The AFA Board is proud to bestow the 2011 AFA Leadership Award to Denice R. Shepherd. Denice has been practicing and litigating in the areas of personal injury, general civil litigation, probates, guardianships, conservatorships and elder law for nearly 25 years. Shepherd is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), and serves on the board of the Arizona Fiduciaries Association. Shepherd has served on the panel for court-appointed attorneys in Pima County in guardianship/conservatorship actions for most of her legal career. She has been appointed by the court to represent minors in domestic relations cases and has served as a guardian ad litem. She has also served on the court appointment panels in criminal cases for the United States District Court, Pima County Superior Court appellate and trial panels, and the City of Tucson Magistrate’s Court. Shepherd is a certified fiduciary and has provided fiduciary services since 1994.
Denice serves on the Arizona Supreme Court Probate Oversight Committee, charged with reviewing and adopting court procedures to provide for the protection of vulnerable and incapacitated persons.
Denice is known in the legal community for championing both legal and ethical policies to serve the best interests of wards, safeguarding their health, welfare and resources, while also preserving their quality of life. In addition to her outreach endeavors to raise the standard of care and protection for vulnerable adults, Shepherd teaches future members of the legal profession at clinics for low income adults seeking to become guardians of minors. Denice travels throughout the state and country to educate professional guardians, social workers, attorneys and fiduciaries on the legal and ethical aspects of protecting vulnerable adults.
Denice was recently awarded the NGA Outstanding Affiliate Member Award, and was named recipient of the 2010 Attorney of the Year award, by Southern Arizona Legal Aid's Volunteer Lawyers Program for her pro bono working the area of wills, estates, probate. In June of this year, Shepherd was named one of the top 50 pro bono attorneys in Arizona by the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education.
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