Six Arizona Attorneys Recognized For Their Pro Bono Efforts

attorneys
Those honored by Arizona Supreme Court Vice Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer during LSC’s Increasing Access to Justice Reception were James Conlogue, Diane Drain, David Engelman, Edwin Ramos, Kelly Rowe, and Benjamin Smith.

Six attorneys from across Arizona were recognized by the nonprofit Legal Services Corporation (LSC) last week for their significant contributions to promoting access to justice through pro bono services.

The LSC is an independent nonprofit established by Congress in 1974 to provide financial support for civil legal aid to low-income Americans. Its grantee organizations serving Arizona include the Community Legal Services, Southern Arizona Legal Aid (SALA), and the Window Rock-based DNA-Peoples Legal Services.

Those honored by Arizona Supreme Court Vice Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer during LSC’s Increasing Access to Justice Reception were James Conlogue, Diane Drain, David Engelman, Edwin Ramos, Kelly Rowe, and Benjamin Smith.

Conlogue served as a judge for the Cochise County Superior Court for 26 years before retiring in 2020. Since then, he has provided pro bono services through the Southern Arizona Legal Aid (SALA) Family Law Clinic and Rural Clinic by heading up clinics which have had more than 300 attendees. Conlogue was also recently appointed to SALA’s Board of Directors.

Drain, who founded the Law Office of D.L. Drain, P.A. in 1990, began providing pro bono legal assistance in bankruptcy cases in 1994 through the Volunteer Lawyers Program (VLP) for Community Legal Services (CLS). She also serves on the VLP’s advisory committee and provides free consultations through the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Self-Service Center.

Engelman is attorney and shareholder at Engelman Berger, PC. who has volunteered with CLS for 41 years. During that time he has provided several thousand hours of pro bono services. In 2022, he helped DNA-Peoples Legal Services establish a bankruptcy clinic and trained its in-house attorneys on handling bankruptcy cases.

Ramos, an attorney and managing partner at De La Ossa and Ramos PLLC, has volunteered since 2016 on minor guardianship cases for the Children’s Law Clinic offered by CLS’ VLP. He also regularly assists CLS’ Medical Legal Partnership by offering brief services to applicants, and recorded more than 200 hours of pro bono legal assistance in 2022.

Rowe is an author and volunteer attorney in Flagstaff offering pro bono services for immigration cases with DNA-Peoples Legal Services since 2015. The complexity of immigration cases means she has serves some clients for several years.

Smith, who has worked with SALA’s Family Law Clinic since 2007, dedicates his legal practice to pro bono work, primarily assisting clients with domestic violence cases. He is estimated to have assisted 8,700 SALA clients through roughly 1,650 clinics and 135 direct representation cases.