The Atlanta Lawyer April/May 2019 | Page 21

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 21