#JusticeinPimaCounty: Week 57
At PCAO, our relationship with the UA Law School, and other area schools is critical. (I’m a proud James E. Rogers UA grad, so I’m a teensy bit biased.) For years, Mark Hotchkiss, our Chief of the Major Crimes Bureau, has organized February interviews for law students interested in clerking here or entering as a first year brand new attorney. UA Law is so helpful through their Sonoran Desert Career Fair, and we get the chance to interview students who are considering prosecution as a career. Historically, Mark says we would usually get a handful each of possible clerks and attorneys. Last year, we enjoyed meeting a dozen excited and talented students. We hired several who began their careers in Justice Court prosecuting misdemeanors, and I can’t tell you how excited and motivated and energized the misdemeanor unit has been all year. After a year in office, this administration was looking forward to the next hiring season, but we’ve been completely swept away by the outpouring of interest. As of today’s date, we have 46 applications for law clerk positions, and 14 for attorney spots. I can’t stop smiling. And here’s why. The brand new attorneys and clerks here in the office, and the dozens more that will join them this year, will be coached and mentored and trained by dedicated, loyal Bureau Chiefs here including Chief Deputy Baird Greene and Chief Criminal Deputy Dan South and a host of other PCAO leaders. But that’s not all. There is profound value in the informal training of the high integrity, decent human beings returning to the office for all the right reasons. Pictured here is a special group of employees who had left PCAO in years past and have rejoined us in recent weeks in great service to our community. I couldn’t be more excited.
From left to right, Attorney Joseph Ricks, Attorney Jeffrey Amlee, Administrative Services Specialist Victoria Chavarria, and Legal Processing Support staff member Alexis Gallego. More to come!
To be continued,
Laura
