a case when called upon by VLP
staff.
Q & A with Amy
Farrell Matheson
Where are you
from?
I’m originally
from Huntington, New York.
Where did you
go to college?
I graduated from
Wellesley College and Suffolk University Law School in
Massachusetts.
How long have
you lived in Tucson?
My husband and I
moved to Tucson in 2004 when he took a job as an
astronomer at the
National Optical Astronomy Observatory, the folks who run
Kitt Peak.
What are your
current practice areas?
My current
practice is with an elder law firm; we do estate planning,
guardianship
and
conservatorship, probate, and ALTCS planning. Prior to
moving to Arizona,
I worked for
American Public Television, a distributor of public
television programs
in the US and
abroad. Before that, I worked in the international trade
group at
White & Case in
Washington, D.C. Because I’ve moved around a lot, I can
claim membership
in the bar associations of three states and the District of
Columbia. I hope
not to have to move again, but if we do, my husband is on
notice that he
can only accept a job in a jurisdiction that has reciprocal
bar
admission with
one of my existing bar memberships!
How did you
become involved with the Volunteer Lawyers Program?
Fleming & Curti
has long been a supporter of the Volunteer Lawyers Program
and my bosses,
Tom Curti and Robert Fleming, have made it easy for me to
participate, too.
One reason you
would encourage attorneys to volunteer with VLP?
