Star Staff Profile: Tamara Duncan
When Tamara Duncan was a first-year law student at Texas Tech University School of Law, she volunteered at a Legal Aid clinic because she believed that it was a good thing to do. Fast forward 21 years, and Tamara is still doing good things for Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas, but now as a manager who mentors new attorneys as well as law students attending her alma mater.
“I enjoy providing the same opportunity to learn about legal aid to the next generation of law students as what was provided to me,” says Tamara. “I think it’s important to capture students who don’t know much about legal aid and introduce them to the practice of public service lawyering.”
Currently supervising a staff of 15 in Legal Aid’s Lubbock branch office, Tamara believes that she also benefits from her mentorship. “I really enjoy discussing case strategy with our staff attorneys and sharing my views with them, but I learn as much from them as they learn from me.”
Despite her managerial duties, Tamara still takes cases for representation, including several eviction cases that have flooded her office since the pandemic started. “I continue to handle cases because I believe it’s important work,” she says. “It’s rewarding to stand in the gap between the client and the legal process, and knowing that if it wasn’t for you, the person’s outcome would likely have been very different.”
The manager who hired Tamara straight out of law school recognized her future potential. “I knew when I hired Tamara that she was going to be a long-time legal aid attorney,” says George Elliott, former Lubbock office manager and now Legal Aid’s Director of Administration. “Now, more than two decades later, Tamara still brings that professionalism and passion to her work.”
Despite her busy schedule. Tamara finds time to volunteer in the community, serving in an officer capacity at the local homeless coalition and as an officer (and recent past president) of the PTA at one of her two son’s school. In her free time, Tamara and her husband enjoy watching their sons play sports (baseball, tennis, and flag football) and taking family skiing and hiking trips. A fun fact about Tamara: completing a personal goal of running at least 1 mile a day, every day. Her longest streak: 1,118 days.
Asked to share what one thing she would like people to know about Legal Aid, Tamara says it’s that people often don’t understand that most people who qualify for free civil legal help have full-time jobs, but their income is not enough to take care of even simple legal needs like getting a will or obtaining clear title to their home. “Going without these basics can cause a ripple effect of other problems,” she says.
“I enjoy providing the same opportunity to learn about legal aid to the next generation of law students as what was provided to me,” says Tamara. “I think it’s important to capture students who don’t know much about legal aid and introduce them to the practice of public service lawyering.”
Currently supervising a staff of 15 in Legal Aid’s Lubbock branch office, Tamara believes that she also benefits from her mentorship. “I really enjoy discussing case strategy with our staff attorneys and sharing my views with them, but I learn as much from them as they learn from me.”
Despite her managerial duties, Tamara still takes cases for representation, including several eviction cases that have flooded her office since the pandemic started. “I continue to handle cases because I believe it’s important work,” she says. “It’s rewarding to stand in the gap between the client and the legal process, and knowing that if it wasn’t for you, the person’s outcome would likely have been very different.”
The manager who hired Tamara straight out of law school recognized her future potential. “I knew when I hired Tamara that she was going to be a long-time legal aid attorney,” says George Elliott, former Lubbock office manager and now Legal Aid’s Director of Administration. “Now, more than two decades later, Tamara still brings that professionalism and passion to her work.”
Despite her busy schedule. Tamara finds time to volunteer in the community, serving in an officer capacity at the local homeless coalition and as an officer (and recent past president) of the PTA at one of her two son’s school. In her free time, Tamara and her husband enjoy watching their sons play sports (baseball, tennis, and flag football) and taking family skiing and hiking trips. A fun fact about Tamara: completing a personal goal of running at least 1 mile a day, every day. Her longest streak: 1,118 days.
Asked to share what one thing she would like people to know about Legal Aid, Tamara says it’s that people often don’t understand that most people who qualify for free civil legal help have full-time jobs, but their income is not enough to take care of even simple legal needs like getting a will or obtaining clear title to their home. “Going without these basics can cause a ripple effect of other problems,” she says.