Defense attorney has history of public service

Cid Kallen by his nature must be a protector, having gone from protecting this country as a  U.S. Marine to now protecting the rights of the accused as a defense attorney for the Yuma County Legal Defender's Office.

"It has been everything I thought it was going to be and much more," said Kallen, who graduated from law school just last year. "There is a lot of responsibility in what we do."

Born in Morelia, Mexico, Kallen said he never thought about becoming an attorney. What he wanted to do, and eventually did, was to follow in his father's footsteps and serve in the U.S. military.

"He was a Marine and I liked who he was. I joined because of my dad. I thought it was a way for me to be more like him."

Kallen's father, who is Polish, served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II and fought in the Pacific. He eventually moved to Mexico, where he met Kallen's mother.

To become a Marine, however, Kallen said he first needed to get a high school diploma from a school in the United States.

"We learned English from our father because he always spoke it to us, even when we lived in Mexico."

When he was a teenager, Kallen said his family, including a younger brother and sister, moved to El Monte, Calif., to a tough neighborhood in the East Los Angeles suburb.

"We put sheets over the furniture in our house in Mexico and we all moved to California. It not only changed my life, but my entire family's life."

Kallen said he took as many classes as he could while in high school and graduated at the age of 17 in 1999 . He then joined the Marines, with his father signing for him because he was underage.

He served for five years, until 2004. While in the Marines, Kallen continued his education, completing his undergraduate studies at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.

"I never actually stepped foot on campus because I did it through a satellite campus in Cherry Point, where I was stationed for the Marines. The Marines gave me a way out in my life and then they gave me an education."

Once he left the Marines, Kallen moved to Arizona, where his and his wife's families were living, his in Phoenix and hers in Tucson.

He used the money he earned while serving in the Marines to build a 4,300-square-foot home in Cave Creek for both of their families.

"It took me and my younger brother 13 months to build it. We worked seven days a week, from sunup to sundown. It was the only way I could afford a house large enough for everyone."

At that point in his life, Kallen said, he really didn't know what he wanted to do. Then one day his wife heard an advertisement on the radio for the Phoenix Law School, which had just recently opened its doors, and told him about it.

Kallen said he applied at the school and was accepted two weeks later, which was about a week before class started.

"All of a sudden I found myself sitting in classes listening to 200- to 300-year-old property law cases, which blew my mind. When I started attending the school, there were only 45 students. Now there are over 400."

The first year as a law student was difficult because he was working part-time at a Home Depot to support their family. "I would sling bags of concrete all day, then I have to go to class. Needless to say that isn't sustainable."

After his first year, Kallen said, with his wife's help he was finally able to start going to school full-time. While attending the Phoenix School of Law, Kallen was founding president of the Hispanic Law Student Association and manuscript editor for the Phoenix Law Review journal.

It was during his third year of law school that Kallen met Jose de la Vara, who came to the school to speak with students about the internship program he created for his office.

"I wasn't eligible for the program, but I sat down and listened to him," said Kallen, who was admitted to the bar last year. "His message caught my attention, so I went up to him afterwards."

After talking for a bit, Kallen said, de la Vara invited him to lunch in Yuma sometime. Kallen said he decided to take de la Vara up on his offer and came to Yuma on Dec. 31, 2008.

"It was supposed to be a lunch but it turned into an all-day event," Kallen said. "We spent all day sightseeing and talking about Yuma and the legal profession."

Kallen said he and de la Vara continued to stay in touch. Shortly before Kallen took the bar exam in July 2009, de la Vara told him that if he passed, he wanted him to come to work for him at the Yuma County Legal Defender's Office.

"It wasn't a formal job offer but it was great to already have that opportunity available," Kallen said. "It took away some of the stress because I felt that I didn't need to keep looking for a job."

Kallen passed his bar exam on his first try, and de la Vara hired him in August 2009. De la Vara has characterized Kallen as a promising young attorney.

"This to me is making a difference. You feel like you are really helping people," Kallen said. "It is really rewarding, but it also has a steep learning curve. It can also be very overwhelming."