This month Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma recognizes Robert Perugino for his work as a volunteer mediator.  He has handled several cases for us – but went above the call of duty recently.  Robert was asked to mediate a civil fraud case against our client, a widowed, elderly veteran. The client had been taking care of his sister and one of his roles was to take her to the bank and assist with her finances. The clients’ son discovered these transactions and filed a lawsuit against our client, claiming our client had taken advantage of the sister. The son demanded return of all the funds taken from her bank by his sister. The client had none of the money. He contacted LASO to defend him.

Bob Perugino was contacted to try to resolve the stressful situation. He spent three hours talking to the parties, which resulted in a tentative settlement agreement, with two minor outstanding issues to be resolved – future contact between the client and his sister and verification that a safe deposit box in question had been closed.  Mr. Perugino volunteered his time to facilitate a meeting between client and his sister, and then met our client at an out-of-town bank location and witnessed the opening of the client’s safety deposit box and then its closing, as the parties had agreed at the mediation.  The LASO lawyer with whom Mr. Perugino worked closely concluded:  “I am in awe of the generosity of time and talent by Mr. Perugino and the involvement he had, which was no doubt exceptionally burdensome to his already busy schedule.  Yet, he was kind and warm throughout, and his participation was pivotal in resolving the case and reestablishing a relationship between two elderly siblings.”

A little more about Mr. Perugino and his long legal career in Tulsa County:

Robert “Bob” Perugino is a retired Special Judge having served the citizens of Tulsa County for almost twenty years. He was awarded his undergraduate degree from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey and  received his law degree from the University of Tulsa College of Law.  Having been admitted to the Oklahoma Bar in 1979, Judge Perugino was engaged in the general practice of law until 1984 when he joined the legal staff of the City of Broken Arrow as Assistant City Attorney.  He remained in that position until 1990 when he was appointed Special Judge.  Judge Perugino served in virtually every division during his tenure including Criminal, Domestic Relations, Juvenile, Probate and Protective Orders and was named the Oklahoma Bar Association Family Law Judge of the Year in 2008  After leaving the bench in 2009, Judge Perugino established a mediation practice and is honored to serve as a volunteer mediator for Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma.  In February, 2012 Judge Perugino was appointed Administrative Law Judge for the Department of Human Services and is assigned to the Office of Child Support Enforcement.  He is a member of the Oklahoma and the Tulsa County Bar Associations and is an member of the OBA Family Law Section and Past President of the TCBA Family Law Section.  Judge Perugino is a member of the Board of Directors of Youth at Heart, Human Skills and Resources and Oklahoma Methodist Manor, all non-profit corporations.  He and his wife are active members of Asbury United Methodist Church.