Two local attorneys, from within the immediate eight-county area, have been selected by the Central Minnesota Legal Services' Volunteer Attorney Program (VAP) in St. Cloud, for their outstanding participation in the local Pro Bono Program. Dorraine A. Larison and Virginia A. Marso, who are both from the Seventh Judicial District, have been chosen to be this year's recipients of an Outstanding Service Award. These individuals will be honored at the Seventh District Bar Association Meeting on Friday, April 30, 2004, and at the Program's next Continuing Legal Education Seminar to be held in St. Cloud on Wednesday, June 16, 2004. Dorraine A. Larison, has put forth great effort in implementing the recently established Credit Clinic. She graduated from the University of North Dakota School of Law in 1989. She is now a shareholder with Gray, Plant, Mooty, Mooty & Bennett, P.A. located in St. Cloud and chairs the firm's Pro Bono Committee. She is also a United States Chapter 7 Panel Bankruptcy Trustee. Her areas of expertise include bankruptcy law, debtor/creditor law and employment law. As a participant of the local Volunteer Attorney Program for the past six years, Ms. Larison accepts bankruptcy cases, debtor/creditor issues and uncontested divorces. Ms. Larison, in her position as an officer in the Minnesota Bar Association's Bankruptcy Section, sought funding from the American College of Bankruptcy Institute to establish credit clinics in Greater Minnesota. With the assistance of the CMLS-VAP, Ms. Larison has recruited and trained local attorneys to provide free advice to low income clients being harassed by creditors and, if necessary, provide intervention with creditors on the clients' behalf. The first five months of the clinic has been very successful for both the clients and volunteers. Clients obtain face-to-face advice from an attorney on issues that previously the local legal services office may only been able provide written fact sheets. The volunteer attorneys donate their lunch hours for the initial meeting with the clients. The low income clients are provided with direct guidance on how to handle typical debt problems they face. Ms. Larison has previously been recognized for her public service and was awarded the Raeder Larson Public Service Award in 2002 by the Bankruptcy Section of the Minnesota State Bar Association. Virginia A. Marso, is recognized for her significant encouragement and planning in establishing the local Volunteer Family Mediation Project. Virginia graduated from William Mitchell College of Law in 1978. She was the first woman in private practice in St. Cloud and worked in several firms until she established her solo practice in 1992. Her areas of emphasis are family law, personal injury, and discrimination. In her role as a volunteer attorney during the past twenty-one years, Ms. Marso accepts all types of family law cases, as well as issues related to job discrimination. In addition to her work with the Volunteer Attorney Program, Ms. Marso has served the local community in many ways. This includes: co-founding, with Patricia Dolentz, the Stearns-Benton Family Law Committee; service on the Governor's Task Force on Therapist-Client Sexual Abuse, the St. Cloud Diocese School Board and on the Catholic Charities Board of Directors. Along the way, she has, with the assistance of a wonderful spouse and her mother, raised four children including a former foster child. The Volunteer Family Mediation Project provides gender-balanced mediation teams to low-income clients attempting to resolve simple divorces or parenting time disputes. The team model is designed not only to provide both a balance regarding gender but also to provide a mentoring experience for newer attorney mediators by working closely with more experienced attorney mediators. Without the extraordinary help and dedication of these two VAP Attorneys, many individuals would not have fair access to the legal system, nor may have other members of the legal profession taken the opportunity to donate legal help to low-income clients in the area. Congratulations to both Dorri and Ginny!