The Atlanta Lawyer April 2013 | Page 8

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 8 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