Every year, the Board of Directors of Metro Volunteer Lawyers (MVL) has the pleasure of selecting individuals from our volunteer panel who we believe have gone beyond the call of duty and set a standard of service to those in need of pro bono legal assistance. This year, we chose to focus on volunteers who had made a commitment to the work of the Family Law Court Program.

For their demonstrated commitment and extraordinary service to MVL and MVL's Family Law Court Program, the MVL Board has the honor of recognizing three exceptional volunteers: Charleen Castro, paralegal at Ham & Ortiz, LLC; Susan Grauer, attorney, Law Office of Susan Grauer, PC; and Terry Kelly, attorney, Kelly Garnsey Hubbell + Lass LLC. All three were honored at the Denver Bar Association's Barristers Benefit Ball on Saturday, May 3, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center.

Charleen Castro is the first paralegal ever to be named as a Barrister's Benefit Ball Honoree. Charleen takes the time from her busy schedule and her paying clients to assist needy clients in preparing their documents before they go into court. She says she enjoys working with MVL clients at the FLCP clinics in Arapahoe County because it gives her another perspective and sharpens her skills at preparing client's court documents. She knows that going into a courtroom is an intimidating process and requires good preparation. "Working with clients with non-contested cases and being able to really help them is a big stress reliever."

Charleen says that a person has to be caring and patient to walk people through the process of obtaining a divorce or custody order. "It's not the best time in someone's life. They sometimes just really need to be walked through it. MVL clients are so grateful for the help and that the service is here." Charleen obtained her degree from Temple University in '985. But, she says, she always knew she belonged in family law, so in 2001she walked away from a lucrative career and dove into an intensive six-month long paralegal training program at the Denver Paralegal Institute (DPI). Although it was intense, Charleen reveled in the opportunity to finally pursue what motivated her. She graduated in 2002 with the last class from DPI.

Not long after she graduated, she had a chance to work for Greg J. Ortiz, an attorney in private practice. Because their personal and business ethics meshed so well, Charleen chose to work with Greg and they continue to work as a team at his new firm, Ham & Ortiz, LLC. She loves her work and that her boss truly supports "balance in life." She and her husband had both been married before, and they now have a combined family and household that includes a college baseball player, two high school varsity volleyball players, and one middle school football player. Not only does her life experience assist her in empathizing with family law clients, but it also informs her choices and priorities about how she spends her time at work and at play.

Asked why she began volunteering for MVL, Charleen credits Greg Ortiz and his support of her continuing education. Greg is an active member and leader in the ABA's Family Law Section. Since Greg had participated in MVL's Mentor/Mentee program for DU's night law students, he didn't bat an eye when Charleen suggested that she participate in the FLCP as a volunteer. When asked why he would allow, let alone encourage his legal staff to volunteer at least once a month at an FLCP clinic, Greg says, 'We get back what we give." Greg notes that not all families can afford attorneys, and we have a duty to assist them anyway. In addition, by participating in the FLCP, he sees that Charleen can get a regular and ongoing feel for what happens in the court house. She gets an opportunity to watch the judicial officers in the courtroom, meet court personal and make other personal contacts. He has seen that her skills and understanding of the process have made her better at what she does and can do for the clients they serve in the office, too. Greg knows that Charleen's participation in the FLCP is something she cares about and that it adds meaning to her work. He says that his firm's support of Charleen's pro bono service and legal education is a simple and inexpensive means to enhance and enrich her job. And he says, he doesn't know what he would do without her! (We know how he feels!)

Susan Grauer's parents are both holocaust survivors who ended up in Chicago after the war, circa 1950. When she was 15, the family moved to Denver. Susan graduated from CU at Boulder with a BS in Education and plans to be a teacher, but there were more teachers than jobs in the early 1970s, so she could only substitute. During that time, she got married, had a daughter and a son, and then got divorced.

In the fall of 1989, Susan started law school at DU and she graduated in December, 1991. She says, "I was in a hurry to get through school because the kids were 7 and 9 when I started. I am innately unorganized, but during those years, I had every waking hour of every day scheduled. I loved being in law school (education is wasted on the young). I did manage to get the American Jurisprudence Award for Post-trial procedure -during the summer when my kids were away at camp." Susan was sworn in as a member of the Colorado Bar on April 30th, 1992 and turned 40 in June of that year.

She says that she did not know exactly what she was going to do, but started getting calls to do divorces cases. She had early success at trials and ended up staying in that field. Says Susan, "After a few years I realized that I had ended up with exactly the right job -I liked writing, had a background in education, and knew about children's best interests. I was a single parent so I had some understanding of my clients' situations, and at the same time, I was also struck with how lucky I was to be part of the legal profession. It was clearly time to start giving back to the community. I liked the idea of Metro Volunteer lawyers -going once a month to go into court with people who could not afford to hire counsel, but whose cases were just complicated enough so that they really did need representation.

When I first started going to MVL, I was a novice. As the years passed, I became the veteran. It still amazes me today how simple a case can start out and how complicated it can end up after you first meet the client, the client starts talking and the judge starts listening- all within a matter of hours. I don't think I have ever represented a client at MVL and not come away learning more about the law."

Susan's knowledge and expertise are invaluable to the FLCP clients. She customarily insists on being assigned the most complicated cases so that she can really dig in and get some tough issues taken care of. Susan's children have both finished college and are in the process of finding their way as young adults. She keeps herself balanced by playing duplicate bridge. She has been a lifemaster since some time in the 1990s. Presently, she serves as the Chairman of the Conducts and Ethics committee for the Denver Unit of the American Contract Bridge League.

Terry Kelly received his J.D. from the University of Notre Dame in 1968. He worked as a Staff Attorney for the Legal Aid Society of Multnomah County, in Portland, Oregon, and then as a Staff Attorney and Managing Attorney for the Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Denver. He is currently a member of Kelly, Garnsey, Hubbell, & Lass, LLC. Terry's practice consists of negotiating and litigating complex civil law and family law matters.

When asked to explain why he volunteers to assist and represent MVL clients, he says, "I graduated from law school in 1968, a few months after the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. Those events can maybe best be seen as my generation's 9/11. The modern Civil Rights Movement was boiling. A whole area of law- poverty law- had been organized nationally. I got in on the ground floor. We represented the poor in civil law matters, an area of protection that was only tokenly acknowledged previously. I don't think that the duty and the richness of that work ever leaves you.'

Terry has been involved with MVL and pro bono service consistently over the years. He strongly encourages his legal associates to volunteer as well. His associate, Jerremy Ramp, serves on MVL's governing board and represents MVL clients on a regular basis. Jerremy says that "it is a personal and professional blessing to have a mentor- in fact, an entire firm of mentors- that supports and encourages involvement with MVL and other pro bono endeavors. From a young lawyer's perspective, it is excellent training in the art and mechanics of dealing with clients, opposing parties, and the court. There is just no substitute for face-to-face time with people in the legal system and time in court. Aside from the benefits to a lawyer's skill set, representing MVL clients is also a highly rewarding experience personally, knowing that you are helping someone through a very difficult process and time in their lives who would otherwise not likely have an advocate. I went through law school with the idea that that was a noble thing and that lawyers had a responsibility to these clients and the community. That idea might have been lost or dismissed as naive and unrealistic had I not gone to work for a mentor and a firm that reinforced and supported that goal of service to others."

So why does Terry recommend that other attorneys, including those in his firm, volunteer? Terry says, "the gift of this work is personal. For me, it starts with my experience as a trial lawyer in a small firm of similarly motivated people. A wise professor once told me you cannot work with people without becoming like them. To think otherwise "is either arrogant or naive." Jean Dubofsky, Woody Garnsey, Norm Haglund, and Ed Kahn and I had come to similar conclusions about the role of law and for whom we would work. First, MVL clients help me keep grounded. They give me perspective on the issues I battle for my other clients and the issues that arise in the lives of my family and other communities. Second, the MVL practice helps me understand judges and the judicial system. If you only show up in courtrooms with people who are paying high hourly rates, you have no feeling about the judge-life of the decision-maker. Most divorces in Colorado are done without lawyers. Almost all such cases require a judge to make financial orders when there is nowhere near enough money to make "just" orders. The judges' caseloads mostly involve parent- child problems that are acute and incurable. A trial lawyer needs to know all that when you bring your first-world case before a judge. Third, I have been doing trial work for over 35 years. I still have to work at it. I liken it to surgery. It is hard to be a good surgeon if you aren't regularly in the operating room. I ask our young lawyers to get involved for the selfish reason of getting themselves into a courtroom on a regular basis. Smell the paint. Locate the podium. Pickup on the unwritten customs. Learn to be helpful. Practice empathy. It doesn't hurt to have judges see you helping them with this work." Terry walks the talk. He volunteers nearly every month at the Denver FLCP and we appreciate not only his presence, but his willingness to help with tough issues, mentor other attorneys, and continue to represent clients whose cases grow too complicated for the FLCP to handle.

It is an absolute pleasure and privilege to have this opportunity to honor Charleen Castro, Susan Grauer, and Terry Kelly on behalf of MVL for the Barrister's Benefit Ball. We are proud to thank them for their service and for their example.