Sandy Prehm
By Cathie Caldwell
Sandy Prehm has been instrumental in developing the Kent Legal Clinic for more than a decade. Serving several roles and recruiting other volunteers from her firm, Curran Mendoza, and elsewhere, Sandy is at the core of the Kent Legal Clinic. For this reason, we are proud to honor her as Community Legal Services’ Volunteer of the Month.
For over twelve years, Sandy has been firmly entrenched and active in her role with the Kent Legal Clinic (formerly the South King County Legal Clinic). She started as a Clinic Assistant in 1992. Since 1994, Sandy has acted as the Scheduling Coordinator, writing the schedule of volunteers, providing orientation to new volunteers at the clinic and ensuring that resource materials are updated and ready to use. New Kent Clinic Coordinator and volunteer attorney since 1984, Jane Rhodes, says, “Sandy is the heart and conscience of the Kent Legal Clinic.”
Sandy has been instrumental in recruitment for the clinic. She regularly invites new associates from her firm, Curran Mendoza, to volunteer. Currently 11 attorneys and two legal assistants from this firm participate. She has initiated recruitment pushes that included mailings and identifying new attorneys in the area to call.
In 2002, when NLC was faced with huge numbers of people, especially in family law, who were unable to get an appointment at the Kent Legal Clinic because of the demand, Sandy helped to formulate an idea to separate the family law practitioners. Thus, the Kent Family Law Clinic was born! The change has improved the service the clients at the Kent Legal Clinic receive as well as helps utilize the specialized knowledge of the family law practitioners.
Also in 2002, it became clear that the South King County area was vastly underserved. Sandy and Jane Rhodes, the Clinic Coordinator, agreed to help open a legal clinic in Federal Way. Sandy was an invaluable resource in helping to locate a firm to help support the clinic (McKinley Irvin) and a Clinic Coordinator (Jennifer Payseno, also from that firm). Sandy also helped formulate recruitment strategies, proofread recruitment letters, and visited potential clinic sites. In 2003, the Federal Way Clinic opened at the Federal Way Regional Library.
Also in 2003, Sandy approached me about holding some training for South King County volunteers at her office. Subsequently, Sandy began to coordinate the teleconference of our brown bag CLE series in her firm’s conference room. For NLC volunteers who can not drive to Seattle, this is a great way to earn free CLE credits and learn valuable information about substantive law.
Sandy says: “Working at the legal clinics and seeing clients take away some additional information or referral, or at the very least a feeling that someone listened to their problem, is very rewarding and makes me proud of the legal field. I would like to see every attorney and assistant giving some time each month to this program or any program. What a difference it would make!”
Sandy salutes Curran Mendoza, for “encouraging volunteering by volunteering themselves and donating my time and supplies for the Kent Legal Clinics.” Thankful for the opportunity to give to the clinics, Sandy added, “The firm also coordinates the Volunteer Family Law Settlement Conference program at the RJC and participates in the Neighborhood Legal Clinics, the Family Law Information Center, Legal Action Center and many other community groups and governing boards.” She also notes that she appreciates “all of the dedicated volunteers at the Kent Legal Clinics.”
Sandy lives in Kent and has been a family law paralegal at the firm of Curran Mendoza, P.S. in Kent for 16 years.
Volunteer attorneys specializing in the areas of bankruptcy, elder law and family law are always needed. For more information about the Neighborhood Legal Clinics, contact Cathie Caldwell, NLC Program Manager, at (206) 267-7029.
