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Hayley Easton
April 2009
The VLP is pleased
to announce that Hayley
Easton has been
selected as our Outstanding
Law Student
Volunteer for the month of April
2009. Hayley has
been an active participant
in the Domestic
Relations Clinic throughout
her first year of
law school. Hayley has a
wonderful ability
to empower clients and help
them find the
courage to represent themselves
in court. Her
thorough understanding of family
law enables her to
quickly assess the client’s
situation,
determine a proper course of action, and explain that course in a
manner that the
client can easily understand. She does a terrific job and the
VLP is very happy
to have her as a volunteer.
Hayley
is originally from Chappaqua, NY. She attended Cornell University
where
she received a
Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Society in 2007. This
degree required
Hayley to focus "on all areas of environmental policy, such as
sciences like
wetlands ecology, ecological modeling, communication in the life
sciences, and
environmental economics." While studying at Cornell, Hayley
worked in the
Natural Resources Department as a researcher and teaching
assistant where
she says she "quickly learned that a science career wasn't
for me."
Fortunately for the VLP, Hayley's studies led her to law school.
She
now hopes to use
her scientific background to work in the field of water law
after graduation.
During her first
year of law school, Hayley has quickly become a big fan of
her small section
professor David Marcus. She describes him as “very
approachable”
and states that he “truly cares about each student.” Law
school has also
helped to improve Hayley’s view of the legal system. “Though
I’m still a
little cynical about the whole process, volunteering with VLP has
shown me that
you don’t necessarily need to be extremely wealthy and able
to hire the
fanciest law firm in order to win a case.” When Hayley isn’t
studying or
volunteering with VLP, she can be found catching online episodes
of Dancing
with the Stars, The Bachelor, Gossip Girl, Big
Love, and Brothers
& Sisters.
Hayley chose to
join the VLP to “gain
some legal experience and give back to
the Tucson
community.” She believed that volunteering with the VLP was a
great way to
accomplish that goal because she “wanted to see the practical
side of
lawyering in order to motivate me to pay attention in my classes!”
We asked Hayley what she believes
is the most important thing she has
learned from volunteering with
VLP. She replied:
I’ve learned that clients often
don’t know what they want or what
they are entitled to. They
simply don’t know their rights. A lot
of my time in the DR clinic has
been spent explaining to clients
that they have certain rights in
a divorce proceeding. It’s also
surprised me that sometimes
clients need a bit of coaxing to
get them comfortable with the
idea of going to court at all.
Also, I’ve seen how lawyers in
the Tucson community benefit
from giving their time to VLP.
There are many lawyers, such
as Alyce Pennington or Ben Smith,
who are constant faces
at VLP and clearly gain a lot
from their experience. It’s been
wonderful to carve out time for
VLP now so I can carry that
attitude with me into my career.
In her spare time, Hayley likes
to “take my dog on long walks, cook dinner with
friends, and brew beer with my
fiance. I spend a lot of time staying in touch
with friends, as well!” She also
plays ultimate frisbee and tries to read for fun
as much as possible. A
self-proclaimed “big foodie”, Hayley loves to grab a
meal at Kingfisher,
Blue Point Kitchen, Guadalajara Grill, and La Fuente.
She’s a big fan of Tucson’s
Mexican food and loves that “you can find good
fish even in the desert.”
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Past Outstanding Volunteer
Student Awards |
