day to fill out the necessary paperwork for admission and
for financial aid.
CTL: What did you do after we finished law school in
1967? MSA: I was hired by Emory University as the Student
Personnel Advisor for minority students. It was an interesting
job, and I enjoyed it very much because I was able to
encourage the African American students in their curriculum
and to say in school. I also started Emory’s Black Studies
Program and helped to implement the Program.
I had also passed the Georgia Bar examination and landed a
job with Kleiner and Herman as an associate. This was one
of the first integrated law firms in the city of Atlanta, and we
grew to be one of the largest firms in the US. I moved from
Kleiner & Herman and established Arrington & Rubin with S.
Richard Rubin. That firm grew to include Joseph Winter,
David Krisher and John Goger. After that firm dissolved,
I established the law firm of Arrington & Hollowell, and we
stayed in existence for approximately 15 years.
CTL: How long did you work for Emory? MSA: Until
1970. I was elected to the Atlanta Board of Alderman in the
fall of 1969. Emory told me I could keep my job as long as I
remained on call, but I could not reconcile being on call with
my duty to those who had elected me.
CTL: Tell me about City of Atlanta Government in 1970.
MSA: The city still had black and white water fountains at
City Hall. I made certain that practice ended. In 1974 under
the new form of city government, I was elected to the City
Council and served on the Council until I was elected City
Council President in 1980, a position I held until 1996.
CTL: I want to ask you about a project we worked on
together – the State Bar of Georgia Diversity Program,
formerly the Minority Counsel Program. Do you
remember when I asked you to lead that new program?
MSA: I believe you called me in 1991 when you were
President-Elect of the State Bar. Initially, I declined. I was
active in similar programs of the American Bar Association
and National Bar Association. I was also probably running for
re-election and busy with that effort. Later in 1992, I called
you back and said I wanted to start and to lead a program
in Georgia.
CTL: What was my response? MSA: You said you were
about to leave office and would need to get the approval of
your successor, Paul Kilpatrick. You got Paul to approve
on the condition that you and I co-chair the program. You
also secured the support of the Executive Committee and
the Board of Governors of the State Bar. We met with then
Chief Justice Harold Clark and Justice Robert Benham,
and they agreed to be Honorary Co-Chairs. We started the
Program in 1992.
CTL: What did the program try to accomplish? MSA:
The program sought to provide opportunities for minority
lawyers and for minority lawyers in majority firms to obtain
legal work from corporations, nonprofits and governmental
agencies by providing networking events, CLE programs,
The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association
LAW DAY 2013
job fairs, etc. It recognized that the historic segregation
of communities provided few opportunities for white and
black lawyers to meet and get to know and trust each other
at traditional meeting places like churches, business clubs
and country clubs.
CTL: How was the program financed? MSA: The State Bar
provide some startup funding, but participating individuals,
minority and majority law firms and companies paid annual
dues to support the program. We hired a part time executive
director, Violet Travis Ricks and later Marian Cover
Dockery.
CTL: What is your assessment of the success of the
program? MSA: I believe we were able to build the trust
needed by those seeking minority lawyers for their legal work.
We really put together a concept that helped minorities to
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