Law Center, the Truancy Interven-
tion Project delivered Best Practic-
es for Your Pro Bono Practice and
Advocacy in Adversary Proceeding
was presented by Nelson Mullins.
The response from the presenting
organizations to their respective
sessions was overwhelmingly
positive.
Jamie Perez of AVLF explained: “At
AVLF’s Representing Survivors of
Intimate Partner Violence in Civil
Temporary Protective Order Hear-
ings, we were pleased to have our
attorney attendance in the double
digits. In addition to discussing the
dynamics and laws surrounding
intimate partner abuse, our training
garnered a lively conversation sur-
rounding temporary protective or-
der (TPO) procedures from various
jurisdictions. Those in attendance
walked away with a greater under-
standing of Fulton County’s TPO
process and we hope they apply
what they learned about regarding
the dynamics of intimate partner
abuse when interacting with private
clients who are survivors.”
“We really enjoyed being able to
present this year. We appreciate
the incredible turnout for our dis-
cussion and we hope everyone
in attendance obtained a clearer
understanding of the main type of
immigration relief for our clients.
Though we were only able to give
a general overview of all of the
nuances that make up immigra-
tion law, it was important to share
our various client stories and suc-
cesses with a group of people that
want to help us provide relief for
future clients,” commented Kierra
Powell of the Georgia Asylum and
Immigration Network.
According to Talley Wells of Geor-
gia Appleseed, “Georgia Apple-
seed’s Young Professionals Coun-
cil trained lawyers to represent
foster care students who face
long-term suspensions or expul-
sions in the Education Advocacy
for Children in Care seminar. We
had a fantastic turnout and a very
engaging dialogue of the critical
issues throughout the morning.”
“The Fundamentals of Fundraising
for Georgia 501(c)(3) presentation
had a wonderful group of speakers
who together provided an immense
amount of knowledge and insight
on the topic. The speakers and
audience interacted extensively to
make it a truly collaborative three
and a half hour learning experi-
ence,” described Robyn Miller of
Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta
(PBPA). “The audience walked
away knowing much more about
how to conduct 501(c)(3) fundrais-
ing while complying with federal
and state law. Next year’s March
Madness presentation is going to
cover legal best practices for non-
profit board of directors.”
PBPA provides free legal services
to nonprofit organizations that
serve the poor or disadvantaged
in the community. PBPA volunteer
attorneys advise nonprofit clients in
the areas of corporate, contracts,
employment, intellectual property,
real estate, and tax, but the most
common request is for employment
help. PBPA’s nonprofit clients typi-
cally need advice on worker classi-
fication, employee handbooks and
hiring/firing. The focus of the Pro
Bono March Madness session was
on providing guidance on general
employment laws affecting non-
profit organizations. The discus-
sion covered the creation and/or
review of employee and volunteer
handbooks, proper compensation
of employees and volunteers under
the Fair Labor Standards Act, and
the use of other types of workers
in the nonprofit work environment,
including independent contractors,
volunteers and interns.
The panel of expert employment
attorneys who presented at the
session included Ariel Fenster of
Seyfarth Shaw LLP; Abigail Larimer
of Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP;
Robert Lewis, Regional Counsel
for ERISA and Employee Benefits
with the U.S. Department of Labor;
and myself, from the Employment
Counsel for Pro Bono Partnership
of Atlanta. “
Leslie Lipson, of Lipson Advo-
cacy mentioned, “Atlanta Legal Aid
hosted a seminar regarding Special
Education services and advocacy
to over 40 interested attorneys as
part of Pro Bono March Madness.
Disability Integration Project attor-
ney, Murti Bhakta and I presented
the training to prepare attorneys
to participate in a pro bono project
designed to support students with
disabilities to experience a quality
education on Georgia schools.”
In addition to the positive feedback
from Pro Bono March Madness
presenting organizations, attend-
ees were pleased with the seminar
offerings as well. One attendee
stated, “I attended a March Mad-
ness Pro Bono seminar so I could
learn more about immigration law.
I then used that information from
The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association THE ATLANTA LAWYER
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