The David A. Paige Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. EIN: 85‑3726053
Our Mission
The mission of the David A. Paige Foundation is to support students pursuing legal education and training in Arizona. The David A. Paige Foundation provides paid clerkships and scholarships to law students who excel in their studies and believe in using their law degrees to better their community.
Southern Arizona Legal Aid
Southern Arizona Legal Aid’s mission is to provide quality legal services to people who would not otherwise have equal access to justice, in ways which affirm their individual and collective dignity, integrity, and power. Since 1951, SALA has provided free, civil legal aid to low-income individuals and families in 9 of Arizona’s 15 counties and in 11 of Arizona’s 21 Native American Communities. David A. Paige believed in this mission and served on SALA’s Advisory Board in the 1980’s.
Since 2021, The David A. Paige Foundation has funded full-time paid summer clerkships for University of Arizona law students at Southern Arizona Legal Aid. In 2021 and 2022, students served clients in SALA’s Immigration and Domestic Relations unit. These students helped support clients to receive more stable immigration status in cases involving domestic violence, sexual assault, or other crimes. Since 2023, students have served clients in SALA’s Consumer, Housing, and Government Benefits unit. These students assist SALA clients with their public benefits cases – Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), the state’s Medicaid agency, SNAP (Food Stamps), TANF Cash Assistance, Unemployment and Social Security Disability benefits. The Foundation has committed to funding a full-time summer paid clerkship at SALA in 2025.
University of Arizona - College of Law
Scholarships
David – UA Law School Graduation 1975
David A. Paige graduated from the University of Arizona’s College of Law in 1975. He was a member of the Arizona Law Review and Note Editor in 1974-75. A trial practice class during David’s third year sparked his interest in litigation, and his trial tactics during that class helped land him his first job as an attorney.
In 2021, the David A. Paige Foundation awarded its inaugural scholarship to a 2nd year University of Arizona law student who served as the Student Bar Association’s 2021-2022 President. Since then, the Foundation has provided scholarships each semester to law students. The Foundation will continue to support students pursuing legal education and training in Arizona by providing scholarships to those who excel in their studies and believe in using their law degrees to better their community.
Child and Family Law Clinic
In the 1990’s, David voluntarily represented a family whose niece was involved in the foster care system. The case lasted over eight years. David’s work was instrumental in setting a legal precedent for family law in the state of Arizona. Because of his efforts, lawyers representing families were allowed to participate in court proceedings.
The Child and Family Law Clinic is a working law office in which law students, working in multi-disciplinary teams, represent children in child protection proceedings and adult victims of domestic violence. The clinic provides a quality, supervised, multi-disciplinary learning environment for law students and is dedicated to representing, with integrity, the interests of children and adult victims involved with the justice system.
In 2022, the David A. Paige Foundation funded its inaugural Child and Family Law Clinic fellowship. Throughout their final year, a third-year law student conducted research and develop tools to be used by law students and attorneys. His work directly contributed to improving the capacity of Arizona’s legal system to support youth in the foster care system. Current Law Clinic students continue to work to improve this system by conducting research and developing tools to assist current and future attorneys dedicated to serving youth in the foster care system.
Valenzuela Foundation
The Guillermo J. Valenzuela Foundation is dedicated to improving the health of underserved communities in Southern California’s Inland Empire, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. The Foundation works to expand access to health care and improve quality care through research, education, grantmaking, programs, and partnerships.
In 2024, The Guillermo J. Valenzuela Foundation awarded the David A. Paige Foundation a grant to support its mission and partnership with the University of Arizona Law School’s Child and Family Law Clinic. Beginning in the spring of 2025, this funding will support a quality, supervised, multi-disciplinary learning environment for University of Arizona law students and Master of Social Work (MSW) interns. The Child and Family Law Clinic believes that child welfare representation involves much more than showing up in a courtroom.
This grant will support the DAPF’s ability to strengthen the capacity and effectiveness of law students and social workers to improve the health care of children in Arizona’s foster care system. The expected outcomes are enhanced multi-disciplinary representation of foster children in Pima County. The JD/MSW teams will provide holistic legal representation that could be duplicated elsewhere. Also, this commitment will allow the JD/MSW teams to create one or more tools to be used by the team year over year and shared with other stakeholders to increase the impact of the tool funded by the grant.
The David A Paige Foundation greatly appreciates the Guillermo J. Valenzuela Foundation’s support of its mission support students pursuing legal education and training in Arizona.
Pima County Superior Court
Throughout his career, David mentored dozens of attorneys. As a young lawyer, David was greatly influenced by his mentors and in turn was intentional about his role in guiding young lawyers. Those who David mentored valued the legal training he provided, and several went on to become judges in Tucson.
In 2022, The Foundation funded its first full-time summer externship with a Pima County Superior Court judge on the Civil Bench that David Paige mentored over thirty years ago. Since then, the DAPF has supported full-time paid summer externships for law students working under the supervision of a Pima County Superior Court judge on the Civil Bench. The Foundation has committed to funding a full-time summer paid externship at the Superior Court in 2025.
Board of Directors
Charles A. Paige
President
Educator and Youth Advocate – Tucson, Arizona
After my dad died, I met with several attorneys and judges that he mentored when they first began their legal careers. I learned how important his teaching and dedication were to their development as attorneys. My family established this foundation to continue his legacy.
Dawn Brewer
Vice President
Attorney – Marina Del Rey, California
David practiced law with purpose and humility. David taught me about the gifts and challenges of the profession. His insight remains important to my practice even today. I am grateful for the time I spent with him and humbled to be part of the foundation’s work in his name.
Hon. Charles “Chuck” Harrington (Ret.)
Treasurer
Tucson, Arizona
David was an excellent mentor who insisted on integrity, fairness and professionalism. David had almost a reverence for the law which he communicated to me and which became a part of my world view. His teachings were a great help to me as an attorney and later as a Superior Court Judge.
James Bruzzi
Secretary
Owner, Bruzzi Vineyard
James joined the David A. Paige Foundation Board of Directors to “help continue the legacy of David Paige by promoting future lawyers to be talented, just, and ethical and in that, making the world a better place.“