LAW DAY 2013
Realizing the Dream: Equality for All!
Law Day 2013
By Rita A. Sheffey
[email protected]
Hunton & Williams LLP
Immediate Past President, Atlanta Bar Association
Chair, Law Day 2013 Dream Team
S
ometimes things just come together. Stars align.
Fascinating opportunities present themselves. It
happens more often than you might think, frequently
catching us by surprise. When we are able to seize the
moment, great things can happen. Law Day 2013 will be
such a moment.
In April 2012, the Atlanta Bar Association reached out to
the Gate City Bar Association, the Georgia Association for
Women Lawyers, the Georgia Association of Black Women
Attorneys, and the Stonewall Bar Association to introduce
the National Center for Civil and Human Rights to our
members. (The Atlanta Lawyer, May 2012) All who attended
were excited to learn about this amazing resource to be
housed right in our back yard. At the reception following the
presentation, everyone was enthusiastic, excited and eager
to talk about how we could get more involved and support
the Center’s mission.
As we were considering the next step, the American Bar
Association announced its theme for Law Day 2013, Realizing
the Dream: Equality for All, marking the 150th anniversary of
the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation.
The theme provides an opportunity to explore civil and
human rights movements in America and the impact of these
movements in promoting the ideals of equality under the
law. It also provides a forum for reflection on the work that
remains to be done in rectifying injustice, eliminating all forms
of discrimination and putting an end to human trafficking and
other violations of fundamental human rights. As Dr. King
pointed out in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, “Injustice
anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
That’s it! The theme provided just the link we were looking
for – and another opportunity to collaborate with the National
Center for Civil and Human Rights. This time, along with
Gate City, GAWL, GABWA, and Stonewall, we reached out
to the State Bar of Georgia, the Chief Justice’s Commission
on Professionalism, the Georgia Asian Pacific American Bar
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THE ATLANTA LAWYER
April 2013
Association, the Georgia Hispanic Bar Association, the MultiBar Leadership Council, the South Asian Bar Association of
Georgia and the Atlanta Public School System. The “Dream
Team” Planning Committee has met for months developing
and refining the program. The Law Day event promises to
be an outstanding substantive program not only for lawyers,
but also for high school students and the public. Advance
registration is required as space is limited for some sessions.
We are particularly grateful to the State Bar, the Chief
Justice’s Commission on Professionalism, our participating
sister bar associations, and to the Atlanta Bar’s Family Law,
Litigation, Sole Practitioner/Small Firm,Tax and Women in
the Profession Sections for joining us in providing financial
support for this program.
The Center has been an instrumental partner in developing
the substantive sessions and identifying great speakers.
The program will take place at the State Bar of Georgia
Headquarters at 104 Marietta Street on Monday, April 22,
2013 from 12:30 pm until 7 pm, beginnin rv