1983_10 Insight October 1983

              Features,
October 12,1983      Insight
!■;
Attorney-turned- volunteer
Relaxed Bolen gives seniors a legal lift
Tbe role of Hickey Is played by famed British actor Alan Tilvern who received critical acclaim for the part while a member
of tbe Royal Shakespeare Company. Tilvern has performed in over 20 English stage productions, and has had roles in a
The
Iceman
Cometh
Eugene O'Neill's "The Iceman
Cometh," a play of 'pipe
dreamers' and 'drunks,' continues
its run tonight through Oct. 15.
Performances are slated at 8:15
p.m. and tickets are available at
the University Theatre Box Office.
Directed by Phillip Walker,
"The Iceman Cometh" features
guest-artist Alan Tilvern, a professional actor from the stages of
London. Tilver portrays Theodore
Hickey. Supporting Tilvern is a
cast of alumni, current students,
and professors Ed EmanuEl and
Dave Natharius.
A review of the production will
be in next week's insight.
Women
(Continued from page 1 >
r position because she is
* " d for the job. The fact that
le is female, nonetheless, has
Iped her to do her job better.
: "The way a female ad-
usu-ator relates to others is very
it because of tbe
e that a woman in such a
d or too aggressive," she
"I'm sensitive to that,
* helped me do my job
ford, who has taught
; 1857, tbe key to
of females versus
to get over tbe problem of
paper. Men tend to have
"fications On paper
have had the oppor-
1 years of experience.
my "tt-omcn it takes
the Ph.D because they
o raise a family, and
education or on-the-
iploym-nt
women do work harder than men.
"They may have shorter lengths of
employment, but the quality of the
""work is superior," sbe said.
Foe Irwin, the answer is to hire
women into tenure track positions
and to allow them to carry their
loads and develop professionally so .
that tbey can eventually move into
higher positions, chairing a department is the first step;
Irwin called tbe employment of
women in college an "eternal battle." The current restricted budgets
and restricted hiring has forced
hiring of most women in part-time
and temporary positions, unfortunately. "It Is difficult to be
tenured and even more so to get in-
o an administrative job," Irwin
Women are qualified for
academic employment according to
Forte. "The problem is academic
flu," he added. "We have not bad
that many female applicants." For
Forte it is a matter of the women
knowing when and where positions
are available.
Communication between
women and within our society on
the issues that women in tbe
world encounter Is the
number one goal of the Womens     .
Caucus; according to Pickford.
The Womens Caucusrwhtch
was formed tost year, bas approximately 25-30 women faculty and
. sWf members. The committee
grew out of the insight that
^Despite the administrations supportive position on affirmative action, CSUF women employees' felt
the sense or need of such a group;''
said PfckfonL This was based*on
tbe fact that "There have been no
major increases in the number of
female* being hired, and there
were not many women in administrative positions." the major
purpose of the group is to increase
tbe number of women faculty at
CSUF, the base for building a
pyramid of women at higher levels.
To accomplish this task, the im-
mediate'tpwl of the group is to keep•:
' the communications between
iwomen open'and active, informing
other women of job opportunities.
The group Itself is not composed of
raojral,'effwing libbers, but
rather, of "responsible educators"
as Gigliotti said, "who.are trying to
make the edacatibnal field, at least
"    etterfor
 ,
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A batch of chocolate chip cookies is
hardly a typical fee for legal services,
but for Fresno attorney Hal H. Bolen, it
was one of his most cherished.
About four years ago, Bolen helped
an elderly woman recover several hundred dollars that she had loaned to a
distant relative. Bolen had helped the
woman through Legal Aid For Seniors,
an organization that provides free legal
aid for destitute senior citizens.
Tbe ' relaxed, softspoken Bolen
describes the woman's predicament
with a wide grin.
"She had worked all her life for the
schools as a baker. She was visibly
upset that she didn't have any money to
pay. She was trying to give me money,
and I kept saying, 'No, I can't accept it.'
So, we struck a bargain on the fee — a
couple of dozens of chocolate chip
cookies. So she baked me some cookies
Bolen says he is proud of the work he
bas done for tbe Voluntary Legal Services Program. It is a state-sanctioned
program that is locally organized and
operated. It assigns volunteer lawyers
to destitute clients with legal problems.
Tbe program is headed by Howard
Watkins, tbe Senior Staff Attorney for
the Fresno-Merced Counties Legal Services Corp.
Bolen himself has spent his whole
professional career helping clients with
his voluntary services. He started practicing business law in Fresno after
graduating with a law degree from tbe
University of California at Davis in
1976. In 1973, Bolen received a master's
degree in business administration from
CSUF.
In 1981, Bolen was president of tbe
Fresno County Young Lawyers
Association, a group of under-35-year-
old lawyers which "engages in activities which it feels are more ap-
'I always went to public schools. I
figured other people paid for my
education, so I had an obligation
to put a little of that back.'
and brought them into tbe office and
she was just delighted to be able to do it.
The people in the office ate the cookies
and we had a good time. That was fun."
Bolen, a business attorney at tbe
law firm of Baker, Manock & Jensen in'
Fresno, considers voluntary service to
be a professional obligation — so much
so that he is involved not only with
Legal Aid for Seniors, but also the
Fresno County Voluntary Legal Services Program.
"I always went to public schools,"
->id Bolen. "I figured other people paid
my education, so I had an obligation
ut a little of that back. I think-oso-
onals who are fortunate enough to
.. m power positions in society have an
obligation with regards to those tools
that society has bestowed upon them."
Bolen says the amount of time he
spends giving free legal service varies,
but usually takes 5 percent to 10 percent
of his time. He says most of the
charitable work he does involves
counseling, rather than litigation.
In recognition of Bolen's free legal
service to tbe poor and elderly, the
Board of Governors of tbe state bar
association recently awarded him a Pro
Bono Service Award for the Fresno
County Region. Bolen is modest about
the honor: "For some reason, tbey
gave it to me."
propriate for young lawyers than
lawyers in general." Bolen says it is an
active, dedicated group that has done a
number of community service activities.
Although Bolen's voluntary work
involves a wide variety of different
kinds of clients, he has a special feeling
for the senior citizens he works with in
Legal Aid For Seniors.
"They're an exciting group
because they're going somewhere,"
says Bolen, who feels senior citizens
are beginning to realize their potential
political clout. "Tbey have a recognition of tbe potential powers seniors
have as a group. One of mese days,
there are going to be m ore of tbem than
people who aren't seniors."
Bolen finds that most of the seniors
he works with are proud people who are
somewhat hurt by the fact that they
can't pay for his services. He says that
unlike some clients he helps, who seem
to expect his free services, the- seniors
genuinely appreciate his efforts.
The casual, self-effacing Bolen is
modest about his volunteer work; he
said many of his professional colleagues do similar free services,
although he would like to see more
lawyers  do  volunteer work.   He  is
especially proud of Baker. Manock &
Jensen's devotion to voluntary legal
services.
"I'm real proud of my law firm: I
think (its) record in pro bono activities
is extremely good." said Bolen. He said
tbe firm has been "marvelous" In encouraging its employees to do voluntary work. Bolen said the Fresno area
in general is a much better climate for
voluntary legal work than Los Angeles
or San Francisco.
The combination of regular cases
and volunteer work doesn't leave Bolen
as much time for recreation as he
would like, but when he finds time, he
enjoys many hobbies, including soccer,
sailing, photography, and backpacking.
Also, he enjoys music, and plays in a
rock band made up of other Baker.
Manock & Jensen employees. "I have
too many hobbies," he said.
Bolen said the only time he gets
frustrated with his voluntary work is
when he gets ungrateful, demanding
clients who don't realize the demands
on his Ume. His wife, Lorraine, works
for the County Welfare Department,
and Bolen said they both get clients who
expect help, which "takes all the fun
out."
Generally, the plusses outweigh tbe
minuses, says Bolen. He calls
"perspective" the greatest thing he has
gained from his voluntary legal work.
"You can sit here in this office,
working on the phone, on deals that are
literally millions of a olla rs, which ex
tremely important to the client you're
working on," said Bolen. "You can get
all caught up in that level of business:
'life in tbe fast lane,' as it fere.
"In tbe same day, you can go over
to Legal Services and have a senior
come in and tell you that someone ripped her off for $25. Whereas you would
have spent $25 on photocopying to get
the deal done, to her, that $25 was all
the money she had lef t for tbe rest of the
month. It's just as important to her as
the million dollar deal you were working on this morning.
"That, I think, is just a real good
taste of reality."
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